Government response to the Committee's report on Respect and Cooperation: Building a Stronger Union for the 21st Century (30 August 2022)

This is the government's response, published 2 September 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".

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