Consultation

Those drafting papers for Cabinet and Cabinet committees need to decide early in the process which other departments need to be consulted. The purpose of that consultation is to ensure that Ministers have all the relevant information in front of them as they take decisions. Departments initiating drafts are responsible for ensuring that appropriate consultation is undertaken, that other departments are given reasonable time to comment on the draft paper and that their views are accurately reflected in the paper. The Cabinet Office may reject papers where it appears the necessary consultation has not taken place.

Where departments know that an issue is under discussion and they have an interest which may not be obvious to the department drafting the paper they should take steps early in the process to bring their interest to the attention of the drafting department. Smaller departments need to use their networks actively to see that their interests are known by others.

This section provides guidance for drafters on which departments should be consulted (in a few instances Crown entities have also been included because of their particular role in drafting Cabinet submissions). The information in the section has been developed in consultation with departments. It is not prescriptive - an element of judgement will always be required. Departments that have been consulted need to think about the implications of any proposals for their associated agencies, and, in turn, consult with those agencies before formulating their response to the lead department.

Drafters need to address two key questions in considering which departments will need to be consulted on a particular paper:

  • does this issue call for consultation with departments responsible for advising the government on key general issues (such as: legal implications and human rights; financial and fiscal issues; the overall co-ordination of government policy)?
  • which departments have a specific policy or operational interest in this issue?

Inter-agency consultation:

Consultation with Treasury

Guidance on departmental consultation

Ministerial consultation:

Consultation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on papers seeking approval for a treaty action