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Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Scottish Affairs Committee Welsh Affairs Committee Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office 25 January 2021 Dear Michael, Lord Dunlop’s Review of Union Capability and the Review of Intergovernmental Relations Thank you for your letter of 18 January in response to our request for clarity about the timeframe for publication of the Dunlop Review. It is deeply disappointing that your reply offers no further clarity about when we will see the publication of the Review or, just as importantly, the Government’s response to Lord Dunlop’s recommendations. We understand from previous correspondence that Lord Dunlop delivered his report to the Prime Minister in the Autumn of 2019, which means that the Government has had over a year to consider and implement Lord Dunlop’s recommendations. You informed PACAC in September last year that you had chosen not to publish either the Review, or the Government’s response to it, because you wished for them both to be published alongside the conclusions of the joint review of Intergovernmental Relations (IGR). Whilst we appreciate why, at the time, you may have preferred the completeness of publishing both these reviews simultaneously, four months have now passed since that evidence session and the IGR review is yet to be concluded. We believe that the Dunlop Review and the Government’s response to it warrants its own scrutiny, particularly as, by your own admission, the Government has been implementing Lord Dunlop’s recommendations for some months now. For as long as the Dunlop Review and the Government’s formal response to it remain locked behind closed doors, it is impossible for Parliament to scrutinise any Government activity relating to the implementation of Lord Dunlop’s recommendations. Speaking to PACAC on 10th December you said: “One of the things we can reflect on is whether or not it is better, if we can’t get that perfect agreement before the end of the year, to publish Andrew’s report, to explain what we have done so far and also to explain the ongoing work that we are undertaking to complete and finish all of his recommendations”. As the IGR review was not concluded before the end of 2020, we feel that the time has come to publish the Dunlop Review alongside a response from the Government, detailing what has been done to implement the recommendations so far. We will then welcome a further update from the Government once the review of Intergovernmental Relations has been successfully concluded. We look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, William Wragg MP Simon Hoare MP Chair, Public Administration and Chair, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Constitutional Affairs Committee Pete Wishart MP Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS William Wragg MP Our reference: MC2021/00377 Chair, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee House of Commons SW1A 0AA Simon Hoare MP Chair, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Stephen Crabb MP Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee Pete Wishart MP Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee 18 January 2021 Dear Chairs, Thank you for your letter of 8 January regarding publication of the Dunlop Review. I welcome the opportunity to appear before your joint committees, and I am keen to provide as full a response as possible on how we have been implementing the recommendations made by Lord Dunlop. As you are aware, it is my ambition to publish the Dunlop Report alongside announcing the package of reforms agreed through the joint review of Intergovernmental Relations. Unfortunately, I am unable to commit to your proposed timeline while the review of Intergovernmental Relations is at a pivotal point with the devolved administrations. We will publish the Dunlop Review in due course and ensure your committees have the appropriate time to consider before the joint session. With every good wish, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Scottish Affairs Committee Welsh Affairs Committee Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office 8 January 2021 Dear Michael, Lord Dunlop’s Review of Union Capability and the Review of Intergovernmental Relations Thank you for your update on 23 December notifying us that both Lord Dunlop’s Review and the conclusions of the review of intergovernmental relations (IGR) would not be published until early 2021. As you know, our Committees have been awaiting the publication of Lord Dunlop’s Review and the Government’s response to it for some time. It was therefore disappointing to learn that, contrary to earlier commitments, these would not be published before the end of 2020. Before the Christmas recess, our Committees agreed to hold a joint evidence session on the Government’s implementation of Lord Dunlop’s Review and we are pleased that you confirmed to PACAC on 10 December that you would be willing to appear before our Committees to provide evidence on this important area of public interest. Prior to receiving your letter of 23 December, we had identified 28 January 2021 as the date for this joint evidence session. In order for this session to go ahead as planned, our Members will require both Lord Dunlop’s Review and the Government’s response to be made public by 14 January. We would be grateful if you could confirm that the Government will be publishing the Review and the response within this timeframe. If you are unable to do so, we ask that you set out a clear alternative timeframe for publication so that we can arrange our scrutiny accordingly. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, William Wragg MP Simon Hoare MP Chair, Public Administration and Chair, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Constitutional Affairs Committee Pete Wishart MP Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee Chair, Welsh Affairs Committee .

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