News In Focus
10 March 2010
Governments agree dispute resolution protocol
A new protocol for resolving disputes between the UK Government and the three devolved administrations in the UK was announced today.
Described by First Minister Alex Salmond as a "major step forward" for Scotland through further improvements to inter-governmental relationships, the Protocol for Avoidance and Resolution of Disputes and a revised memorandum of understanding have been agreed by the UK Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.
The revised memorandum of understanding is being ratified within each administration and will be published shortly.
A communiqué released following a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee Domestic, said that the four administrations will seek first to avoid disputes, and where this proves impossible the protocol sets out how they will be resolved. Ministers agreed that the process should be "fair, accessible, informed and responsive", and they committed to further work to improve the process.
It was also agreed that it would be in the spirit of this new approach to make decisions public.
Priority
The revised Memorandum of Understanding is the first such agreement since 2001. The agreement made then has proved inadequate to deal with different political complexions between the administrations. Last year's Calman Commission report highlighted the need to improve relations between London and Edinburgh as a priority in making devolution work better.
Under the agreement, the territorial Secretary of State is responsible for maintaining good working relationships and should be involved whenever a dispute threatens to be incapable of informal resolution. Disputes over funding policy should be discussed first ith the Treasury.
Where the preceding steps have not resolved a difference, any of the parties may formally refer it to the JMC secretariat, so that steps can be taken to resolve it through the JMC process. This will normally involve ministers and the other devolved administratons will be informed.
Click here to view the protocol.