Cabinet handbook - Section 7: The Welsh Government’s relationship with the UK government and other devolved governments

7.1 Inter-governmental relations are conducted through a variety of structures and processes: formal mechanisms; bilateral relationships; structures for co-operation in subject areas; Common Frameworks; and ad hoc meetings. These structures and processes involve both official and Ministerial engagement but are generally not reflected in law.

7.2 The IGR Team in the Constitution and Welsh Tribunals Division is responsible for helping to ensure that the Welsh Government’s voice is heard across the UK, and that Welsh Government builds and maintains effective intergovernmental relationships.

7.3 In 2018, the Joint Ministerial Committee commissioned a joint intergovernmental relations review. The final outcome of that Review was agreed by all 4 governments in January 2022 and established the main formalised intergovernmental structures for the UK. The Review document is available here.

7.4 The review set out agreed principles, which apply to all intergovernmental working:

1. Maintaining positive and constructive relations, based on mutual respect for the responsibilities of the governments and their shared role in the governance of the UK
2. Building and maintaining trust, based on effective communication
3. Sharing information and respecting confidentiality
4. Promoting understanding of, and accountability for, their intergovernmental activity
5. Resolving disputes according to a clear and agreed process.

7.5 The review also established significant IGR machinery, which comprises of 3 ‘tiers’:

• The Prime Minister and Heads of Governments Council (‘the Council’)
• The Interministerial Standing Committee (‘the IMSC’) and the Finance Interministerial Standing Committee ('the FISC’)
• The Interministerial Groups (‘the IMGs’), which operate on a portfolio basis.

7.6 An independent IGR Secretariat has been established to support work under the IGR Review – though it is the governments, and not the secretariat, who are answerable for intergovernmental relations to legislatures and more widely.

7.7 The IGR Review also included new mechanisms to allow governments to bring formal ‘disputes’, the resolution of which might include third party advice or mediation (see, in particular, Annex D to the Review). No dispute has gone through the entire process to date.

7.8 The Welsh Government regularly updates the Senedd on IGR issues in Plenary, in committee, and via statements and correspondence. Our correspondence is published on the Senedd website.

7.9 Under the Terms of the Inter-Institutional Relationship Agreement of November 2021 between the Welsh Government and the Senedd, the Welsh Government is committed to keeping Senedd Committees updated on IGR issues, including notifying them in advance of formalised meetings under the IGR Review and laying an annual IGR Report.

7.10 The BIC is one of the institutions created as part of the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement. Its members are the Republic of Ireland, the UK government, the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the governments of the Crown Dependencies of the UK: Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Its formal purpose is:

“…to promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands... the BIC will exchange information, discuss, consult and use best endeavours to reach agreement on co-operation on matters of mutual interest within the competence of the relevant administrations.

7.11 The member administrations work together on a number of work sectors, including Indigenous, Minority and Lesser Used Languages and Early Years Policy (which Wales leads), Social Inclusion (which Wales leads jointly with Scotland), and Energy among others.

7.12 BIC summits are generally held twice per year, with each administration taking its turn to host based on an agreed rota. Traditionally each summit considers a particular work sector along with wider issues affecting the administrations. Summits are generally attended by the First Minister, and sometimes by the relevant Minister for the work sector or topic being discussed. The BIC may also hold extraordinary summits when an urgent topical matter needs to be discussed. More information on the background and role of the BIC.

7.13 The Welsh Ministers (and ministers from the other devolved governments) may be invited by the Prime Minister, or other UK government minister as appropriate, to attend UK Civil Contingencies Committee meetings (generally referred to as ‘COBR’ - Cabinet Office Briefing Room) established, sometimes at very short notice, in response to major incidents / emergencies. Please see Section 2 above, ‘Resilience and Emergencies’ (paragraphs 2.64-2.78). Most recently, COBR has met to discuss matters linked to the Coronavirus pandemic. COBR acts as the senior ministerial decision-making body which oversees the UK response to an emergency.

7.14 The UK government has also established a new Council of Nations and Regions, which met for the first time in October 2024.

7.15 Common Frameworks are intergovernmental agreements which set out how the governments of the UK will work together to manage areas of policy which were previously governed by the EU, but which now sit within devolved spaces. The Common Frameworks Programme was established by JMC(EN) Ministers in October 2017 (and subsequently endorsed by the NI Executive in June 2020). The related Communique remains the core underpinning document. The existence of the programme facilitated the Intergovernmental Agreement on the EU Withdrawal Bill, ultimately supporting the Welsh Government to recommend consent to it and providing important context for the Senedd’s agreement.

7.16 The programme and frameworks documentation is owned by the 4 nations. Within Welsh Government, individual frameworks are managed within portfolio areas, and the Common Frameworks Team in the Constitution and Welsh Tribunals Division coordinates the Welsh Government’s work on the programme, supports policy teams and seeks to ensure coherent approaches to the cross-cutting issues raised (such as interaction with international issues).