Public Service Delivery: Devolved Governments

Lord Wallace of Saltaire Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[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.