SPICe publishes quarterly updates to give an overview of intergovernmental activity. 'Intergovernmental activity’ refers to work between governments – in a Scottish context between the Scottish Government and the UK Government or other devolved governments. It can include discussions on areas of mutual interest, policy development, and policy implementation. Read more about what intergovernmental activity is and why awareness of it is an essential element of parliamentary scrutiny on our SPICe blog. SPICe has also launched an intergovernmental activity hub that collates information on intergovernmental activity of relevance to the Scottish Parliament.

Updates are published on the last Thursday of the month following the end of the reporting period. The next quarterly update, covering quarter 2 (April-June) of 2024, will be published on 25 July 2024. This update reflects information available at the time of publication.

Formal intergovernmental interactions take place under the following structure, which was established in January 2022.

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See a SPICe blog for more information on how the new structure operates.

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The Finance Interministerial Standing Committee met on 25 January 2024 and 14 March 2024.

• Discussions at the meeting on 25 January 2024 included updates by the Scottish Government and Welsh Government on their 2024-25 budgets as well as economic and fiscal measures to tackle poverty.

• Discussions at the meeting on 14 March 2024 were focussed on the UK Spring Budget and its implications for devolved governments' budgets.

Four Interministerial Groups (IMGs) met during the reporting period:

• The Interministerial Group for Elections and Registration met on 23 January 2024. Discussions included:

  • public attitudes to elections and the importance of promoting resilience and public confidence in elections

  • electoral legislation across the UK, including the the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill

  • arrangements for online absent vote applications for Scottish and Welsh local government elections and Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru elections

  • the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.

• The Interministerial Group for Justice met on 25 January 2024. Discussions included:

  • action to exonerate the victims of the Post Office Horizon Scandal

  • measures to improve prison capacity and address the size of remand populations

  • recent work to modernise the legal aid system in each administration.

• The Interministerial Group for Transport Matters met on 5 February 2024. Discussions were focussed on freight transport, including:

  • freight decarbonisation

  • HGV driver training and roadside facilities

  • provision of freight data.

• The Interministerial Group for UK-EU Relations met on 6 March 2024. Terms of reference for the group were published on 19 March 2024. Discussions at the group's meeting included:

  • the upcoming meetings of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council and Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee

  • the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Common frameworks are intergovernmental agreements which set out how governments will work together to make decisions about policy in certain devolved policy areas, in particular decisions about policy divergence. Common frameworks were originally intended to be used to consider matters which were former EU competences, however, some also state that they may be used to consider related matters within the wider policy area. Read more about what common frameworks are on our intergovernmental activity hub.

No new framework agreements were published during the reporting period. The image below provides an update on frameworks relevant to Scotland and scrutiny of frameworks at the Scottish Parliament.

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During the reporting period, no further scrutiny of frameworks was completed at the Scottish Parliament.

The fifth meeting of the Interparliamentary Forum took place at the House of Lords on 29 February 2024. Attendants agreed a joint statement and wrote to the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, to ask for an update on an evaluation of the common frameworks programme as a whole and two proposed frameworks (the Services Framework and the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Framework) which have not been published to date.

In a response dated 21 March 2024, the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations stated:

The Provision of Services Common Framework completed stakeholder engagement on 23 February. The results from that exercise will now be considered. The Framework will then be submitted to ministers in the Department of Business and Trade and relevant devolved administration (DAs) departments, for provisional sign off and publication for scrutiny.

The development of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications (MRPQ) Common Framework has been paused following the passage of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022. This is given practical considerations around the Act’s implementation and the role of any Common Framework, and until a consultation on the implementation of Sections 3 and 5 of the Act is concluded. A pause will allow for analysis by officials in DLUHC and the DAs supporting the Common Frameworks programme on the impact of an alternative approach.

Regarding the evaluation, the expectation is to publish it before the summer as my officials are completing the final data collection phase with input from Government and DA departments. The final report will be shared with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and NI Executive. The findings can then feed into the first review of each Common Framework. I will be happy to provide the forum with a copy of the evaluation once completed.

The UK Internal Market Act 2020 is UK-wide legislation about the flow of goods and services. You can read more about the Act's provisions in our SPICe briefing and a SPICe blog.

A process has been established by which the UK Government and devolved governments can consider exclusions to the market access principles of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 ('UKIMA'). Read more about the interaction between the exclusions process and common frameworks in our SPICe blog.

