Joint Ministerial Committee (UK)

Joint Ministerial Committee

British Prime Minister chairs a Joint Ministerial Committee meeting at 10 Downing Street
Formation	July 1, 1999; 22 years ago (1999-07-01)[1]
Type	Governmental organisation
Purpose	Relationship between governments of the United Kingdom
Location	Various, United Kingdom – Scotland – Wales – Northern Ireland
Membership	4; United Kingdom Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
Chair	Boris Johnson
Key people	Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales Paul Givan and Michelle O'Neill, First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
Main organ	UK Government Scottish Government Welsh Government Northern Ireland Executive
Website	GOV.UK (Cabinet Office): Intergovernmental Relations

This article is part of a series on
Politics of the United Kingdom
Constitution Magna Carta Treaty of Union (Acts of Union) Anglo-Irish Treaty Parliamentary sovereignty Rule of law Separation of powers Other constitutional principles
The Crown The Monarch (list) Elizabeth II Heir apparent Charles, Prince of Wales Royal family Succession Prerogative Counsellors of State
Executive Privy Council Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Council) HM Government Prime Minister (list) Boris Johnson (C) Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab (C) Cabinet (List) Departments Ministers Agencies
Legislature UK Parliament Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Parliament) House of Lords Lord Speaker The Lord McFall of Alcluith House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer (L) Act of Parliament 58th Parliament Opposition List of MPs
Judiciary Elizabeth II (Queen-on-the-Bench) Supreme Court President The Lord Reed Deputy President The Lord Hodge Justices of the Supreme Court UK England and Wales Scotland NI
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey Deputy Governors Monetary Policy Committee Currencies Banknotes Coins
Elections & Referendums UK Parliament constituencies (2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) Political parties Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions Senedd constituencies and electoral regions UK general elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832–33 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan–Feb) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 Next European Parliament elections (1979–2019) 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Scottish Parliament elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next Northern Ireland Assembly elections 1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 2022 Senedd elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next UK referendums 1975 2011 2016
Devolution Joint Ministerial Committee Legislative consent motions  England Governance of England English votes for English laws Greater London Authority 1998 referendum Greater London Authority Act 1999 (2007 Act) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Mayoral cabinet London Assembly London Plan Combined authorities Metro mayors Cornwall Council Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Act 1998 (2006 Act) First Minister Paul Givan deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill Executive Assembly Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly Law of Northern Ireland  Scotland 1997 referendum Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act, 2016 Act) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Government Scottish Parliament Act of the Scottish Parliament Scottish statutory instrument Scots law  Wales 1997 referendum (2011 referendum on law-making powers) Government of Wales Act 1998 (2006 Act, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017) First Minister Mark Drakeford Government Senedd Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2011) Act of Senedd Cymru Welsh law
Administration England History Subdivisions: Regions Ceremonial counties (list) Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Metropolitan county Non-metropolitan county Greater London Unitary authorities (list) Districts (list) Metropolitan Borough Non-metropolitan District London Borough Civil parishes (list) Historic counties Northern Ireland History Subdivisions: Counties Districts Scotland History Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms Council areas Community council areas Civil parishes Shires of Scotland Wales History Preserved counties Principal areas Communities (list) Historic counties
Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey ( Guernsey  Alderney  Sark)  Bailiwick of Jersey  Isle of Man British Islands Common Travel Area
Overseas Territories  Akrotiri and Dhekelia  Anguilla  Bermuda  British Antarctic Territory  British Indian Ocean Territory  British Virgin Islands  Cayman Islands  Falkland Islands  Gibraltar  Montserrat  Pitcairn Islands  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( Saint Helena  Ascension Island  Tristan da Cunha)  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands  Turks and Caicos Islands British Overseas Territories citizen Visa requirements Visa policies British Overseas Territories Act 2002 Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute Gibraltar sovereignty dispute Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
Foreign relations Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign policy (history) Diplomatic missions of / in the United Kingdom UK passport British National (Overseas) passport Visa requirements UK–CD Customs Union Visa policy Trade agreements Australia Belgium Belize Brunei Canada China Hong Kong Cyprus Denmark France Germany India Israel Italy Japan Kenya Malaysia Malta Netherlands New Zealand Norway Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Spain South Africa Palestine Pakistan Portugal United States Ireland Politics of Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement UK–Ireland border Northern Ireland Protocol British–Irish Council European Union (history) Brexit Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union UK–EU withdrawal agreement The Commonwealth member states United Kingdom and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 NATO G20 G7
United Kingdom portal England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other countries
v t

