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The Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council is an intergovernmental body in the United Kingdom that consists of the UK prime minister and the heads of the three national devolved governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.[1]

Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council
PredecessorJoint Ministerial Committee
Formation10 November 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-10)
Legal statusIntergovernmental body
PurposeIntergovernmental relations
Region served
United Kingdom
Membership
Chair
Keir Starmer
WebsitePrime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council

History

Further information: Devolution in the UK and Intergovernmental relations in the UK

In 1999, devolved administrations were created in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland by the United Kingdom parliament.[2] Initially a Joint Ministerial Committee system was created in 1999 by Tony Blair's Labour UK government to coordinate relationships between the three new governments and the UK government.[3]

In 2022, following a review into intergovernmental relations in the UK, the present tiered system of governance was put in place.[4] The tiered structure includes a Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council as a top tier, portfolio-specific interministerial standing committees as a middle tier, and topic-based intergovernmental groups as the lower tier.[5][6][7]

Responsibilities

The council is responsible for:

  • Discussing UK-level policies that require cooperation.
  • Overseeing the other government organisations and mechanisms within the tiers of intergovernmental relations.
  • Acting as final arbiter for the UK dispute resolution mechanism.[8]

Membership

The members of the council are the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First and deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland. Additionally, other ministers from the UK government may participate in meetings of the council, in particular the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations who commonly attends with the Prime Minister.[9] In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, officials from the Northern Ireland Civil Service have participated in an observer capacity.[10][11]

Government Representative(s) Title
Government of the United Kingdom   Keir Starmer MP (Chair)

Prime Minister
Minister for the Union

Scottish Government   John Swinney MSP First Minister
Welsh Government   Eluned Morgan MS First Minister
Northern Ireland Executive   Michelle O'Neill MLA First Minister
  Emma Little-Pengelly MLA deputy First Minister

Meetings

The council met for the first time in November 2022 chaired by Rishi Sunak. No further meetings were held until after the 2024 United Kingdom general election when newly elected prime minister Keir Starmer convened a meeting in October 2024.[10] Starmer has stated that the council will meet again in Spring 2025.[10]

List of meetings

Meetings of the Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council
Date Location Chair
10 November 2022 Blackpool Rishi Sunak
11 October 2024 Edinburgh Keir Starmer

Complementary bodies

The Council of the Nations and Regions was established in October 2024 by Keir Starmer. This forum is intended to complement rather than replace the existing system of intergovernmental relations between the UK's four governments.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Intergovernmental relations". Institute for Government. November 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "What is devolution and how does it work in the UK?". BBC News. 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  3. ^ "Devolution: Joint Ministerial Committee | The Institute for Government". www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk. 11 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council communiqué 10 November 2022". GOV.UK (Press release). Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  5. ^ "New forum for talks between leaders from across UK". BBC News. January 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "Review of intergovernmental relations (HTML)". GOV.UK (Press release).
  7. ^ "Intergovernmental relations within the UK - House of Lords Library".
  8. ^ Pooran, Neil (January 13, 2022). "Boris Johnson to chair council of UK's devolved administration leaders". Belfast Telegraph.
  9. ^ "Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Meeting communiqué 11 October 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
  10. ^ a b c "Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Meeting communiqué 11 October 2024". GOV.UK (Press release).
  11. ^ "Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council Communiqué - 10 November 2022 (HTML)". GOV.UK.
source: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_and_Heads_of_Devolved_Governments_Council