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Deposit Return Scheme

Discussions about a UKIMA exclusion relating to a Scottish Deposit Return Scheme previously took place during 2023. The UK Government offered a temporary, narrower exclusion than the one requested by the Scottish Government, which the Scottish Government cited as the reason for its delay of the scheme until at least October 2025. See SPICe blogs for background about the scheme and further information about intergovernmental discussions regarding an exclusion.

On 26 March 2024, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Stephen Barclay MP, gave evidence to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. In response to a question about when a Deposit Return Scheme can be expected to be implemented in England, the Secretary of State said:

Given this balance between the benefits of the scheme versus the benefits of having something interoperable, I don’t think 2025 is now realistic, and certainly I don’t think business would view it as a realistic deadline.

It is an issue that is still an ongoing area of discussion within Government, but I suspect, if I was pushed on it, that a 2027 deadline is probably more likely.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published on 29 March 2024, the then Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity Minister, Lorna Slater MSPⁱIt was confirmed on 25 April 2024, the day this briefing was published, that the Bute House agreement between the Scottish Government and the Green Party was terminated with immediate effect. As such, the tenure of Lorna Slater MSP as a Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity also ended., stated:

I am writing to you to express my deep concerns at your comments about the future of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on Tuesday 26 March. Despite our continued requests for Defra to set out its plans for DRS, and my recent correspondence dated 8 March on such matters, it is extremely frustrating to hear about details of a further significant delay to the DRS launch from media reports. [...]

We have said from day one that [...] we’re committed to all schemes across the UK to work together. We designed our scheme in good faith so it would be interoperable with the proposals agreed and consulted upon by all UK nations. I would ask that you focus on working with all devolved nations to finalise an interoperable DRS, which still recognises the devolved nature of this policy, to provide businesses with the certainty they need to make the scheme a success. This includes setting out a realistic timescale for delivery which is agreed across the four nations, rather than creating speculation without consultation.

Glue traps

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill was passed on 21 March 2024. The Bill as introduced bans the purchase and use of glue traps. While the Welsh Government has banned the use of glue traps and the UK Government has banned their use by the public in England (this ban is yet to come into force), neither is currently proposing to ban their sale. The policy memorandum for the Bill states that the Scottish Government wishes to ban the sale of glue traps, as well as their use and purchase, but that UKIMA affects this. The memorandum states that the Scottish Government was exploring the possibility of gaining an exclusion and intended to bring forward an amendment at Stage 2 or Stage 3 to ban the sale of glue traps.

Scottish Ministers provided updates to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee during its consideration on the Bill (in June 2023, September 2023, January 2024, February 2024), each time stating that no agreement on an exclusion had been reached.

An amendment to ban the sale of glue traps in Scotland was lodged at Stage 3 and is included in the Bill as passed. At the Stage 3 Debate, the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie MSP, stated:

The Scottish Government is still engaging in discussions with the UK Government on the matter of an exclusion to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 in relation to sale and possession of glue traps. A ban on sale and possession of glue traps would have a negligible effect on the market for glue traps in the rest of the UK, so I see no reason for the UK Government not to support such an exclusion.

Discussions about the exclusion will continue, but I see no reason not to take the opportunity to legislate now to ban possession and sale of glue traps. The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 should not be allowed to undermine the power of this Parliament to legislate in areas that are within our devolved competence, so I hope that it will not be used on this occasion to prevent the exclusion.

In response to a letter the Scottish Government had received on 26 March on this issue, Shona Robison MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, wrote a letter to Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 28 March 2024 in which she stated:

At the most basic level, some of the arguments set out in the letter of 26 March are simply illogical: is it really the UK Government’s position that a product already subject to a ban on its use and possession cannot also be banned from sale due to the “need to avoid barriers to trade wherever possible”?      

However, the issues run deeper: the letter also suggests that the UK Government believes it is legitimate to use the IMA – ostensibly a legal regime to protect intra-UK trade – to effectively overturn a policy approved by the Scottish Parliament.     

The letter states that:  

The UK Government does not consider that the evidence presented demonstrates that a ban on the sale of glue traps would be substantially more effective than a ban focused on their use and possession. The UK Government therefore does not believe that the case has been made that an exclusion under the UKIM Act is necessary to deliver the policy aims of restricting the use of these traps in Scotland.

