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):

Audit & Risk Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee is a sub committee of the CO Board. Its role is to support the Board and Accounting by providing an independent view of the Department’s risk, control and governance arrangements and to review and make recommendations on the approval of the accounts for Cabinet Office, Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Civil Service Commission, 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.

Executive Committee (ExCo)

ExCo is the senior executive leadership of the Cabinet Office and 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):

  • Alex Chisholm, Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary (Cabinet Office)
  • Elizabeth Gardiner, First Parliamentary Counsel
  • Sarah Harrison, Chief Operating Officer
  • Richard Hornby, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Assurance, Finance and Controls, Cabinet Office
  • Carol Bernard CBE, Director of People and Places
  • Sharon Sawers, Director of Communications
  • Gareth Rhys Williams, Government Chief Commercial Officer and Non-Executive Director, Crown Commercial Service (CCS)
  • Emma Churchill, Director General, Borders and Protocol Delivery Group
  • Tom Read, Director General, Borders and Protocol Delivery Group
  • Darren Tierney, Director General, Propriety and Ethics
  • Beth Sizeland, Deputy National Security Adviser and Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Resilience and Security in the Cabinet Office
  • Dr Alexander Evans OBE, Strategy Director

Performance and Risk Committee

The Performance and Risk Committee is a sub-committee of ExCo and manages Departmental performance and strategic risks in delivering against the Single Departmental Plan.

Investment & Portfolio Committee

Investment & Portfolio Committee is a sub-committee of ExCo and reviews business cases and has the authority to approve spending of up to £5 million.

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 and provides strategic direction and oversight to corporate service within the Cabinet Office.

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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