A Cabinet Committee Agenda is generated on the basis of the items listed against the meeting event in CabNet.
Items are listed against a meeting event in CabNet as a result of Ministers’ offices and agencies nominating a meeting for the consideration of their Minister’s submission.
The Cabinet Office can also add meeting items into CabNet in instances where there is no paper uploaded in CabNet.
During the week leading up to a committee meeting the Agenda (a document viewable in CabNet associated with a meeting) is prepared by the Cabinet Office.
Each Agenda for a committee meeting moves through three states.
- draft agenda – a first draft of meeting items, subject to change, and accessible by Cabinet Office CabNet users only
- published draft agenda – a draft of meeting items, subject to change, and accessible by Cabinet Office, Prime Minister’s office, Policy Advisory Group (DPMC), and Officials’ Committee members only
- final agenda – a confirmed list of meeting items, accessible by the above CabNet users, and CabNet users provided with access to one or more of the items listed on the agenda (e.g. owning Ministers and agencies, in addition to consulted and informed agencies).
Types of meeting items#
Cabinet committee meetings (and therefore Agendas) may contain the following types of items:
- papers (content accessible in CabNet via the submission preview)
- any oral items listed on the agenda (no content accessible in CabNet – reference information only)
- reference to highly classified items (no content accessible in CabNet – reference information only).
A minute, or several minutes, may be issued as a result of the consideration of any of the above types of items, subject to the decisions made and the security classification and endorsement/s of the individual item.
Reassigning meeting items#
Papers can be reassigned from meeting to meeting while a paper is in a final draft or lodged state.
At the point that the final agenda is published by the Cabinet Office the status of the papers listed on the agenda will move to the confirmed on committee agenda state. As a result of this status change, Ministerial office staff and agency staff will not be able to edit or reassign those papers to a new meeting event.
The Cabinet Office will contact the relevant Minister’s office staff in the event that a meeting item for a nominated meeting needs to be reassigned to a new meeting.