The complexity of many of Grenada’s challenges and opportunities require careful deliberation based on the best information and advice available to the Cabinet.

For example, Cabinet may require evidence of the need for Government action, to justify the Government’s attention and the allocation of resources. Evidence of the scale of the problem and the urgency of the proposed steps to address it may be needed to justify the priority given to it. Evidence may also be needed to understand a problem, to enable the Government to address underlying causes and not just their symptoms.

Cabinet also often requires evidence on what works in what circumstances, to enable it to assess whether the interventions proposed by Ministries are likely to have the desired impact.

Proposed policies and programs must be capable of being implemented. Many Governments find that many of the decisions they take are not implemented. For many proposals to be implemented, necessary funding must be available, systems and procedures established, skilled staff recruited and/or trained, relevant laws must be in place and equipment and supplies procured. Given competing demands on the nation’s scarce resources and the need to develop capacity in many fields, implementation planning must begin before a proposal is submitted to Cabinet. Ministers proposing new policies and programs and other interventions must convince their colleagues that their proposals can be implemented and that they have analyzed the steps needed to do so.

Successful implementation of many policies requires not only public sector resources, but also changes in the behaviour of other stakeholders, who may be individuals, communities, businesses or other organizations. For example, a program to reduce youth unemployment may require the cooperation of employers in recruiting young workers and the participation of young people themselves to take advantage of the opportunities created. Likewise, a policy to increase private sector development will depend on how potential investors respond to the incentives or other actions taken by the Government. These responses are often hard to predict, depending on many factors such as attitudes, capacities and resources, especially for cross-cutting policies.

The evidence required by Cabinet to support proposals may come from formal evaluations of previous initiatives in Grenada or elsewhere, implementation reports on how public officers or others responded to previous government decisions or direct research into attitudes and capabilities. Evidence of need can come from government statistics or special surveys, or qualitative case studies, or data collected through management information systems or project monitoring.

In preparing proposals for Cabinet consideration, Ministers also have a special responsibility to assess the evidence and analysis provided by international advisers or donors based on experience elsewhere. Grenada must benefit from international lessons, both positive and negative ones, but it is critical that these be fully analyzed to ensure that they are relevant for a small island nation in the Caribbean, with all its strengths and challenges. The feasibility of proposals needs to be carefully assessed, taking into account local practices, capacities and the environment within which the proposals would be implemented.

In the course of developing this Manual, a survey of recent Cabinet Submissions highlighted that many proposals to Cabinet failed to provide evidence and analysis on all these issues.