"Often the best and fastest way of dealing with things… is to do that minister to minister."

John Healey, Minister of state for housing and planning (2009–10)

Every department consists of a team of ministers, led by the secretary of state. Junior ministers have distinct but interrelated policy portfolios. The secretary of state has overarching responsibility for everything the department does, as well as specific responsibilities of their own.

How well a ministerial team works depends greatly on the secretary of state. They control how the team works together: they may set up regular meetings as a ministerial team, or one-on-one conversations with individual ministers, to discuss departmental business, as well as more informal catch-ups. The relationships between ministers are hugely important: while you do not necessarily choose your colleagues, you need to be able to work with them to make progress on your objectives.

As well as the personal relationships you have, there are others involved in supporting the ministerial team to work together. A lot of ministers’ communication with other ministers in the department, as well as with other departments, goes through private offices. For instance, private secretaries will exchange submissions marked with the views of different ministers and seek to establish an agreed position.