New House of Lords committee to look at post-Brexit policy agreements between UK Government and devolved administrations

A new select committee has been set up in the House of Lords to scrutinise new agreements between the UK and devolved governments in areas of policy being returned to the UK after Brexit.

The Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee will look at frameworks set up to harmonise rules across the UK when powers that were previously held by the EU are passed to the devolved administrations and the UK Government.

Topics that the committee will be considering include food safety, nutrition standards and labelling, hazardous substances in the planning system, the UK’s emissions trading system and the safe management of radioactive substances.

This is the first committee in parliament dedicated to examining common frameworks.  

The committee has now begun its work and is expected to sit for the duration of the current parliamentary session.  

Baroness Andrews, chair of the Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee, said: “As a consequence of the UK leaving the EU, powers previously exercised at an EU level that intersect with devolved competence flow back directly to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. 

“It is therefore crucial to ensure that after the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, we have common frameworks in place for the UK and devolved governments that guarantee appropriate common standards and policies across the UK internal market.

“These common frameworks must respect the competences of the devolved administrations and be subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny.  

“The membership of the Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee includes peers with wide experience from all four nations.

“We will work to ensure that the common frameworks fulfil all the expectations for cooperation across a range of policy areas.”