Cabinet Office

This article is about the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom. For other Cabinet Offices, see Cabinet Office (disambiguation).

The Cabinet Office is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet.^[3] It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and coordinate the delivery of government objectives via other departments. As of December 2021,^[update] it had over 10,200 staff, mostly civil servants, some of whom work in Whitehall. Staff working in the Prime Minister's Office are part of the Cabinet Office.

Cabinet Office

70 Whitehall, Westminster
Department overview
Formed	December 1916; 108 years ago (1916-12)
Preceding Department	Committee of Imperial Defence
Jurisdiction	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	70 Whitehall, London, United Kingdom 51°30′13″N 0°7′36″W
Employees	10,220 (as of December 2021[update])[1]
Annual budget	£2.1 billion (current) & £400 million (capital) for 2011–12[2]
Ministers responsible	The Rt Hon. Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister The Rt Hon. Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister The Rt Hon. Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Department executives	The Rt Hon. Sir Chris Wormald, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service Cat Little, Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service Clara Swinson, Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, Head of Mission Delivery Unit Michael Ellam, Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, European Union and International Economic Affairs Sarah Harrison, Chief Operating Officer for the Cabinet Office Darren Tierney, Director General, Propriety and Constitution Group
Child agencies	Crown Commercial Service Government Property Agency
Website	gov.uk/cabinet-office

Responsibilities

The Cabinet Office's core functions are:^[4]

• Supporting collective government, helping to ensure the effective development, coordination, and implementation of policy;
• Supporting the National Security Council and the Joint Intelligence Organisation, coordinating the government's response to crises, and managing the UK's cyber security;
• Promoting efficiency and reform across government through innovation, transparency, better procurement, and project management, transforming the delivery of services, and improving the capability of the Civil Service;
• Political and constitutional reform

The Cabinet Office has responsibility for the following at the UK national level:

• the Home Civil Service
• the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
• the Government Commercial Function^[5] and the Government Commercial Organisation.^[6]
• the government's digital, data, and technology (DDaT) function is through the Government Digital Service^[7]

History

The department was formed in December 1916 from the secretariat of the Committee of Imperial Defence^[8] under Sir Maurice Hankey, the first Cabinet Secretary.

Traditionally 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 its principal 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.

It also contains miscellaneous units that do not sit well in other departments. For example:

• The Historical Section was founded in 1906 as part of the Committee for Imperial Defence and is concerned with Official Histories.^[9]
• The Joint Intelligence Committee was founded in 1936 and transferred to the department in 1957. It deals with intelligence assessments and directing the national intelligence organisations of the UK.
• The Ceremonial Branch was founded in 1937 and transferred to the department in 1981. It was originally concerned with all ceremonial functions of state, but today it handles honours and appointments.

In modern times the Cabinet Office often takes on responsibility for areas of policy which are the priority of the Government of the time. The units that administer these areas migrate in and out of the Cabinet Office as government priorities (and governments) change.

Ministers and civil servants

Minister	Portrait	Office	Portfolio
The Rt Hon. Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP		Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Minister for the Civil Service	Head of government; oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies; appoints members of the government; he is the principal government figure in the House of Commons.
The Rt Hon. Pat McFadden MP		Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds MP FRHistS		Minister for the Cabinet Office Paymaster General	Delivery of the government's efficiency programme; Civil Service Modernisation and Reform; Places for growth programme; Cabinet Office business planning and performance; Infected Blood Inquiry; Public bodies reform programme; Spend controls reform; Oversight of the cross-cutting functions and government functional strategy. Additionally supports the Deputy Prime Minister on: Driving delivery of the government's priorities; Civil contingencies and resilience.[10]
Ellie Reeves MP		Minister of State without Portfolio	Supporting DPM on driving delivery of Government's priorities; Supporting DPM and MCO on ensuring efficiency and value for money in Government policy; Supporting DPM and MCO on ensuring efficiency and value for money in Government delivery; Ensuring effective communication of Government's priorities; Public Bodies reform programme (supporting MCO); Public appointments outreach (supporting DPM and BNR).[11]
Georgia Gould MP		Parliamentary Secretary	Public sector reform; Oversight of government functions; Cabinet Office business planning and performance; Public Bodies policy; Cabinet Office arm’s length body sponsorship.
Abena Oppong-Asare MP		Parliamentary Secretary	National security, resilience, and civil contingencies, including:Integrated Security Fund; Government Security Group, including UK Security Vetting; Transparency Data policy, correspondence policy, and Freedom of Information; Supporting the Minister for the Cabinet Office on Inquiries policy and constitution.
The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP		Minister of State

Leaders of the Houses of Commons and Lords supported by the Cabinet Office are as follows:

