UK Government criticised for ‘disappointing’ failure to publish devolution review in 2020

The UK Government has been criticised over its “disappointing” failure to publish the results of its devolution review.

Officials in Westminster had pledged to publish the findings of the review last year, but did not do so.

Now MP from four Westminster committees have written to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove demanding the findings are made public.

The chairs of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, and the Scottish Affairs, Welsh Affairs and Northern Ireland Affairs committees, have all joined together to demand its publication.

They told Mr Gove: “Our Committees have been awaiting the publication of Lord Dunlop’s review and the Government’s response to it for some time.

“It was therefore disappointing to learn that, contrary to earlier commitments, these would not be published before the end of 2020.”

The committee chairs told Mr Gove if the review and response could not be published by their deadline, ministers should “set out a clear alternative timeframe for publication so that we can arrange our scrutiny accordingly”.

The report was charged with looking at how the union between the four nations could be strengthened, and was first commissioned by the then-prime minister Theresa May.

Former Scotland Office minister and David Cameron Adviser Lord Dunlop was put in charge of the process.

The committees are due to question Mr Gove on the issue on January 28, and have warned that for this to “go ahead as planned” they needed both the review and the Government’s response to it to be available by Thursday January 14.

It comes as Mr Gove met with Boris Johnson for private talks on how to give the Union a "big push" in the face of soaring support for independence.

The Dunlop Review is expected to advise moving posts outside Whitehall, and set to form part of Mr Johnson’s attempts to claw back support for the Union.

In November, Labour peer George Foulkes asked the Government when the report would be published and was told it would be "by the end of this year".

Support for independence has been the majority in 17 consecutive polls, with the most recent placing it 14 points ahead.

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