Machinery of Government

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak)]

I am making this statement to bring to the House’s attention the following machinery of government changes.

First, responsibility for the delivery of the Windsor framework will be transferred from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to sit alongside the existing Northern Ireland Unit in the Cabinet Office. The Foreign Secretary remains responsible for UK-EU relations and will continue as co-chair of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement Partnership Council and Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee—the body that oversees the UK and EU implementation of the withdrawal agreement.

Secondly, the UK governance team will formally move from the Cabinet Office into the Union and devolution team in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). This will consolidate matters relating to intergovernmental relations, including common frameworks, under the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. This is an administrative change that does not affect ministerial responsibilities.

Both the Windsor framework and Union teams in the Cabinet Office and DLUHC respectively will be brought together under a single official reporting structure to allow for more effective join-up across all Union policy. These changes will take effect immediately.

Thirdly, sponsorship of HM Land Registry and its associated bodies will move from the Department for Business and Trade to DLUHC. This will aid the delivery of DLUHC’s key policy objectives including improving the home buying and selling process and delivering the land transparency provisions in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. This change will take effect on 1 June 2023.

Fourthly, ministerial responsibility for civil Earth observation (EO) policy and its associated EU programme will be consolidated in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Bringing responsibility for EO policy into a single Department will enable greater flexibility to support the UK space sector and to make decisions about investments into science programmes. DEFRA will retain an interest by leading on the EO development of environmental, agricultural and natural resource applications. This change will take effect on 1 July 2023.

Fifthly, responsibility for the delivery of the Supporting Families programme will transfer from DLUHC to the Department for Education. This transfer provides an opportunity to expand the impact of the programme by bringing together the system of support for children and families.

This will enable the Education Secretary to deliver a co-ordinated approach through a series of reforms that support the Government’s wider social policy agenda. This change will take effect on 1 April 2024.

Finally, departmental sponsorship of UK Shared Business Services has been formally transferred to DSIT following the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Transfer of Functions Order formalised on 3 May 2023.

[HCWS803]