Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to develop (a) the British-Irish Council, (b) the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and (c) other such east-west structures.

The UK Government hosted the most recent British-Irish Council (BIC) Summit, in London, on 27 November 2015. At the Summit, the Council agreed a set of principles to make sure the BIC work sectors continue to deliver value for all Member Administrations. The UK Government is working with the other BIC Member Administrations to implement this work and will report back at future Summits. Further information can be found in the summit communique:

http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/communiqu%C3%A9s/London%20271115%20Communique.pdf

The Government continues to operate the structures of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in line with international agreements. There are no plans to develop its use. The UK enjoys a strong relationship with the Republic of Ireland.

To ensure that we continue to build on this strong foundation, the Prime Minister holds an annual summit with the Taoiseach at which they discuss mutual challenges and opportunities to work on issues of common interest. This is supported by an annual summit in the autumn between the Permanent Secretaries of the UK Government and Irish Government, which oversees and takes forward a joint work programme between the UK and Ireland governments.