It is for the Scottish Parliament, not UK Government ministers, to reach a view on whether the evidence presented by the Scottish Government merits a given policy approach in devolved matters.  The relevant measure was passed with the support of every party in the Scottish Parliament – including the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party – on 19 March.  I am afraid the UK Government’s view on the advisability or necessity of law passed entirely within devolved competence by the Scottish Parliament is irrelevant, and certainly does not provide justification for undermining the expressed – and unanimous – will of the Scottish Parliament.  

[...]

More broadly, I want to place on record my concern that it has taken the UK Government several months to reach and communicate its decision on what by any objective reading is a straightforward matter.  The issue of a sales ban was raised at Ministerial level in September last year, having been discussed by officials well in advance of the Efra Inter-Ministerial Group.    

Despite several reminders, including directly with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up at the recent IMSC, a response was received only after the Scottish Parliament had reached a unanimous position: this demonstrates a lack of respect for devolution and the Scottish Parliament. 

Disposable Vapes

The Scottish Government published the draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 on 23 February 2024 and consulted on these until 8 March 2024. An additional consultation covering the implementation of the ban and draft impact assessments is open until 14 May 2024. The Welsh Government and UK Government have also announced plans (and the UK Government has published a draft statutory instrument for England) to ban the sale of disposable vapes. This follows a joint consultation by all three governments at the end of 2023.

In a letter dated 26 January 2024 to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, the then Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater MSP, stated:

The UK Government has confirmed that it also intends to legislate for a ban in England, and I understand that Welsh Ministers have also confirmed this intent in Wales. Northern Ireland do not currently have a sitting Executive and Assembly, so may not be able to legislate a ban on single use vapes at this time. Officials across the UK are working towards regulations that align as closely as possible, and I am seeking to agree a common coming into force date to ensure clarity for business and the public.

Nevertheless, there remains a risk that regulation will not be fully aligned across the UK. Legislation must be taken forward separately by each nation, and the sale and supply of single-use vapes may remain unrestricted in Northern Ireland for a considerable period after bans have been introduced in the rest of the UK. As a result of the market access principles in the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (IMA), any single use vapes imported into a part of the UK without a ban in place could still be legally sold in the rest of the UK. This would render any ban in respective nations ineffective.

Given this, an exclusion for single use vapes from the market access principles in the IMA is likely to be needed to provide certainty that we can deliver our commitment to end their sale and supply in Scotland, as well as in England and Wales.

I am therefore writing to inform you that my officials will engage with their counterparts within the Resources and Waste Common Framework group at its next meeting in February 2024 to commence consideration of an IMA exclusion, in line with the process agreed by all governments of the UK, published and placed before the UK Parliament in December 2021.

According to the Sewel Convention, the UK Parliament will not normally legislate on devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament’s standing orders set down rules which apply where UK primary legislation requires the Parliament’s consent under the Sewel Convention. They apply where UK primary legislation makes ‘relevant provision’, which means provision which applies to Scotland in any of the following ways:

• for any purpose within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament

• to alter the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament

• to alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers.

When any of the criteria on relevant provision are fulfilled, a member of the Scottish Government is obliged to lodge a legislative consent memorandum. A legislative consent memorandum, amongst other things, sets out the Scottish Government's view on whether the Parliament should grant legislative consent.

Following the lodging of a legislative consent memorandum, members of the Scottish Parliament may vote on a legislative consent motion to agree whether it is content that the relevant provision in the Bill should be considered by the UK Parliament. Only motions seeking consent are called 'legislative consent motions' in accordance with the Parliament's standing orders. However, the Scottish Parliament has also voted on motions which seek to withhold consent. This update provides information on all motions relating to bills in respect of which a legislative consent memorandum was lodged during the reporting period. Not every legislative consent memorandum will result in a motion granting or withholding consent. Find out more about legislative consent on the Scottish Parliament's website

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Information within this intergovernmental update is primarily based on the following sources:

• The UK Government intergovernmental relations website contains minutes of interministerial groups and standing committees. Minutes of other intergovernmental meetings are not currently published and hence are not reflected in this update.

• The UK Government common frameworks website contains common framework agreements.

• The Scottish Parliament legislative consent website lists legislative consent memorandums and associated motions.

Further information on intergovernmental activity can be found on our intergovernmental activity hub and:

• SPICe briefing on intergovernmental relations

• House of Commons Library briefing on intergovernmental relations

• UK Government transparency reports on intergovernmental relations

• Senedd Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee Monitoring reports

• Northern Ireland Assembly Brexit and Beyond newsletters.