Intergovernmental relations

What are intergovernmental relations?

Intergovernmental relations (IGR) refer to engagement between ministers and officials from the UK government, Scottish government, Welsh government, and Northern Ireland executive. The term covers multilateral and bilateral channels, including both formal and informal engagement.

The UK government and devolved administrations concluded a review of intergovernmental relations in January 2022, leading to the creation of a new framework and set of structures for managing intergovernmental relations. This review agreed five principles for engagement:

• maintaining positive, constructive, and respectful relationships
• building and maintaining trust
• sharing information and respecting confidentiality
• increasing understanding of intergovernmental activities
• resolving disputes through an agreed process ^undefined Cabinet Office, Review of Intergovernmental Relations, p. 1, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046083/The_Review_of_Intergovernmental_Relations.pdf  

The new IGR framework superseded the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) system that had been established in 1999, and which had been widely criticised for its lack of transparency, irregular meeting schedules, and weak dispute resolution protocol. ^undefined Cabinet Office, Review of Intergovernmental Relations, p. 1, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046083/The_Review_of_Intergovernmental_Relations.pdf  The JMC system had largely ceased to function by 2022.

Separately, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement created the British-Irish Council. This consists of the governments of the UK, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The British-Irish Council was not covered by the IGR review.

In 2024, the Labour government also created a new body: the Council of Nations and Region, which brings together the leaders of the four governments, along with English metro mayors. 

What are the formal structures for intergovernmental engagement?

A three-tier committee structure provides for formal multilateral engagement between ministers, which is supplemented by informal interaction at both political and official levels.

The Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Government Council

The Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Government Council (the Council) is the top tier of the new structure. 

Chaired by the prime minister, its membership includes the first ministers of Scotland and Wales, as well as the first minister and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland. Other ministers are invited as necessary. For example, Jeremy Hunt attended as Chancellor in November 2022 to discuss the economy and the cost of living.

The Council considers strategic issues affecting the UK as a whole and provides direction to the wider IGR structure.

Interministerial Standing Committee and Finance Interministerial Standing Committee

The middle tier consists of a general Interministerial Standing Committee (IMSC) and a Finance Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC). Additional time-limited interministerial committees may be established at this tier to address specific issues.

IMSC provides a forum for ministers to discuss strategic issues wider than individual portfolios and to keep the effectiveness of portfolio-level engagement under review. Its membership varies to allow relevant departmental ministers to attend, but always includes the ministers responsible for IGR across the four governments.

F:ISC has a similar strategic remit to IMSC, but it focuses on financial and economic matters and is made up by finance ministers from the UK government and devolved administrations.

Interministerial Groups

Interministerial Groups (IMGs) are the lowest tier. These are intended to facilitate regular portfolio-level discussion between departmental ministers. For example, the June 2023 Education IMG discussed the use of digital technologies to improve learning and teaching and reduce teacher workloads. ⁴⁷ Department for Education, UK Education Ministers Council Communique: 8 June 2023, www.gov.uk/government/publications/communiques-from-the-interministerial-group-for-education  

The majority of IMGs are made up of representatives from the four governments. The exception to this is the Work and Pensions IMG which is only between the UK and Welsh government. There is also a Joint Ministerial Working Group (JMWG) for Welfare between the UK and Scottish government.  

During the breakdown of power-sharing in Northern Ireland from 2022 to early 2024, senior officials attended IGR committees in place of ministers. However since the restoration of the power-sharing executive on 31 January 2024 ministers from Northern Ireland have once again been in attendance at IMG meetings.

The Council of Nations and Regions

Separate from the IGR framework, the Labour government has established a Council of the Nations and Regions (CNR), which first met in Edinburgh in October 2024. ⁴⁸ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office, ‘Council of the Nations and Regions: Inaugural meeting on 11 October 2024’, 17 October 2024, retrieved 28 February 2025, www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-inaugural-meeting/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-inaugural-meeting-on-11-oc…  It is chaired by the prime minister and its membership includes the first ministers of Scotland and Wales, the first and deputy first ministers of Northern Ireland, the mayor of London and metro mayors from elsewhere in England. ⁴⁹ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office, ‘Council of the Nations and Regions: Terms of Reference’, 17 October 2024, retrieved 28 February 2025, www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-terms-of-reference/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-terms-of-reference

The deputy prime minister – as lead minister for local government and English devolution – and the minister for intergovernmental relations also attend from the UK government. Additional ministers may be invited when the agenda relates to their portfolios.

