Hard copy distribution of Cabinet material to Ministers

Ministers receive hard-copy versions of all Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers, which are delivered to Ministers’ offices by the Cabinet Office Registry.

Ministerial staff who take receipt of Cabinet and Cabinet committee material must be authorised by their Minister to do so. A form provided for this purpose is available from the Cabinet Office. Senior Private Secretaries should list on the form the names of staff who are authorised to sign waybills. The form is then signed by the Minister and returned to the Cabinet Office. The Minister’s office must either complete a new form, or provide an email, each time that authorisation for new ministerial staff is required.

Cabinet and Cabinet committee material will not be left if there is no-one present with authorisation to sign for receipt of the documents. The person signing the waybill must immediately report to the messenger or the Cabinet Office any discrepancy between the documents listed on the waybill and those that were delivered (documents become the responsibility of the Minister’s office once they are signed for).

Late each afternoon, the Cabinet Office Registry will email all Ministers’ offices to let them know when the last delivery of Cabinet material for the day is about to leave, or has been completed.

Departments do not receive hard-copy versions of Cabinet material that is accessible in CabNet from the Cabinet Office, as they are expected to access all relevant information through CabNet. Accordingly, chief executives and other government officials are not listed on the distribution list of hard-copy versions of Cabinet Office documents.

For information about the handling and storage of Cabinet material, and guidance on how to send hard-copy Cabinet material to Ministers, see the advice on the secure handling of Cabinet material.

Refer to the following page for more information

• Distribution of highly classified Cabinet material