UK internal market: initial assessment of UK Government proposals

ANNEX A: UK Common Frameworks

It is clear that the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on the ability of the four administrations to make progress in developing frameworks, and that there is now insufficient time for many policy teams to develop a full framework by the end of December 2020.   In response to this, a revised delivery plan for frameworks has been jointly developed and agreed by all four administrations through the UK Frameworks Project Board.

It is now anticipated that seven frameworks will be fully developed, agreed and implemented by the end of December 2020, six of which will cover Scotland. Provisional frameworks will be established in a number of other policy areas before being finalised for agreement as full frameworks during 2021.  Appendix 1 details the policy areas where full and provisional frameworks are now expected to be developed.

The following seven frameworks to be available to legislatures for scrutiny this autumn:

• Hazardous Substances (Planning)
• Nutrition Health Claims, Composition and Labelling
• Emissions Trading System (ETS)
• Radioactive Substances
• Recognition of Insolvency Proceedings
• Food and Feed Safety and Hygiene (FFSH)
• Company Law  (which will not cover Scotland)

By the end of the transition period, the aim is that these seven frameworks will have completed their formal parliamentary scrutiny process. The relevant scrutiny Committees are set pout below.

For frameworks in other policy areas, the expectation has been that policy teams will develop a provisional framework to ensure operability by the end of the year, with their scrutiny agreement and implementation as full frameworks thereafter. Provisional frameworks will consist of a framework outline agreement and accompanying concordat, including essential arrangements required for the framework to operate at the end of the transition period.

The draft provisional framework would be agreed by the relevant Ministers across all four administrations and then confirmed by JMC (EN) Ministers by the end of December 2020.  This process would also allow the provisional framework to be operational at the end of the transition period, while also allowing for further policy development and refinement after the end of the transition period.  The development of these frameworks would then follow the process for full frameworks development, to be completed after the transition period, and would continue to comply with the principles for common frameworks set out by JMC (EN), including that frameworks will respect the devolution settlement.  

The Scottish Parliament and other legislatures will receive a summary of each provisional framework and an update on its progress before the end of 2020, with the expectation that these frameworks will be ready for scrutiny into 2021. Parliamentary scrutiny remains an important part of the frameworks delivery process and this revised timetable ensures that there is sufficient time allocated to undertake effective scrutiny.   Nonetheless an accelerated timescale could be agreed if that was required by the parties involved.

A reclassification exercise is also currently being undertaken jointly by UK Government and the devolved governments to determine where frameworks should be reclassified as ‘no further action’. This classification means that the UK Government and devolved governments are in agreement that the impact of divergence across the UK is low and that there are alternative opportunities for future joint ways of working, meaning that a formal framework agreement is not required. The expectation is that this exercise will result in significantly fewer frameworks requiring development than was previously published in the UK Government’s revised frameworks analysis. Several frameworks are also to be consolidated as part of this reclassification exercise due to significant overlap of the policy areas, which will again reduce the overall number of frameworks. These changes should be confirmed in the publication of a revised UK Government frameworks analysis later this year.

APPENDIX 1

Frameworks Areas by Scrutiny Committee at 6 August 2020

The following list of Frameworks Areas by Scrutiny Committee might change due to the ongoing reclassification exercise. This exercise may lead to some of the Frameworks Areas on the list being assessed as no longer needing a framework, as existing arrangements may be deemed to be sufficient.

Finance and Constitution Committee

Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee

** The Fisheries framework is in three parts, including a short administrative arrangement building on existing working arrangements (e.g. the UK Fisheries Monitoring Centre agreement) and a provisional approach that will be in place by the end of the year. The main part of the framework to ensure delivery of international obligations and joint management of a common resource is the Joint Fisheries Statement and further detailed in Fisheries Management Plans, as set out in the UK Fisheries Bill. This has a statutory consultation and legislative scrutiny process as set out in Schedule 1 of the bill. Relevant officials will continue to work with the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee to ensure they are aware of the timetable and any possible changes.

Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee

Health and Sport Committee

Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee

Local Government and Communities Committee

Justice Committee

Following the initial policy development between the revised frameworks analysis published in 2019 and the 2020, UK Government and the devolved governments are currently undertaking a joint reclassification process of frameworks. A set of ‘reclassification review’ questions have been used to identify whether frameworks were necessary in all areas,  taking into account the principles for common frameworks agreed at JMC(EN), and any previous statements or communications made by policy teams.

As part of the reclassification process, a number of areas relating to Justice and Home Affairs have been identified as not requiring a common UK framework, and are, therefore, not included in this annex. In these areas, existing arrangements are in place because justice is devolved to Scotland and the Scottish justice and legal systems are separate, and within a jurisdiction distinct from the rest of the UK. These arrangements work well and will continue. For international relations, consultation on devolved matters applies as it does with non-EU countries.