The Cabinet Manual could form the basis of a written constitution, and unintentionally cause further moves towards one, the political and constitutional reform committee said today.

The committee called for regular parliamentary debates on the Cabinet Manual because of the ability of the document to develop into a written constitution.

The report noted that while the document suggests it is of limited ambition, "there is scope for the constitutional impact of the Cabinet Manual to be greater than this".

"By bringing together and publishing the government’s interpretation of existing constitutional rules and conventions, the government has already begun to spark debate about both the natures of these rules and conventions, and if and how they should be written down."

It added that the document “has considerable overlap in content with what might be expected of a constitution”. Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell had told the committee that the document “would be the likely starting point for any attempt to produce such a constitution”.

The report acknowledged that the manual in its present form is not an attempt to form a written constitution, however, and welcomed its motivation – “a desire to be more transparent about how government works”.

The committee called for a debate surrounding the conventions on parliamentary approval for war. It notes that military action is only mentioned as being “normally” considered by the cabinet. The approval of the House of Commons is not mentioned.

The committee calls for this convention to be included in the Cabinet Manual, and also questions what the exact nature of the convention is.

The full report is available here.

Written by CSW