Role of the Privy Council Office

The Privy Council Office is responsible for the supporting The King and the Privy Council in the delivery of all Privy Council business; and for facilitating the agreement on Government business which, for historical or other reasons, fall to Ministers as Privy Counsellors.

The Lord President of the Council has Ministerial responsibility for the Office, which has six staff.

Based at 1 Horse Guards Road, the Privy Council Office arranges nine scheduled Privy Council meetings per year and any ad hoc emergency Councils which are held by The King. Key functions include preparation of a briefing for His Majesty and the Lord President; and administrative formalities connected with all appointments of new Privy Counsellors; the procedural formalities both preceding and following a general elections and government reshuffles including the appointment of Secretaries of State and other Cabinet Ministers; all Royal Proclamations; approving Channel Island legislation; and, the appointment of High Sheriffs in England and Wales.

The Office is responsible for managing the process for appointments to a number of statutory bodies and for arranging for the approval of rules and qualifications giving entry to the professions. There are over 1,000 Chartered bodies, and any changes to their governance documents (their Royal Charters and Byelaws) require Privy Council approval. This in turn amounts to a form of government regulation of the professions, and in the case of some sectors (such as health, finance and engineering) Government policy can be taken forward through Charter and Byelaw amendments.

The Privy Council Office also has responsibility for coordinating the Privy Council’s role in Higher Education throughout the United Kingdom, through its responsibility for the Charters and Statutes of the pre-1992 Universities; and the instruments of government of the post-1992 Universities in Scotland and Wales. Universities including Oxford, Cambridge and London are governed by their own Acts of Parliament and the Privy Council has a role in recommending whether to approve amendments to the Statutes made under them. The Scottish Universities Committee of the Privy Council also regularly considers proposed statutory Ordinances of the four ancient Scottish universities.

In addition, the PCO also manages the casework in relation to the Lord President’s and Lord Chancellor’s role as the Visitor of various Universities, whereby they have responsibility for determining issues relating to the interpretation and application of University Statutes brought by members of academic staff.