Chapter 14: Intergovernmental working

Introduction

¶14.1. The Covid-19 pandemic required an unprecedented public health response, not just from the UK government but from each of the devolved administrations. Public health is a devolved issue under the devolution settlements, and because the UK government decided to use public health legislation and the Coronavirus Act 2020 to respond to the pandemic – rather than the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which grants nationwide powers to the UK government – pandemic management was broadly divided among the UK government and devolved administrations.¹¹ Coronavirus Act 2020 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/contents); Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/36/contents) Therefore, the manner and effectiveness of the response depended to a significant degree on the strength and cohesion of the relationship between the UK government and devolved administrations. It is self-evident that the closer the communication among the four governments, the more effective would be the steps taken by each government to counter the virus and to mitigate its impact.

¶14.2. The pandemic subjected the intergovernmental relationships within the UK to significant pressure. As Covid-19 progressed, the devolved administrations began to implement their own interventions. Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister from July 2019 to September 2022, said that this "divergence in approach" among the UK government and devolved administrations risked "considerable public confusion and frustration – when clarity of message was crucial".²² INQ000255836_0030 para 126 In contrast, the First Ministers of the devolved administrations argued that divergence was the inevitable response to the varying ways the Covid-19 virus spread across the four nations and that their differing policies were a proper exercise of their devolved powers.³³ INQ000280190_0005 paras 13, 15; INQ000339033_0025 para 58; INQ000418976_0048 para 154

¶14.3. In order to ensure that optimal working arrangements are in place for future emergencies, this chapter examines the effectiveness of information-sharing, four-nations communication and joint working arrangements across the four nations, as well as the roles that formal intergovernmental structures and informal mechanisms played in facilitating them. It also analyses the effectiveness of central government engagement with local government within each of the four nations during the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.