Cabinet_Office

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Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The department was formed in December 1916 from the secretariat of the Committee of Imperial Defence under Sir Maurice Hankey, the first Cabinet Secretary. Since then it has developed various units to support Cabinet committees and to co-ordinate the delivery of government objectives via other departments. It currently has just over 1,000 staff, most of whom work in Whitehall.

Objectives

As of 2007, the stated objectives of the Cabinet Office are:

Support the Prime Minister - to define and deliver government objectives.
Support the Cabinet - to co-ordinate the coherence, quality and delivery of operations and policy.
Strengthen the Civil Service - to ensure it is organised effectively and has the capability to deliver the government’s objectives.

History

Historically, the most important part of the Cabinet Office's role was facilitating collective decision-making by the Cabinet, through running and supporting Cabinet-level committees. This is still an important role, but since the absorption of some of the functions of the Civil Service Department in 1981 the Cabinet Office has also helped to ensure that a wide range of Ministerial priorities are taken forward across Whitehall. Recently these have included:

Ensuring delivery of the public service targets that the Government has set itself in the priority areas of education, health, transport and crime and asylum. This is carried out by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, set up by the Labour Government in 1997.
e-Government giving citizens better access to public information and services through better IT (through the e-Government Unit) - see also Transformational Government
Promoting better forms of regulation, which are less burdensome for business (through the Better Regulation Executive)
Management of civil service staffing (in relation to issues not delegated to departments) and reform of the civil service.

The units that administer these areas migrate in and out of the Cabinet Office as government priorities - and governments - change.

Current Ministers

The Cabinet Office is intended to support the Prime Minister, who is also Minister for the Civil Service and First Lord of the Treasury.

Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - Liam Byrne MP
Minister for the Olympics and Paymaster General - The Rt Hon. Tessa Jowell MP
Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for the Third Sector) - Kevin Brennan MP
Parliamentary Secretary - Tom Watson MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Competitiveness - Baroness Vadera (jointly with the DBERR)

Staff Structure

The Cabinet Office includes three permanent secretaries. The Cabinet Secretary is the head of the home Civil Service and is also responsible for the organisation of the Cabinet Office. The incumbent is Sir Gus O'Donnell, who took over from Sir Andrew Turnbull in September 2005.

Alex Allen has replaced Sir Richard Mottram, permanent secretary, Intelligence & Resilience, "Security and Intelligence co-ordinator" across government and now chairs the Joint Intelligence Committee.

On 12 June 2007 the Cabinet Secretary announced that Jeremy Heywood, presently managing director and co–head of the UK Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley, will become head of Domestic Policy and Strategy; Jon Cunliffe, previously Second Permanent Secretary, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance at HM Treasury, will become head of International Economic Affairs and Europe; and Simon McDonald, who is Director, Iraq at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will become head of Foreign and Defence Policy. According to the announcement they will "lead new structures in the Cabinet Office designed to strengthen policy, strategy and co–ordination at the centre of Government". They will have the role and title of the Prime Minister's senior advisers on domestic policy, international economic issues and Europe, and foreign and defence issues respectively and will report directly to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell.

Buildings

The main building of the Cabinet Office is at 70 Whitehall, adjacent to Downing Street and was built in 1847. Remains of Henry VIII's tennis courts from the Palace of Whitehall can be seen within the building.

The building was originally the Cockpit, used for cock fighting in the Tudor period. It was then converted into a private residence by Charles II for Princess Anne, the future Queen Anne, when she married in 1683. In 1689, both Anne and her closest friend (and later most influential adviser), Sarah, Lady Churchill were imprisoned here by James II after he lost support to Prince William of Orange in the period just before the Glorious Revolution. After Anne's accession in 1702, she gave the Cockpit to Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and her husband, John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. They were the last private residents before it became the Treasury, and was being used as a Cabinet office by 1719.

The department also occupies other buildings in Whitehall and the surrounding area (including 22 Whitehall and Admiralty Arch), as well as sites in other parts of the country.