Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council

The Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council is an intergovernmental body in the United Kingdom that consists of the UK prime minister and the heads of the three national devolved governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.^[1]

Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council

Keir Starmer meets leaders of devolved governments in October 2024
Predecessor	Joint Ministerial Committee
Formation	10 November 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-10)
Legal status	Intergovernmental body
Purpose	Intergovernmental relations
Region served	United Kingdom
Membership	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom First Minister of Scotland First Minister of Wales First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
Chair	Keir Starmer
Website	Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council

History

Further information: Devolution in the UK and Intergovernmental relations in the UK

In 1999, devolved administrations were created in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland by the United Kingdom parliament.^[2] Initially a Joint Ministerial Committee system was created in 1999 by Tony Blair's Labour UK government to coordinate relationships between the three new governments and the UK government.^[3]

In 2022, following a review into intergovernmental relations in the UK, the present tiered system of governance was put in place.^[4] The tiered structure includes a Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council as a top tier, portfolio-specific interministerial standing committees as a middle tier, and topic-based intergovernmental groups as the lower tier.^[5][6][7]

Responsibilities

The council is responsible for:

• Discussing UK-level policies that require cooperation.
• Overseeing the other government organisations and mechanisms within the tiers of intergovernmental relations.
• Acting as final arbiter for the UK dispute resolution mechanism.^[8]

Membership

The members of the council are the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First and deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland. Additionally, other ministers from the UK government may participate in meetings of the council, in particular the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations who commonly attends with the Prime Minister.^[9] In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, officials from the Northern Ireland Civil Service have participated in an observer capacity.^[10][11]

Government	Representative(s)			Title
Government of the United Kingdom			Keir Starmer MP	(Chair) Prime Minister Minister for the Union
Scottish Government			John Swinney MSP	First Minister
Welsh Government			Eluned Morgan MS	First Minister
Northern Ireland Executive			Michelle O'Neill MLA	First Minister
			Emma Little-Pengelly MLA	Deputy First Minister

Meetings

The council met for the first time in November 2022 chaired by Rishi Sunak. No further meetings were held until after the 2024 United Kingdom general election when newly elected prime minister Keir Starmer convened a meeting in October 2024.^[10] Starmer stated that the council would meet again in Spring 2025.^[10]

List of meetings

Meetings of the Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council
Date	Location	Chair
10 November 2022	Blackpool	Rishi Sunak
11 October 2024	Edinburgh	Keir Starmer
23 May 2025	London	Keir Starmer

Complementary bodies

The Council of the Nations and Regions was established in October 2024 by Keir Starmer. This forum is intended to complement rather than replace the existing system of intergovernmental relations between the UK's four governments.

See also

• Intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom
• Council of the Nations and Regions