Cabinet Manual

United Kingdom
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the United Kingdom
Constitution Constitution Cabinet Manual Erskine May Taxation
The Crown British Monarchy Monarch Queen Elizabeth II Heir Apparent Charles, Prince of Wales Royal family Succession to the British throne Royal prerogative
Executive HM Government Prime Minister Theresa May Cabinet 96th ministry Her Majesty's Civil Service Departments Executive agencies Public bodies Privy Council Crown-in-Council Queen Elizabeth II
Legislature Parliament (56th Parliament) Crown-in-Parliament Queen Elizabeth II House of Lords Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza House of Commons Speaker John Bercow Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet State Opening of Parliament Prime Minister's Questions Act of Parliament Statutory Instruments
Judiciary Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger Deputy President Lady Hale Justices of the Supreme Court Courts of the United Kingdom Courts of England and Wales Courts of Northern Ireland Courts of Scotland
Devolution Northern Ireland Executive Assembly Scotland Government Parliament Wales Government National Assembly Reserved matters Joint Ministerial Committee
Administrative geography England Subdivisions of England Local government in England Northern Ireland Local government in Northern Ireland Scotland Subdivisions of Scotland Local government in Scotland Wales Local government in Wales
Elections Parliament constituencies Political parties Last election Next election Referendums
Foreign relations History Foreign policy UK and the United Nations Politics of the European Union Commonwealth of Nations
United Kingdom portal Other countries Atlas

The Cabinet Manual is a government document in the United Kingdom which sets out the main laws, rules and conventions affecting the conduct and operation of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was written by Her Majesty's Civil Service, led by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, and was published by the Cabinet Office on 14 December 2010. The Manual gives an overview of the UK's system of government, reflecting the importance of Parliament, Cabinet government and the democratic nature of the UK’s constitutional arrangements by explaining the powers of the Executive, Sovereign, Parliament, international institutions (most notably the European Union), the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Manual was written as a guide for members of Cabinet, other ministers and civil servants in the execution of government business, but also serves to consolidate many of the previously unwritten constructional conventions through which the British government operates.

The wording and appearance of the document resembles that of a written constitution. The writing of the Manual was originally initiated by Gordon Brown as part of his broader plan to establish a written constitution for the UK. However, in 2011 the House of Lords Constitution Committee stated that the document was "not the first step to a written constitution" as it only describes the existing rules and does not "set existing practice in stone". The Manual does not need to be formally approved by Parliament and can be modified at any time by the Cabinet Secretary.

History

The United Kingdom has no single constitutional document. Instead much of the British constitution is embodied in documents, within statutes, court judgments, works of authority and treaties, which is sometimes described as an uncodified or "unwritten" constitution. The UK constitution also has several unwritten sources in the form of constitutional conventions.

In February 2010 during a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he had asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to "consolidate the existing unwritten, piecemeal conventions that govern much of the way central government operates under our existing constitution into a single written document". Sir Gus and his team in the Cabinet Office travelled to New Zealand, which uses the Westminster system of government and also lacks a codified constitution. Using the New Zealand Cabinet Manual as precedent, the Cabinet Office published a draft Cabinet Manual for the UK in December 2010 which was scrutinised by the House of Lords Constitution Committee, the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee and the Public Administration Select Committee. Following recommendations by the Parliamentary Committees, a finalised version was published in October 2011 with forewords by David Cameron and Sir Gus O'Donnell.

External links

• "Cabinet Manual" (PDF). gov.uk (pdf). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 2015-04-27. 
• "Cabinet Manual". gov.uk. Cabinet Office. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 2015-04-27.