In the United Kingdom, the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), (Welsh: Y Cyd-bwyllgor Gweinidogion), is a consultative body established by a memorandum of understanding between the UK Government and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was created in 1999 by Tony Blair's Labour government.^[1] The JMC seeks to act as a focus for the coordination of the relationships between these administrations.

The terms of reference for the JMC are:^[2]

• To consider non-devolved matters which impinge on devolved responsibilities, and devolved matters which impinge on non-devolved responsibilities.
• Where the UK government and the devolved administrations so agree, to consider devolved matters if it is beneficial to discuss their respective treatment in different parts of the UK.
• To keep the arrangements for liaison between the UK government and the devolved administrations under review.
• To consider disputes between the administrations.

Since its creation in 1999, there have been several different JMC meeting formats.^[1] Since 2010, there have been four types: plenary, Europe, domestic and European negotiations (created following the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum^[3][4]).

Membership[]

The current membership of the JMC Plenary (JMC(P)) is as follows:

• Boris Johnson, Prime Minister, who acts as chair of the JMC.
• Stephen Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office
• Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland
• Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales
• Paul Givan and Michelle O'Neill, First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland

The following may also attend sessions of the JMC:

• Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom or First Secretary of State (if in office)
• The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
• The secretaries of state for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Other Secretaries of State when issues relating to their remit are discussed.

Current members[]

• 

  United Kingdom
  Stephen Barclay,
  Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  Minister for the Cabinet Office

• 

  Scotland
  Nicola Sturgeon,
  First Minister of Scotland

• 

  Wales
  Mark Drakeford,
  First Minister of Wales

• 

  Northern Ireland
  Paul Givan,
  First Minister of Northern Ireland

• 

  Northern Ireland
  Michelle O'Neill,
  deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland

Meetings[]

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2020)

The JMC Plenary meetings were intended to occur at least once every year. However, no plenary meetings were held between 2002 and 2008.^[1] This was primarily because the UK, Scotland, and Wales governments were all controlled by the Labour Party, and as such ministers from the central and devolved governments could quickly and easily use informal links to coordinate policy.^[5] However, following the Scottish National Party's victory at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election this was no longer the case. So JMC Plenary meetings were re-established, though on an ad hoc basis.^[1]

Under proposals outlined by Theresa May in October 2016, the JMC Plenary was to meet on a definite annual basis and would have rotated between London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. It would have also published an annual report on its work and hoped to foster greater formal and informal links between ministers from each (devolved) government.^[6][7] However, these proposals were vetoed by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness.^[6]

The most recent JMC Plenary was convened by Theresa May on 19 December 2018. Soon after he became Prime Minister in July 2019, Boris Johnson announced he intended to hold a JMC Plenary meeting as soon as possible.^[8] However, he is yet to call one.

See also[]

• Council of Australian Governments, a similar body in Australia
• First Ministers' conference and the Council of the Federation, similar bodies in Canada
• National Governors Association, a similar body in the United States of America
• North/South Ministerial Council
• British–Irish Council, which includes the British and Irish Governments, the UK Devolved Administrations and the Crown Dependencies.

References[]

External links[]

• GOV.UK: Intergovernmental Relations
• Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Memorandum of understanding and supplementary agreement