Catalogue description Cabinet Office: Defence and Oversea Policy Committees and Sub-Committees: Minutes and Papers (DO, DOP, OPD and OPDO Series)

CAB 148/1-64 are listed in alphabetical order of symbol (i.e. the letters used as the first part of the reference for the committee's papers). Later papers will be added in chronological order of administration. It should be noted that the symbol changed with each change of administration.

As part of the reorganisation of the Central Organisation for Defence (Cmnd 2097) the Defence and Oversea Policy Committee (DOPC) was formed on 1 October 1963 by direction of the Prime Minister. It succeeded the Defence Committee dating from 1940 and the Oversea Policy Committee dating from 1962.

The DOPC was chaired by the Prime Minister. Its terms of reference was 'to keep under review the Government's defence and oversea policies'. Membership of the committee included the first Secretary of State, the Foreign Secretary, the Chancellor of the Exchequer or Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Home Secretary, the Commonwealth and Colonial Secretary and the Minister of Defence.

The terms of reference for the Official Committee was 'to consider questions of defence and oversea policy'. The Official Committee was chaired by the Secretary of the Cabinet. Membership of the committee included the Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign Office, the Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, the Permanent Under Secretary at the Commonwealth Relations Office, the Permanent Under Secretary at the Colonial Office, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Defence and the Permanent Secretary at the Board of Trade.