Our governance

The main decision-making, executive and managerial bodies in the Cabinet Office (CO).

Roles & Structure of our Boards and Committees.

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 senior Non-Executives from outside government.

Members (all linked to biographies):

Cabinet Office Audit & Risk Committee

The Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee (COARC) is a sub committee of the Board. Its role is to support the Board and Accounting Officer by providing an independent view of risk, control and governance arrangements in the department, including its executive agencies. The committee also reviews and makes recommendations on the approval of the accounts for the Cabinet Office, Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Civil Superannuation and Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme.

Members (all linked to biographies):

Nominations Committee

The CO board is supported by the Nominations Committee. It is responsible for ensuring there are satisfactory systems for identifying and developing leadership and high potential, scrutinising the incentive structure and succession planning for the board and the senior leadership of the department.

Members (all linked to biographies):

Cabinet Office Approvals Board

The Cabinet Office Approvals Board is a subcommittee of the Cabinet Office Board. It reviews and approves proposals above £1 million, consultancy spend of a minimum £10,000 or with a minimum duration of three months, and professional services spend of a minimum of £50,000.

Executive Committee (ExCo)

ExCo is the senior executive leadership of the Cabinet Office. It monitors Departmental delivery and performance, communicates decisions taken by the Permanent Secretary and takes collective decisions on corporate issues affecting the Department.

Members (all linked to biographies):

  • Catherine Little, Permanent Secretary (Cabinet Office)
  • Sarah Harrison, Chief Operating Officer
  • Richard Hornby, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Assurance, Finance and Controls, Cabinet Office
  • Gareth Rhys Williams, Government Chief Commercial Officer and Non-Executive Director, Crown Commercial Service (CCS)
  • Tom Read, Chief Executive Officer, Government Digital Service
  • Darren Tierney, Director General, Propriety and Ethics
  • Simon Baugh, Chief Executive, Government Communications Service
  • Vincent Devine, Government Chief Security Officer, Head of the Government Security Function
  • Kathryn Al-Shemmeri, Chief People Officer
  • Fiona Ryland, Government Chief People Officer
  • David Foley
  • Fleur Johnson
  • Alice Matthews
  • Laura Gilbert
  • Emma Churchill
  • Tim Barrow

Performance and Risk Committee

The Performance and Risk Committee is a sub-committee of ExCo. The purpose of the committee is to monitor the performance of the department, establish processes for addressing areas of poor performance and ensure robust mitigations are in place to address departmental strategic risks.

People & Operations Committee

People & Operations Committee is a sub-committee of ExCo and provides strategic oversight of the delivery of the Cabinet Office people strategy.

Resilience and Security Committee

The Resilience and Security Committee is a subcommittee of ExCo. Established in 2022, it will formulate overarching strategies to mitigate risk, deliver security improvements and oversee strategic information, physical, personnel and cyber security across the Department.

Structure of our boards and committees

For more information on our boards and committees, see our annual report and accounts.

This report includes a visual representation of our governance structure.

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