The Cabinet Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities oversee intergovernmental relations between the UK government, devolved administrations (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), and local authorities. The framework includes transparency reporting, engagement dashboards, and formal mechanisms for coordination on devolved matters, with recent focus on Scottish First Minister engagement.
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Under the UK’s constitutional arrangements, the power to negotiate and enter into international agreements is a prerogative power; as such, the power still sits notionally with the sovereign, but in practice is exercised exclusively by the executive (i.e Ministers of …
The UK Government carries out negotiations and enters into treaties for the whole of the UK. However, under the UK’s devolution arrangements, day to day responsibility for areas of domestic policy which could be impacted by treaties often lies with …
While many of the principles in the Concordat on International Relations appear to us to continue to be the right ones, the Concordat itself clearly needs to be updated, and the cooperation that it facilitates must take place in earnest. …
The negotiation and conclusion of treaties is a reserved matter. As such, devolved legislatures do not currently have a formal role in the scrutiny of treaties. However, many treaties, in particular following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, may …
We stress the importance of the UK Government consistently informing devolved governments when it reaches an NLBI that has implications for devolved competence, and for this to be indicated in the central repository recommended in paragraph 94 above. Furthermore, we …
How the devolved legislatures choose to carry out effective scrutiny of relevant aspects is a matter for them to determine. However, we believe that their scrutiny of international agreements which involve areas of devolved competence is important. 66 Parliamentary Scrutiny …
The UK and Scottish Governments share many of the same priorities for Scotland on the international stage and there is an important role for the Scottish Government to play in promoting Scottish interests overseas in areas of devolved competence. Despite …
Direction: to_committee
Direction: to_committee
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Direction: to_committee
Direction: from_committee
Direction: to_committee
Direction: to_committee
We welcome the publishing of the Intergovernmental Review on 13 January 2022 and we look forward to seeing how interministerial groups will work together to consider how their separate policies will interact with each other in the future, particularly should …
We welcome the establishment of an Interministerial Group on Welfare, as part of the recently published Review of Intergovernmental Relations. However, while this will provide an important forum for bringing together the four UK governments to discuss welfare and social …
Direction: to_committee
Direction: to_committee
We note that while intergovernmental relations on the devolution of welfare appear to be working well, the evidence received by the Committee highlights that there are operational issues around data sharing that need to be resolved to the satisfaction of …
We note that while intergovernmental relations on the devolution of welfare appear to be working well, the evidence received by the Committee highlights that there are operational issues around data sharing that need to be resolved to the satisfaction of …
In the written evidence provided from the Scottish Government and the DWP, collaboration appears to be working well at inter-governmental level. The Scottish Government highlight that they have a ‘constructive relationship’56 with the DWP with the Cabinet Secretary for Social …
Direction: to_committee
We expect DIT to finalise governance arrangements by agreeing on a concordat by January 2021 and recommend that other UK government departments consider using this as a model for strengthening their relationships with the devolved administrations. Type: conclusion | Number: …
Direction: to_committee
We agree with Professor Nicola McEwen that trust is an essential ingredient for intergovernmental relations, and it is clear that trust needs to develop between the UK and Scottish Governments. This takes effort from both sides. Holding regular, formal, structured, …
We welcome the review of intergovernmental working and look forward to seeing the results of the report. We intend to return to this issue later in the Parliament. Type: conclusion | Number: 2 | Paragraph: 17 | Response status: under_consideration …
The UK Government has failed to make clear when its messaging applies only to England, causing unnecessary confusion in the devolved nations. There should be messaging clarity to minimise confusion across national boundaries, and this must begin to happen with …
We are concerned to hear that Ministerial Implementation Groups (MIGs) and COBRA have ceased to meet in the context of the pandemic. From what we have heard about how communication standards currently stand, decision-makers in devolved nations have come to …
We have also noted that the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) has not been used as a method of intergovernmental communication throughout the pandemic, although we have heard suggestions that it would not have been fit for purpose in the COVID-19 …
We also recommend that the Government explain to us how it will incorporate concerns about the resilience and suitability of current IGR structures (particularly the JMC) into its ongoing review of Intergovernmental Relations. Type: conclusion | Number: 6 | Paragraph: …
We call on the UK and Scottish Governments to provide details of the procedures and processes used by their advisory groups for providing scientific advice. A commitment to transparency around scientific advice would provide the public and Parliament with the …
Direction: to_committee
Direction: from_committee
Direction: from_committee