The CNR is intended to facilitate collaboration and the sharing of best practice on cross-cutting challenges and common priorities. ⁵⁰ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office, ‘Council of the Nations and Regions: Terms of Reference’, 17 October 2024, retrieved 3 March 2025, www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-terms-of-reference/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-terms-of-reference  The first meeting discussed attracting inward investment and how this can support economic growth. ⁵¹ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office, ‘Council of the Nations and Regions: Inaugural meeting on 11 October 2024’, 17 October 2024, retrieved 28 February 2025, www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-inaugural-meeting/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-inaugural-meeting-on-11-oc…

As part of its English devolution agenda, the government has also established a separate Mayoral Council ⁵² Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ‘Deputy Prime Minister launches first-ever Mayoral Council’, press release, 10 October 2024, retrieved 7 March 2025, www.gov.uk/government/news/deputy-prime-minister-launches-first-ever-mayoral-council  - formed of mayors and ministers - and a Leaders Council ⁵³ Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ‘Leaders Council;, 5 February 2025, retrieved 7 March 2025, www.gov.uk/government/collections/leaders-council  formed of ministers and local council leaders. 

How often do the IGR committees meet?

IGR committees are intended to meet regularly. Individual committees can agree to meet more or less frequently, but in general IMGs are expected to meet every two months, IMSC and F:ISC quarterly, the Council annually, and the CNR twice a year.

However, in practice the frequency and the regularity of meetings varies. Some IMGs have met only once or twice in the three years since the review of IGR was published. Others – including F:ISC – have roughly followed the intended schedule.

Meetings are known to have been held in 15 IMGs. This is fewer than anticipated in the review, which included a non-exhaustive list of 19 areas where IMGs were expected to operate. Consequently, there are no known IMGs operating in some policy areas such as veterans’ affairs and tourism.

No meetings of any IGR bodies were held during the premiership of Liz Truss, who also did not speak with the first ministers of Scotland and Wales during her short time in Downing Street. By contrast, Rishi Sunak spoke with both Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford and chaired a Council meeting shortly after taking office, although this was the only meeting of the Council during his premiership. Keir Starmer met with each first minister and the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland during a tour of the four nations in the days after he took office. ⁵⁴ Sky News, ‘Keir Starmer to visit all four nations of UK - as he says Rwanda scheme 'dead and buried', 7 July 2024, retrieved 3 March 2025, https://news.sky.com/story/pm-to-visit-all-four-nations-of-uk-and-announces-mission-delivery-boards-to-drive-change-13174119

A lot of ministerial engagement also happens outside the formal committee system. In 2023, the UK government recorded 175 bilateral or multilateral non-IMG meetings with devolved ministers – compared to 35 formal IMG meetings in the same period. ⁵⁵ Cabinet Office, ‘Interactive Transparency Report Dashboard for Quarter 1, Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of 2023’, accessed 12 April 2024, www.gov.uk/government/publications/quarterly-reports-on-intergovernmental-relations

The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) held the most meetings with devolved administrations in 2023, with 23 non-IMG meetings and further IMG meetings. ⁵⁶ The Intergovernmental Relations Annual Report 2023 states that DLUHC held seven IMG meetings but does not specify which IMGs.  This was followed by the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero and the Wales Office who held a total of 21 IGR meetings each. ⁵⁷ Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Intergovernmental Relations Annual Report 2023, Cm 1064, The Stationery Office, 2024, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6627a1e3838212a903a7e601/Intergovernmental_Relations_Annual_Report.pdf

Can decisions in intergovernmental committees bind governments?

Governments cannot be bound by the IGR committees. The review declared the structures were a “statement of political intent” which do not “create new, or override existing, legal relations or obligations”.

All decisions are intended to be reached by consensus rather than majority vote. 

What is the IGR Secretariat?

The IGR Secretariat supports the IGR committees by determining the dates and locations of the meetings, compiling and distributing background papers and meeting minutes, and drafting annual reports on IGR for scrutiny by the four legislatures. It also facilitates the formal dispute resolution process.

