Public Service Delivery: Devolved Governments
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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Lord Macintosh of Eastwood
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve joint working between the UK Government and the devolved governments in the delivery of public services.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)
While the majority of public services are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the UK Government are committed to a collaborative relationship with the devolved Governments on how we deliver effective public services. As part of this, the Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the National Economic Council in Scotland for further talks on empowering the regions across the UK through deeper devolution.
Lord Macintosh of Eastwood (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that positive reply. Does she agree that one of the biggest opportunities offered by devolution is for our respective Administrations to offer varied approaches to the common challenges that face us, and to learn from the successes, or sometimes the failures, of those respective approaches? To that end, what arrangements are the Government putting in place so that we can collaborate across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and here in Whitehall to learn from successful innovation and good practice and improve the lives of the people we serve?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The vast majority of Scots, and indeed Welsh and Northern Irish people, want their devolved Governments and the UK Government to work together to increase living standards and improve public services. The Prime Minister set out his vision for deeper devolution in Scotland and has underlined the importance of engaging collaboratively with the Scottish Government to make that happen. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of the meeting between the Prime Minister and the Heads of the devolved Governments at the National Economic Council this Friday.
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)
My Lords, the NHS app in England and the NHS app in Wales do not communicate. This leads to lots of missed appointments, lost test results, duplication of medical histories and a real cost to the NHS on both sides of the border in respect of Welsh patients being treated in England. I have tabled Amendment 244 to the Health Bill to address this issue. Can I urge the Minister to initiate a discussion about the interoperability of health apps across the four nations in her discussions with the devolved Governments?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I know that my noble friend Lady Merron looks forward to debating the issue that the noble Baroness raises, and I shall feed it back to those taking part in the discussions later this week. We want things to be interoperable across borders. There are some really good examples of where the UK Government have worked effectively with devolved counterparts, but this can always be improved on. At the heart of how we approach this must be the end user or, in this case, patients who require that cross-border co-operation.
The Earl of Kinnoull (CB)
Among the useful tools that we used to have for assessing how intergovernmental relations were going were the annual and quarterly reports that were published. The last annual report, for the year 2023, was published in April 2024. The last quarterly report, for the fourth quarter of 2025, was published shortly after that. Will those reports be restarted? They are extremely useful for us to be able to see what intergovernmental relationships are going on and in which departments.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I will write to the noble Earl on his question and on what sound like very interesting reports.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)
My Lords, the 2024 Labour Party manifesto promised to make the Council of the Nations and Regions a major element in improving relations between the devolved Assemblies and Governments and central government. Can the Minister tell us how active this council is, how often it meets and how much it contributes to closer co-operation in the delivery of public services and in negotiations on financial transfers within the United Kingdom?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The Council of the Nations and Regions has met twice. The UK Government work in partnership with the devolved Governments and mayors through a range of fora, including the mayoral council and the National Economic Council, to deliver on shared priorities. At the council’s first meeting, in October 2024, the priorities were inward investment and economic growth. In May 2025, the council discussed principally the opportunities of trade agreements that the UK Government had concluded, as well as the challenges of artificial intelligence. One aspect of that second meeting was bringing together for the first time the chief data officers of the devolved Governments and the mayoral strategic authorities. We will look at a number of ways of taking this type of work forward.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, my noble friend the Minister will have seen that the Russian Foreign Minister welcomed the recent meeting between the Sinn Féin First Minister, the SNP First Minister and the Plaid Cymru Minister in Cardiff. Can she arrange for the appropriate Ministers to have a look at the implications of this both for the devolution settlement and in relation to foreign affairs?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Nationalism is never the answer. The UK Government are committed to delivering change across all four nations of the UK and believe strongly in the benefits of the union, as the Prime Minister has made clear.
Lord Caine (Con)
My Lords, the Northern Ireland Executive have failed to set a budget for the first seven months of this financial year. This is hitting public services particularly hard, and health service workers are balloting for industrial action. As Northern Ireland departments will begin to run out of money at the end of January, can the Minister confirm that the Secretary of State will set a budget here if there is no resolution by that date?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The UK Budget is being held tomorrow. In relation to the Northern Ireland budget, the Government have in difficult financial circumstances offered a generous package of over £1.5 billion to help manage pressures there and provide stability to public services. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been personally involved in the negotiations and has made it clear that if the Executive continue to fail to agree a budget, he will consider all options to ensure that public services get the clarity and certainty that they need.
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)
My Lords, Robert Jones from Cardiff University has published this morning a report on the state of the Prison Service in Wales. It cites, in terms of the justice system, the complications of social policy and public services being devolved but the Prison and Probation Service being reserved. What is the Government’s response to this report?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I have not had the opportunity to read the report that the noble Baroness references. When it comes to devolution, the UK Government are committed to delivering change, and if there is a strong case for looking at doing things differently, we will of course give it careful consideration.
Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Con)
My Lords, one of the Labour Government’s flagship policies to support the economy in Scotland was the establishment of GB Energy, to be headquartered in Aberdeen. What does the Minister make of the reports in today’s Times newspaper that only half of GB Energy’s executives have moved to Scotland?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I am not aware of the report—apologies to the noble Baroness. GB Energy is intended to and will deliver for British people, including the area in which the headquarters are located.
Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-Afl)
My Lords, a number of bodies have been set up to improve the relationship between Whitehall and the devolved Administrations, such as the Joint Ministerial Committee and the Council of the Nations and Regions. Following the question from the noble Lord, Lord Macintosh, can I suggest to the Minister that they should be the place for the sharing of best practice? At the moment, some people perceive those bodies as talking shops, but much more use could be made of them.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The noble Baroness is right. We want to share best practice, and that can go both ways, obviously. We are particularly keen to collaborate around the delivery of public services, and the Test, Learn and Grow work that has been centred in the Cabinet Office is at the heart of the UK Government’s initiatives to do that. We are committed to sharing findings and fostering dialogue with the devolved Governments to ensure that all parts of the UK can learn from different experiences of transforming the state and enhancing public services. I am also very clear that this includes the UK Government learning from other parts of the UK.
Baroness Finn (Con)
My Lords, on 24 October, it was reported that a 93 year-old woman from Abercynon who had suffered a fall had to wait 10 and a half hours for an ambulance to arrive. This is just the latest in a series of horror stories about Welsh ambulance waiting times, which hit record lows under Labour. Although healthcare is devolved, what work are the Government are doing to support the Welsh Government in tackling unacceptable ambulance waiting times?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The primary way that the Government will support the devolved nations is through the financial settlements that we make. It is important to note that through the spending review and through the Spring Statement earlier this year, the UK Government confirmed additional funding for the devolved countries. We are clear that these matters are devolved. We are also clear that we can work across borders and through different levels of government to make sure that people see the improvements they are looking for at every level of government.