Cabinet Office
The engine room of government — and the room where government remembers how to be a government. Runs the civil service, elections, and the bits no other department wants to own.
The Cabinet Office sits at the centre of Whitehall. It supports the Prime Minister, coordinates policy across departments, oversees the Civil Service and is responsible for making the machinery of government function. It was created in December 1916, during the First World War, to bring order to a system that was not coping with the demands being placed upon it. More than a century later, the same description still applies. The department employs around 10,000 staff and is headquartered at 70 Whitehall. The Prime Minister is formally Minister for the Civil Service, while day to day political leadership sits with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, currently Darren Jones, operating under the new title of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.
That coordinating role has itself been one of the least stable jobs in government. Since 2010 it has been held by Lord Strathclyde, Lord Hill of Oareford, Oliver Letwin, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, David Lidington, Michael Gove, Steve Barclay, Kit Malthouse, Nadhim Zahawi, Oliver Dowden and Pat McFadden before Jones. That is twelve holders in sixteen years. The office that exists to steady the rest of government has been subject to exactly the same churn that afflicts every department it is meant to coordinate.
The sharpest measure of the Cabinet Office's effectiveness is the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The whole life cost of the government's major projects stood at £442 billion, covering infrastructure, military capabilities, transformation, service delivery and information technology. In 2013 the then Infrastructure and Projects Authority judged 48 percent of those projects at least probable of successful delivery. By 2019 that figure had fallen to 17 percent. Fewer than one in five of the government's own major projects were considered likely to succeed, as judged by its own watchdog. The authority was dissolved in April 2025 and replaced by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority. New name, new acronym, the same underlying challenge. The UK had the lowest level of public investment in the G7 for 24 of the last 30 years, and the Cabinet Office sat at the centre of the system that produced that record.
Civil service reform tells a similar story of repeated ambition and limited traction. Departmental administration budgets are being cut by 11 percent in real terms between 2025/26 and 2028/29, with a further 5 percent in 2029/30 alone, and £150 million has been committed for civil service exit schemes. Successive governments have tried to shrink the civil service, and it invariably proves harder than ministers imagine. Headcount grew sharply during Covid and has been slow to fall back. The tension between demanding better delivery from departments and cutting the staff who deliver it has never been resolved, and the Cabinet Office has never found a way to make both objectives compatible.
There are reforms intended to break the pattern. All major projects in the portfolio must now publish a business case within four months of Treasury approval, a transparency measure designed to prevent the quiet inflation of costs that has characterised too many programmes. Whether transparency changes behaviour or simply produces better documented failure remains to be seen.
The department's role becomes most visible during national crises, and those crises have cut both ways. The Covid pandemic showed what the centre of government could do when circumstances demanded it, and what it could not. The vaccination programme was a genuine operational achievement. The VIP lane for protective equipment contracts, which gave politically connected suppliers faster access to public money, was a genuine failure of propriety. The Greensill affair, in which a former prime minister was granted extraordinary access to the Treasury on behalf of a financial firm that later collapsed, exposed weaknesses in the rules governing lobbying, conflicts of interest and the revolving door between government and private business. Both episodes pointed to the same structural problem. The Cabinet Office is responsible for the standards, ethics and coordination of government, yet was implicated in some of the most damaging breakdowns of those standards in modern memory.
A deeper criticism is that the department has increasingly become a political coordination unit for whichever prime minister occupies Downing Street, rather than the institutional engine for long term reform. Special advisers, communications strategy, policy units and political management have crowded out the slower, less glamorous work of improving procurement, workforce planning, digital capability and project delivery. Governments change. The structural problems remain, because they are never quite interesting enough to fix.
The Cabinet Office can point to genuine strengths. Britain retains stable institutions. Power transfers peacefully. The Civil Service is politically impartial and internationally respected. Government continues to function under enormous complexity. The new transparency rule and the creation of NISTA signal an intent to do better. These are real assets, and they should not be dismissed.
The larger question is whether functioning is enough. The public sees £442 billion of major projects with fewer than one in five judged likely to succeed. It sees administration budgets cut by 11 percent while the same departments are asked to deliver more. It sees lobbying scandals, procurement controversies and revolving door episodes originating from the very centre of government. It sees twelve holders of the coordinating role in sixteen years, none of them in post long enough to see a reform programme through. The department that exists to make government work has not yet made a convincing case that government works well enough. After a century of reviews, reform programmes, efficiency drives and reorganisations, Britain still struggles with the same administrative weaknesses that were identified decades ago. For the department at the centre of it all, that is the hardest verdict to answer.
Department Staff
Ministers
Senior Civil Service
The politicians change. These people often stay for years.
Board Members
Budget · 2025/26
Central coordination of government, the National Security Secretariat, the propriety and ethics function, the Civil Service People Group, the Office for Veterans' Affairs, the Government Communication Service, the Geospatial Commission and the Crown Commercial Service. Effectively the Prime Minister's department for cross government delivery, even though the Prime Minister's Office is technically a separate ministerial line.
Agencies & Arm's Length Bodies (38)
- Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA)
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) is independent from government. ACOBA is an advisory non departmental public body, sponsored by the Cabinet Office .
- Cabinet Office Board
The Cabinet Office board provides the collective strategic and operational leadership of the Department, bringing together Cabinet Office Ministers, senior members of the Department’s executive leadership team with…
- Civil Service
The Civil Service serves the government of the day and supports them to develop and implement its policies as effectively as possible.
