Select committee: Constitution Committee
Recommendation 141
10th Report - Respect and Co-operation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st century
Published 20 Jan 2022
Constitution Committee Future Governance of the UK All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that the changes we propose to the operation of the Sewel convention should be reflected in an updated version of 190 The Committee scrutinises most public bills introduced to the House of Lords. This scrutiny includes consideration of any devolution issues. 191 The process assumes that most of the bills in question will have already completed their passage in the House of Commons. It is also assumed that this process will not be possible in all circumstances, including for bills which start in the House of Lords and in exceptional circumstances, such as emergency legislation. RESPECT AND CO-OPERATION: BUILDING A STRONGER UNION 45 the Cabinet Manual and the Guide to Making Legislation. In the meantime, as the Devolution Guidance Notes do not reflect the current devolution arrangements, they should be updated as a priority. Northern Ireland
From: Constitution Committee, 10th Report - Respect and Co-operation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st century, 20 January 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 2 September 2022 (deadline 20 March 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and shares its aim of a stronger Union, agreeing with some recommendations, declining others and giving a mix of commitments and 'will consider' responses on the rest.
- On the Sewel convention, the government says it "will carefully consider the Committee's recommendations" in its discussions with devolved counterparts. On the Cabinet Manual, it intends to publish a revised draft "within this Parliament".
- On intergovernmental relations, it "notes" that the IGR review assures a Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council meeting "at least annually", and that this does not preclude more frequent meetings.
- It does not intend to establish an English devolution task force, pointing instead to ongoing engagement on the Levelling Up White Paper. On the Ministerial Code, it says it "will consider" the recommendation for the next version but does not think revision "is necessary".
- On funding pots for local government, it agrees that effective central coordination matters and will "set out a plan for streamlining the funding landscape this year".