Minister	Portrait	Office	Portfolio
The Rt Hon. Lucy Powell MP		Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council	The Government's Legislative Programme, chairing the Cabinet Committee; Managing and announcing the business of the House of Commons weekly and facilitating motions and debate in the Chamber, particularly on House business; Government's representative in the House (sitting on the House of Commons Commission, Public Accounts Commission, and the Speaker's Committees on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority); House of Commons representative in Government; Parliamentary reform and policy; Ministerial responsibility for the Privy Council Office.
The Rt Hon. The Baroness Smith of Basildon PC		Leader of the House of Lords Lord Privy Seal	Management and delivery of the Government's legislative programme (through the House of Lords) and facilitating the passage of individual bills; Leading the House (in the Chamber and as a key member of domestic committees to do with procedure, conduct, and the internal governance of the House); Issues connected to the House of Lords and its governance; Speaking for the Government in the Chamber on a range of issues, including repeating in the House of Lords statements made to the Commons by the Prime Minister; Ceremonial and other duties as the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.
The Rt Hon. The Lord Collins of Highbury		Deputy Leader of the House of Lords	The Deputy Leader of the House of Lords supports the House of Lords in its job of questioning government ministers, improving legislation and debating topics of national significance.

The Cabinet Office's most senior civil servants are as follows, as of February 2025:^[12]

Name	Portrait	Position	Term start
Sir Chris Wormald KCB[13]		Cabinet Secretary Head of the Home Civil Service	16 December 2024; 7 months ago (2024-12-16)
Cat Little CB[14]		Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office Chief Operating Officer of the Home Civil Service	1 April 2024; 16 months ago (2024-04-01)
Sarah Harrison[15]		Chief Operating Officer for the Cabinet Office	July 2020; 5 years ago (2020-07)
Simon Baugh[16]		Chief Executive of Government Communications	October 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10)
Richard Hornby[17]		Chief Financial Officer and Director of Assurance, Finance and Controls, Cabinet Office	February 2020; 5 years ago (2020-02)
Vincent Devine[18]		Government Chief Security Officer	December 2021; 3 years ago (2021-12)
Kathryn Al-Shemmeri[19]		Chief People Officer, Cabinet Office	September 2022; 2 years ago (2022-09)
Darren Tierney[20]		Director General, Propriety and Constitution Group	March 2021; 4 years ago (2021-03)
Jonathan Powell[21]		National Security Adviser	2 December 2024; 8 months ago (2024-12-02)
Madeleine Alessandri CMG[22]		Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee	1 July 2023; 2 years ago (2023-07-01)
Clara Swinson[23]		Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, Head of Mission Delivery Unit	September 2024; 11 months ago (2024-09)
Michael Ellam		Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, European Union and International Economic Affairs	13 January 2025; 6 months ago (2025-01-13)

The Cabinet Office also supports the work of the Whips Offices of the House of Lords and House of Commons.

The Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office supports the work of ministers.

Committees

Main article: United Kingdom cabinet committee

Cabinet committees have two key purposes:^[24]

• To relieve the burden on the Cabinet by dealing with business that does not need to be discussed at full Cabinet. Appeals to the Cabinet should be infrequent, and Ministers chairing Cabinet Committees should exercise discretion in advising the prime minister whether to allow them.
• To support the principle of collective responsibility by ensuring that, even though a question may never reach the Cabinet itself, it will be fully considered. In this way, the final judgement is sufficiently authoritative that Government as a whole can be expected to accept responsibility for it. In this sense, Cabinet Committee decisions have the same authority as Cabinet decisions.

Buildings

The entrance to the Cabinet Office.

The main building of the Cabinet Office is at 70 Whitehall, adjacent to Downing Street. The building connects three historically distinct properties, as well as the remains of Henry VIII's 1530 tennis courts, part of the Palace of Whitehall, which can be seen within the building. The Whitehall frontage was designed by Sir John Soane and completed by Sir Charles Barry between 1845 and 1847 as the Treasury Buildings. Immediately to the west Dorset House (1700) connects the front of the building to William Kent's Treasury (1733–36), which faces out onto Horse Guards Parade. The latter is built over the site of the Cockpit, used for cock fighting in the Tudor period, and subsequently as a theatre. In the early 1960s the buildings were restored and many of the Tudor remains were exposed and repaired. Significant renovations between 2010 and 2016 converted many of the floors to open plan and created new office space. The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms are located on this site.

The department occupies other buildings in Whitehall and the surrounding area, including part of the Government Offices Great George Street at 1 Horse Guards, as well as sites in other parts of the country.

See also

• British Civil Service
• Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
• Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
• Social Exclusion Task Force
• United Kingdom budget