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Ministers' Correspondence with Members of Parliament

Members of Devolved Legislatures

43. Members of the devolved administrations comprise members of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

44. In a number of UK departments, Ministers have decided that all correspondence from members of the devolved administrations should receive a Ministerial reply. This is not a requirement: individual departmental Ministers will decide how correspondence addressed to their departments should be handled. They may, for example, authorise official replies on Agency business or routine enquiries. However, in each case, departments must ensure that they have a clear and consistent policy which can be explained to Members.

45. When putting in place procedures for the handling of correspondence from members of the devolved administrations, departments should in particular note the following:

(i) all correspondence to UK Ministers from Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland Ministers should receive a Ministerial reply;

(ii) all correspondence to UK Ministers from members of the devolved administrations who are also Privy Counsellors should receive a Ministerial reply. This should be from the Minister to whom the letter is addressed; and

(iii) all correspondence to UK Ministers from the First and Deputy First Ministers in Northern Ireland - in whatever context they are writing - should receive a Ministerial reply. Letters from the First and Deputy First Ministers in Northern Ireland should always be treated on an equal footing.

46. Additional guidance on handling correspondence from members of the devolved administrations, including guidance on the handling of constituency correspondence, can be found on the DCA website [pdf].

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