General
araPUftg
The Prime M i n i s t e r a l w a y s t a k e s t h e c h a i r a t C a b i n e t
i n t h a t event
m e e t i n g s , u n l e s s he i s u n a v o i d a b l y a b s e n t ;
the member o f t h e Cabinet next i n o r d e r of precedence t a k e s t h e
ehair.
The L o r d P r e s i d e n t took t h e C h a i r a t one
meeting i n 1 9 4 7 ( C M . 7 3 ( 4 7 ) ) b
meeting i n 1 9 4 8 ( C . M . 5 6 ( 4 8 ) ) ,
the Foreign Secretary
and a t
( C M .5 7 ( 4 8 ) )
C h a n c e l l o r o f the Exchequer
presided.
one
On o c c a s i o n
or
the
(CM.58(48))
has
M e e t i n g s a r e n o r m a l l y h e l d i n the C a b i n e t Room a t
10, Downing s t r e e t ,
I f i t i s n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e Cabinet t o
meet a t a time when the House o f Commons i s s i t t i n g and
important d i v i s i o n s a r e due t o take p l a c e , o r when a number
o f s e n i o r M i n i s t e r s must b e w i t h i n e a s y r e a c h o f the Chamber,
t h e meeting i s h e l d I n the Prime M i n i s t e r ' e room i n the House
o f Commons.
I n September, 1921 the C a b i n e t h e l d two
meetings i n S c o t l a n d (Town H a l l , I n v e r n e s s , and
Brahan C a s t l e )
( C a b . 7 4 and 7 5 ( 2 1 ) ) .
D u r i n g the w a r o f 1939-45 meetings were
o f t e n h e l d i n the C a b i n e t War Boom.
I n r e c e n t y e a r s t h e C a b i n e t h a s on a f e w
o c c a s i o n s d u r i n g the Summer Heeess met i n C o n f e r ­
ence Room *B* i n t h e C a b i n e t O f f i c e and not i n
the C a b i n e t iioocy
(e.g. C M . 5 6 ( 4 9 ) , 52(49))*
The r e a s o n f o r t h i s has u s u a l l y been t o make
i t e a s i e r t o prevent knowledge o f the
meeting from becoming p u b l i c .
I n the summer o f
1 9 4 9 , a t t h e time of t h e d i s c u s s i o n s on the
d e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e pound s t e r l i n g the
p o s s i b i l i t y o f h o l d i n g a Cabinet meeting,
a t Chequers was c a n v a s s e d ,
I n t h e 19th Century the C a b i n e t met
o c c a s i o n a l l y at t h e F o r e i g n O f f i c e , and i n
e a r l i e r p e r i o d s o f t e n a t the j&ouse o f
t h e member who had b u s i n e s s t o submit.
See
Hankey, Diplomacy by Conference, page 4 9 .
The C a b i n e t does not normally n o t e ;
a l l d e c i s i o n s must
r e p r e s e n t g e n e r a l agreement, and d i s c u s s i o n c o n t i n u e s u n t i l
t h e g e n e r a l s e n s e o f t h e meeting a p p e a r s .
E x c e p t i o n a l l y i n t h e p a s t some C a b i n e t s
appear on o c c a s i o n t o have d e c i d e d q u e s t i o n s
See J e n n i n g s , 202-3*
by v o t e .
Per general d i s c u s s i o n of p r a c t i c e a t
C a b i n e t meetings i n the p a s t ^ s e e , J e n n i n g s ,
Chapter I X , S e c t i o n 5, and notes i n F i l e 4/1/56.
ft
H
Frequency o f
Mee^aKfi
The Cabinet normally meets a t p r e s e n t t a l e s a week Mondays and Thursdays - w h i l e P a r l i a m e n t i s s i t t i n g , but
a d d i t i o n a l meetings a r e h e l d a s r e q u i r e d .
on
On the t i m i n g o f meetings and on the
advantages o f meetings on Tuesdays a s c o n t r a s t e d
w i t h Mondays s e e Annex I I . and minute o f
27th November, 1945 on P i l e 48 P t . 2.
The p r e - w a r C a b i n e t u s u a l l y met ones s
wool: ( o n Wednesdays) during the P a r l i a m e n t a r y
Session.
I n the p e r i o d immediately b e f o r e the
outbreak o f War the C a b i n e t met d a i l y and u n t i l
F e b r u a r y . 1941 the War C a b i n e t met d a i l y .
T h e r e a f t e r meetings o f the war Cabinet were
h e l d t w i c e a week w i t h a d d i t i o n a l meetings on
o t h s r d a y s , i f n e c e s s a r y , t o d e a l with
urgent b u s i n e s s .
P o r s t a t i s t i c s o f meetings s e e Annex I I I .
S p e c i a l o r emergency m e e t l s g s o f the C a b i n e t a r e u s u a l l y
summoned by telephone messages from the C a b i n e t O f f i c e on
the I n s t r u c t i o n s o f the Prime M i n i s t e r .
The K i n g a P r i v a t e
S e c r e t a r y should always be informed.
I f time a l l o w s the
arrangements a r e confirmed by the c i r c u l a t i o n o f a s agenda
4
P o r the summoning o f meetings a f t e r
i l working hours a s s c u r r e n t I n s t r u c t i o n s
t o Duty O f f i c e r s .
See a l s o P i l s 4/1/15.
HtftUftfis
in H o t t e r
fWwbi
l a the h o l i d a y p e r i o d s , v i s . £ a s t e r , a h i t sun and Christmas,
i t i s u s u a l t o a v o i d meetings of t h e C a b i n e t Committees and
indeed of the Cabinet i t s e l f , u n l e s s s p e c i a l l y u r g e n t b u s i n e s s
arises.
A few s e e k s i n advance the S e c r e t a r y of the Cabinet
t a k e s the Prime M i n i s t e r ' s i n s t r u c t i o n s on the arrangements to
be made.
The note c i r c u l a t e d by the S e c r e t a r y o f the Cabinet
a t the Prime M i n i s t e r * s d i r e c t i o n u s u a l l y s t a t e s t h a t i f a
meeting of the C a b i n e t I s r e q u i r e d every e f f o r t w i l l be made
t o h o l d i t on a p a r t i c u l a r day so t h a t M i n i s t e r s can make t h e i r
own arrangements a c c o r d i n g l y .
I n t h e summer P a r l i a m e n t a r y Recess i t i s u s u a l to r e g a r d
the f i r s t s i x or seven weeks as a c l o s e p e r i o d i n which
Cabinet Committee meetings a r e a v o i d e d a l t o g e t h e r and meetings
of the C a b i n e t kept a s few a s p o s s i b l e .
To a v o i d c a l l i n g
C a b i n e t Committee meetings d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d the p r a c t i c e i s
t o arrange f o r urgent business which would have been taken
a t them t o be taken i n s t e a d a t the C a b i n e t .
A submission i n
t h i s g e n e r a l sense i s made t o the Prime M i n i s t e r e a r l y i n J u l y .
See P i l e 4/l/8i
The notes i s s u e d on the d e s p a t c h of b u s i n e s s
d u r i n g the summer r e c e s s have been very s i m i l a r
i n the y e a r s 1 9 4 6 - 4 9 .
I n 1946 the note was
d i s c u s s e d b r i e f l y by the C a b i n e t ( C M . 7 6 ( 4 6 ) 1 ) .
This was not thought n e c e s s a r y i n subsequent
years.
The p r e - w a r p r a c t i c e was b r o a d l y
similar.