PM takes charge of key cabinet committees
Tony Blair has taken personal control of a number of key Cabinet committees, including anti-social behaviour and immigration.
In a shake-up of the committee system, the number of committees has been reduced from 61 to 44 and the Prime Minister has taken on additional responsibility for chairing.
Other senior ministers such as the Chancellor, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary will chair his committees in his absence.
Mr Blair will chair 15 committees in all: Anti-social behaviour, asylum and migration, defence and overseas policy, Iraq, international terrorism, energy and the environment, European Union strategy, housing and planning, National Health Service reform, public service reform, regulation bureaucracy and risk, schools policy, welfare reform and serious organised crime, and drugs.
Hopes that the Government is going to push for a positive vote on the European Constitution and act on the environment will be boosted by the PM’s decision to take control of those committees. The other committees represent key manifesto commitments, with the exception of asylum – though that did prove to be a key general election issue with the Conservatives gaining significant political capital.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will chair five and deputise on seven committees, Chancellor Gordon Brown will chair two and deputise on three and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will chair four and deputise on two.
Speaking this morning, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said the new structure was designed to reflect Labour’s manifesto commitments and give a more central role to Cabinet committees in the Government.
He said the new structure was designed to speed up the pace of reform and the PM was chairing committees that reflected the Government’s priorities.
