Getting items on agendas

Introduction 

Agendas for Cabinet committees are compiled by the Cabinet Office and contain all papers that:

Deadlines for papers

The deadline for lodging Cabinet and committee papers with the Cabinet Office is usually 10.00am the Thursday before the meeting - with the exception of the Cabinet Legislation Committee. The deadline for lodging papers for the Cabinet Legislation Committee is 10.00am the Monday before the meeting. During weeks when the House is not sitting, the Cabinet Business Committee may meet instead.  The deadline for lodging papers for this committee is 10.00am the Wednesday before the meeting.

The Cabinet Office aims to distribute papers to Ministers two days before the committee meeting (i.e. on Fridays for Tuesday meetings, Mondays for Wednesday meetings, and Tuesdays for Thursday meetings). If papers are submitted late, they may be distributed late, Ministers may not have the opportunity to read them, and the paper may be deferred.

Advance planning is necessary to ensure all deadlines are met, including those imposed by Cabinet, the Minister's office or other agencies. Several times a year the Cabinet Office distributes to all departments a timetable of committee meetings for the following 3 - 4 months (link only available to people with access to the Public Service Intranet). In addition, the Cabinet Office issues to all departments a timetable every Friday for meetings in the following week (link only available to people with access to the Public Service Intranet).

When preparing papers, officials need to allow sufficient time for the Minister to read a paper, seek more advice, consult with colleagues if required and, when necessary, have amendments made to the paper before it is signed. It is a good idea to send the Minister a copy of the draft paper at the time it is sent to departments for consultation.

Ministers find it helpful to know well in advance about papers their departments are preparing. Many departments provide their Minister with a weekly schedule of Cabinet committee and other reports that are in preparation. The Minister's office should keep the Cabinet Office informed of what their Minister intends to submit to Cabinet committees in the coming weeks.

Early advice to the Minister's office about papers for forthcoming meetings is recommended. It helps to ensure that, if the Minister will not be available to sign papers, the office can make alternative arrangements to brief the Minister and obtain his or her approval to allow another Minister to sign the paper. Early advice will also mean that arrangements can be made to ensure that the portfolio Minister is available to attend the meeting or is represented by another Minister if the portfolio Minister is not available to attend.

Some Ministers' offices have set their own deadlines for the receipt from departments of Cabinet committee papers for the Minister to sign. Officials should find out about any such requirements from the Minister's office.

Submitting late papers

Papers may only be submitted after the deadline if there is a need for urgent consideration. If a Minister wishes to submit a paper to Cabinet or a committee after the deadline, the Minister's office must submit to the Cabinet Office, by the 10.00am deadline, a memorandum signed by the Minister, addressed to the chair, seeking approval for the submission of the late paper. The memorandum should state why the paper is late, why it must be considered at that particular meeting, and when it will be submitted.

The committee secretary will submit the request to the chair for approval, and will advise the Minister's office of the chair's decision.

Amending or withdrawing papers

Amendments to Cabinet or committee papers already lodged with the Cabinet Office will not be accepted unless the change is not substantive. If the amendments proposed are substantive, the normal practice is to withdraw the original paper and submit a new one.

The Cabinet Office will not accept - before a meeting - changes suggested by one Minister to another Minister's recommendations. Any changes should be proposed by the Minister at the meeting itself.

Once the Cabinet Office has issued an agenda, a paper can only be withdrawn or deferred at the meeting for which it was prepared. The office of the Minister who signed the paper should advise the relevant committee secretary as soon as possible of the Minister's wish to withdraw the paper, so that the chair can be informed.

In the case of oral items for Cabinet committee meetings, the Minister's office should inform the committee secretary so that the chair can be advised (link only avilable to people will access to the Public Service Intranet).

Procedure for oral items

Occasionally a Minister may wish to take an oral item to a Cabinet committee or, more frequently, to Cabinet. Oral items are most commonly reserved for items of particular urgency or great sensitivity, or where a Minister wishes to sound out his or her colleagues before a formal proposal is developed.

Oral items for Cabinet will be accepted only with the prior approval of the Prime Minister.

If a Minister wants to raise an oral item at Cabinet, he/she should write to the Prime Minister before 10am on the Thursday before the Cabinet meeting seeking agreement. Copies of the letter should be sent to the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and to the Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet. It is also helpful to provide the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet with any other background information on the issue so that the Prime Minister can be fully briefed.

Circumstances can sometimes mean that Ministers are unable to seek agreement to oral items according to this timetable. Where Ministers' offices are aware that an oral item may be needed they should alert the Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet to that possibility as early as possible, preferably by noon on the Friday before the Monday Cabinet meeting.