Declarations of interest
85. Any matter which may give rise to an actual or perceived conflict between duty and interest must be declared in line with the Code of Conduct for Ministers.
86. Ministers (including assistant ministers) attending Cabinet or Cabinet Committee meetings must, in relation to the matters under discussion, declare any private interests which give rise to, or are likely to give rise to, a conflict with their public duties. Generally, declarations should be made in all cases where an interest exists which could not be said to be shared with the rest of the community.
87. Ministers must adopt a broad interpretation of the requirement and take into account pecuniary and non‐pecuniary interests, the interests of family members and all interests of their own when considering whether there is a conflict (or potential conflict) which should be declared.
88. Ministers need not automatically absent themselves from the discussion; the Chair must decide, in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary, whether to excuse the minister or explicitly agree to them taking part in discussions and the decision (see Annex C – Conduct of Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings).
Acknowledgement of Country
89. All Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings commence with an Acknowledgement of Country. Cabinet Division is responsible for ensuring that the Acknowledgement of Country is the first item on the agenda for each Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meeting.
Official note takers
90. Generally there are three official note takers in the room during Cabinet discussions. These officers are from PM&C and together they are responsible for drafting the Cabinet minute for the Cabinet Secretary's approval. Each note taker has distinct responsibilities in support of the meeting and the preparation of the minutes, as detailed in the Guide for Note Takers.
91. The notes taken are intended purely as an aide‐memoire for drafting the formal Cabinet minute after the meeting (see Annex F – Decisions of the Cabinet).
92. Note takers must use the Cabinet notebooks issued by Cabinet Division and must not make any other record of the discussion. Note takers use their discretion in judging what to record in their notes, but they are required to take a full record of any conflict of interest declared by a minister.
93. Note takers do not take a verbatim record but their notes may from time to time record the individual views of ministers and as such these notebooks are highly sensitive documents.
94. The notebooks remain the property of the Secretary of PM&C and are protected from early public release under the Archives Act 1983 and cannot be sought under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Cabinet notebooks are publicly released once they enter the open access period (currently after 30 years).
15