It is made up of officials from all four governments and accountable to the Council as a whole, rather than any single government. Secretariat support to the previous JMC system was provided by officials from the UK government, causing its independence to occasionally be questioned by devolved governments. ^undefined Cabinet Office, Review of Intergovernmental Relations, p. 1, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1046083/The_Review_of_Intergovernmental_Relations.pdf

How are disputes between the UK and devolved governments handled?

Governments are expected to work together to avoid disagreements and resolve them at portfolio-level where possible, but a dispute resolution process exists where this fails. 

Any government can raise a dispute: no other government can reject this decision. However, disputes can only be considered through the formal process after extensive consideration at portfolio-level by officials and ministers and the issue must have implications beyond a single policy area, including the potential to harm intergovernmental relations. Disputes that do not meet these criteria are not dealt with via this process.

Disputes that meet these criteria are first considered by the IMSC or the F:ISC, depending on the nature of the disagreement. IMSC or F:ISC will attempt to resolve the dispute, but further escalation to the Council is possible as the final step of the process. Governments are encouraged to seek mediation before reaching this point.

Independent third-party advice and evidence can also be commissioned to inform the resolution of most non-financial disputes. This must be sought if any government involved in the dispute requests it. The advice produced is non-binding and intended to “inform subsequent discussion.”

Governments are required to report to their legislatures if disputes are unresolved and explain why dispute resolution was unsuccessful. 

No disputes have been officially resolved through this process. The Northern Ireland executive raised a dispute with the UK government about the payment of a pension scheme for permanent disability resulting from Troubles-related incidents. ⁵⁸ House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, The Governance of the Union: Consultation, Co-operation and Legislative Consent: First report of session 2024–25 (HL 13), The Stationery Office, 2024, p. 30  The dispute was put on hold due to the collapse of the Executive in Belfast in February 2022, ⁵⁹ House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, The Governance of the Union: Consultation, Co-operation and Legislative Consent: First report of session 2024–25 (HL 13), The Stationery Office, 2024, p. 30  and it does not appear to have recommenced. ⁶⁰ Baroness Penn, ‘Intergovernmental Relations Within the United Kingdom’, 18 Jan 2024, hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2024-01-18/debates/EC6CEB7C-0864-4233-A71C-4B85E0D730C6/IntergovernmentalRelationsWithinTheUnitedKingdom

The previous JMC dispute resolution protocol was invoked four times. Three disputes covered funding allocations, with the fourth related to fishing quotas.

What intergovernmental processes are used to manage the domestic implications of Brexit?

Operating in parallel with the IGR structures discussed above, a set of ‘common frameworks’ have been negotiated to facilitate coordination and manage divergence in devolved policy areas that were previously covered by EU law. 

Only one common framework – relating to planning around hazardous substances – has been fully approved. A further 27 common frameworks are in operation but in provisional form, requiring final approval from UK and devolved ministers. ^undefined Cabinet Office, UK Common Frameworks, 28 February 2023, retrieved 9 August 2023, www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-common-frameworks#uk-common-frameworks-(provisional)  In December 2024, the government announced it would aim to finalise the common frameworks by late-April 2025. ⁶³ Alexander D, ‘The Review of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020: Statement made on 12 December 2024: Statement UIN HCWS299’, UK Parliament, 12 December 2024, retrieved 27 February 2025, https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-12-12/hcws299

Common frameworks also intersect with the UK Internal Market Act (IMA), which allows for goods produced in one part of the UK to be sold in other parts without additional requirements. UK ministers can grant exemptions to allow local regulations to apply to all goods sold in a devolved administration, rather than just goods produced there. Requests for exclusions can be made through the relevant common framework. 

UK ministers have granted some, but not all, exemptions requested by devolved governments. For example, the Scottish government successfully sought an exemption for its ban on single use plastics, which was agreed by the UK government. ⁶⁴ Damon Davies, ‘Scotland’s Ban on Single-Use Plastics: a case study of the impact of the UK Internal Market Act’, Scottish Parliament Information Centre, 27 October 2022, https://spice-spotlight.scot/2022/10/27/scotlands-ban-on-single-use-plastics-a-case-study-of-the-impact-of-the-uk-internal-market-act/  It also attempted to use this process for an exemption to allow its bottle deposit return scheme to be implemented, but the UK government was only willing to issue a partial exemption on that occasion.