- 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
- Statutory prerequisites
- Waybill
- What do I do if I have not received an agenda, paper or minute?
- Getting started
- Writing papers
Role of the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office provides neutral secretariat services to Cabinet and its committees, and to the Executive Council.
In providing secretariat services, it:
- arranges Cabinet, committee and Executive Council meetings;
- manages and prepares agendas;
- checks that papers submitted for consideration at meetings conform to the requirements established by Cabinet;
- prepares for Ministers a summary of every paper (the summaries, often called "coversheets" or "tops", are intended to draw Ministers' attention to key information in the paper and are drafted in a template format with standard headings);
- distributes the agenda and papers before meetings;
- briefs the chairs of Cabinet and committees on procedural matters and upcoming agenda items;
- provides procedural advice, as required, to the Prime Minister, other Ministers and officials;
attends meetings to facilitate and record impartially the decisions taken, and to provide advice on procedural matters; - prepares and distributes the minutes of meetings; and
- monitors the reports requested by Cabinet and committees to ensure they are provided on time.
The Secretary of the Cabinet is responsible directly to the Prime Minister for the impartial recording of Cabinet decisions, and the development and administration of the Cabinet processes. The Secretary of the Cabinet is usually also the Clerk of the Executive Council and in this role is responsible to the Prime Minister and Governor-General respectively for servicing the Executive Council, and providing such advice as may be required from time to time on constitutional matters.
The Cabinet Office is a separate unit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and is headed by the Secretary of the Cabinet. It is located on the 10th floor of the Beehive and on the 5th floor of the Reserve Bank Building (Honours Secretariat only).
For further information on the role of the Cabinet Office and the Secretary of the Cabinet (including the provision of advice on central government constitutional, ethical, procedural, policy and administrative issues, and support for the continuity of government), see paragraphs 5.77 - 5.81 of the Cabinet Manual.
The Cabinet Office provides Ministers' offices and departments every week with a list of Ministers overseas, indicating who will act on their behalf in their absence. This is published on the Cabinet and Committees workspace on the Public Sector Intranet (link only available to people with access to the Public Service Intranet).
Enforcing the requirements and format of standard Cabinet papers
The requirements governing papers that are submitted to Cabinet and Cabinet committees have been set by Cabinet so that the papers Ministers consider are of a consistently high standard, and include the information Ministers require for taking decisions.
The requirements are enforced by the Cabinet Office on behalf of Cabinet. If a paper does not meet these requirements, the paper may be returned to the Minister's office to be redrafted.
The Cabinet Office monitors the content and presentation of papers for compliance with Cabinet's rules, including timeliness and length. The Cabinet Office sends its statistics on timeliness and length to chief executives.
