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Concordat between the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration

Part 1 – General Provisions

1. This concordat establishes an agreed framework for co-operation between the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration[External website], in accordance with the principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations. There is no intention to constrain either the Scottish Administration's freedom to operate in areas devolved to it, or to constrain the Cabinet Office's competence in areas of reserved responsibility.

2. The Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration affirm their mutual commitment to working together on Modernising Government, management of the Home Civil Service, and cross-cutting issues. These policy areas are set out in greater detail in Annex A. This co-operation is for the mutual benefit of both parties, and intended to give them the assurance that working relationships will be conducted in an agreed and helpful manner. Good communication in both directions and the avoidance of surprises for either party will form the basis of this co-operation. Therefore, the concordat particularly covers arrangements for consultation and the exchange of information, as well as the resolution of disputes.

Consultation and exchange of information

3. The Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration confirm their commitment to consult and exchange information on matters of mutual interest in a timely and helpful manner in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding and the Guidance Note on Common Working Arrangements. Each party shall:

• keep the other fully informed of relevant developments within their areas of responsibility, wherever possible in sufficient time to enable the other administration to comment on the proposals;
• give appropriate consideration to the views of the other administration; and
• where possible, notify the other party prior to publicising a relevant proposal for action.

This commitment includes any proposals for primary or secondary legislation (including Deregulation Orders*) and Orders in Council, as well as other major policy initiatives.

4. The Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration recognise that, in the interests of frankness and candour, consultation and exchange of information need to be subject to appropriate safeguards. In certain circumstances, a duty of confidence may arise, and the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration will between themselves respect legal requirements of confidentiality. Both accept that:

• it is for the party supplying the information to state what restrictions, if any, there should be on its usage;
• they will treat information received from the other in accordance with any restrictions specified to its usage; and
• disclosure of information is subject to the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information[External website]. In due course, it will be subject to the requirements of Freedom of Information legislation.

5. The Cabinet Office will invite the Scottish Administration to participate in relevant inter-departmental working groups it sponsors.

6. Both parties shall have regard to each other's information needs while establishing and maintaining their own systems for collecting and managing information. They will co-operate to ensure that statistics for the UK as a whole are readily available, are timely, coherent and reliable, and are collected and compiled in a way which provides good value for money, allows gender disaggregation where appropriate and ensures consistency as far as data sources allow. Statistical information will be exchanged on the basis of the principles set out in the overarching Concordat on Statistics. In particular, the Scottish Administration will work with the Cabinet Office and other UK departments to ensure the exchange of statistical information about the policy areas listed in Annex A. In addition, it will assist the Cabinet Office in discharging its obligations to provide the UK Parliament with statistics and information on a UK-wide basis by continuing to collect the information detailed in Annex B. The Scottish Administration also undertakes to provide, on a transitional basis, such information as is required for retrospective UK-wide reports covering the issues detailed in Annex C, responsibilities for which have now been devolved.

Correspondence

7. Correspondence will be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding and the Guidance Note on Common Working Arrangements. The contact points for transferring correspondence are the Cabinet Office Ministerial Correspondence Unit and the Scottish Administration Central Correspondence Unit.

Dispute resolution

8. In the event of a dispute arising over the operation of this concordat, the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Administration are committed to resolving the issue bilaterally at working levels wherever possible. If necessary, advice will be sought from the central contact points responsible for the concordat, the Cabinet Office Central Secretariat and the Scottish Executive's Directorate of Corporate Development Personnel Management Division. In the event that agreement cannot be reached, the matter will be passed to Senior Civil Service levels, or if necessary to Permanent Secretaries, for a decision. Only very exceptionally should it be necessary to refer matters to Ministerial levels, or failing that to the Joint Ministerial Committee.

Review

9. This concordat will be reviewed 1 year after it comes into effect, and thereafter at 2-year intervals. Either party may request an additional review if they consider it necessary (for example, to propose the addition of further areas as new policies develop). Any changes made to the concordat will be with the agreement of both parties.

* In many cases the Cabinet Office will not be the initiating Department for Deregulation Orders, but it will co-ordinate information from other UK departments.

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