- Definitions & explanations
- 10 page guideline
- 28-day rule
- Administrator of the Government
- Appointments
- Cabinet
- Cabinet committees
- Cabinet Office
- Consultation
- Distribution lists: how to read
- Executive Council
- Format of standard Cabinet papers
- Forms to accompany Cabinet papers
- Government bodies: balanced representation
- Governor-General
- Issues needing to go to a Cabinet committee
- Ministerial List
- Minutes
- New Zealand Gazette
- Notification about Ministers overseas
- Official Information Act: release of Cabinet papers
- Officials' committees that support Cabinet committees
- Oral items for Cabinet and committees
- Power to Act
- Regulatory impact statements
- Reports due to Cabinet and committees
- Seal of New Zealand
- Security classifications
- Shoulder numbers explained
- Waybill
- What do I do if I have not received an agenda, paper or minute?
- Getting started
- Writing papers
Length of standard Cabinet papers: 10 page guideline
Those preparing Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers must keep in mind that there is a heavy demand on Ministers' time and that Ministers will often not have a close knowledge of the subject matter. A balance must therefore be struck between the competing needs for information and brevity.
The overriding principle should be that the issue is presented to Cabinet in a concise logical way that is appropriate to the issue and facilitates Cabinet decision-making.
Papers should be in general not more than 10 pages long (including appendices). Cabinet has set this guideline to ensure that papers are concise. Ministers often have a large number of papers to read before committee meetings, and do not have the time to read unnecessarily long papers. Papers longer than 10 pages are, however, acceptable for submissions on major policy proposals or reviews.
The 10 page guideline does not include information that is attached to meet Cabinet requirements: the form on consultation (CAB 100), forms for appointments (CAB 50 and CAB 51), regulatory impact statements, or the actual text of accompanying documents (for example, draft regulations or documents for which authority is sought for release).
It is not acceptable to reduce the size of the typeface, narrow the margins or otherwise fill up the page with text to keep within the 10 page guideline. Well formatted papers assist Ministers to quickly absorb the content of the paper.
If detailed tables or similar supporting material are absolutely necessary, they should be attached as appendices. The need to distribute lengthy background information with a paper can often be avoided by inviting interested Ministers to obtain the information from the office of the originating Minister.