- Corporate Officers of the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the publicly elected chamber of Parliament. Members of the Commons debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws.
- Corporate Officers of the House of Lords
The House of Lords is the second chamber of UK Parliament. It plays a crucial role in examining bills, questioning government action and investigating public policy.
- Disability Unit
Our aim is to break down the barriers faced by disabled people in the UK and to work across government to improve disabled people’s lives. Disability Unit is part of the Cabinet Office .
- Evaluation Task Force (ETF)
We are a joint Cabinet Office HM Treasury unit providing specialist support to ensure evidence and evaluation sits at the heart of spending decisions. ETF works with the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury .
- Government Commercial Agency (GCA)
We are the UK’s largest public procurement agency, helping the public sector maximise value for the nation when buying common goods and services. GCA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Cabinet Office .
- Government Commercial Function (GCF)
The Government Commercial Function is a cross government network procuring or supporting the procurement of goods and services for the government. GCF is part of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Office .
- Government Estates Management (GEM)
We are responsible for providing solutions to specialist estates management issues across government. GEM works with the Cabinet Office .
- Government Operational Research Service (GORS)
Using scientific and mathematical techniques to find better solutions to complex management problems and improve decision making in government. GORS is part of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Office .
- Government People Function (GPF)
The Government People Function is the cross government community of civil servants who support or enable the delivery of human resources (HR) in the Civil Service.
- Government People Group (GPG)
Government People Group (GPG) is the strategic and functional centre for the Government People Function and human resources (HR) in the Civil Service. GPG is part of the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service .
- Government Property Agency (GPA)
The Government Property Agency is leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK to transform how the Civil Service works. GPA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Cabinet Office .
- Government Property Function (GPF)
The Government Property Function operates across departments, delivery organisations and agencies. It is a network of over 5,000 members with responsibility for a range of property related activities.
- Government Skills
We support civil servants and public sector leaders to develop the skills, knowledge and networks they need to deliver their best for citizens and ministers.
- Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards (IAMS)
The Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards is appointed by the Prime Minister to advise him on matters relating to the Ministerial Code.
- Infected Blood Memorial Committee
The Infected Blood Memorial Committee has been established to secure a consensus from the Infected Blood Community on the most fitting way to recognise and remember what happened to people.
- Leadership College for Government (LCG)
The Leadership College for Government equips public and Civil Service leaders with the skills, knowledge, and networks to solve today’s most complex problems.
- Modernisation and Reform
We are committed to working towards the common purpose of reforming government and modernising the Civil Service to better deliver for the public. Modernisation and Reform is part of the Cabinet Office .
- National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA)
We unite long term strategy with best practice project delivery, transforming UK major projects and programmes. NISTA works with the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury .
- National Security and Intelligence
The National Security Secretariat coordinates security and intelligence issues of strategic importance across government and supports the National Security Adviser and National Security Council.
- Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO)
We lead on equality policy including women’s equality, race equality, LGBT+ equality, disability equality, socio economic equality and the overall framework of equality legislation for the UK.
- Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (OLHC)
We provide support to the Leader of the House of Commons, who is responsible for planning and supervising the government’s legislative programme (including the King’s speech), and managing government business within the…
- Office of the Leader of the House of Lords (OLHL)
We provide support to the Leader of the House of Lords. The Leader of the House is appointed by the Prime Minister, is a member of Cabinet, and is responsible for the conduct of government business in the Lords.
- Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC)
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a group of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation. We work closely with departments to translate policy into clear, effective and readable law.
- Open Public Services (OPS)
Open Public Services (OPS) is the government’s reform programme for public services. We work with people across government, local government, the private sector and civil society to make sure that everyone has access to…
- Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street (Number 10)
10 Downing Street is the official residence and the office of the British Prime Minister. The office helps the Prime Minister to establish and deliver the government’s overall strategy and policy priorities, and to…
- Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA)
The Public Sector Fraud Authority works with departments and public bodies to understand and reduce the impact of fraud. PSFA is part of the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury .
- Race Equality Unit (REU)
We work across government and beyond to identify and tackle racial and ethnic inequalities – through legislation, policy and data. REU is part of the Cabinet Office and the Office for Equality and Opportunity .
- Security Vetting Appeals Panel (SVAP)
We provide a final means of challenging a decision to refuse or withdraw national security vetting. SVAP is an advisory non departmental public body, sponsored by the Cabinet Office .
- Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB)
The Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) provides independent advice to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary on the pay…
- The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee (QEMC)
The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee is a joint body set up to advise the Government and the Royal Household on the national memorialisation of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II QEMC is an ad hoc advisory group of…
- UK Commission on Covid Commemoration
The UK Commission on Covid Commemoration has been established to secure a broad consensus from across the whole of the United Kingdom on how we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic and mark this distinctive period in our…
- UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF)
The UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF) is a government wide fund that addresses the highest priority threats to UK national security, at home and abroad. UKISF is part of the Cabinet Office .
- UK Resilience Academy (UKRA)
The UK Resilience Academy will provide learning and development to people leading and working in government and across the wider resilience sector. UKRA is part of the Cabinet Office .
- United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV)
United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is the single government provider of National Security Vetting (NSV). We are the centre of excellence for security vetting and enable government to protect citizens and provide…
- Women and Equalities Unit (WEU)
The Women and Equalities Unit is part of the Office for Equality and Opportunity. We lead work on policy relating to gender equality, LGBT+ people and the overall framework of equality legislation in the UK.