Finance and Constitution Committee issues call for evidence on common frameworks

The move signals the start of preparatory work by the committee ahead of new legal and policy frameworks being established post-Brexit across the UK and devolved areas.

Finance & Constitution Committee convener Bruce Crawford MSP said: “This next phase in our constitutional scrutiny is incredibly important, as common frameworks will determine how a range of policy areas work across the UK and devolved nations, whether it applies to business, agriculture or the environment.

“What’s also incredibly important is that the very process of developing common frameworks is likely to give us an early indication of the effectiveness of relationships between the UK Government and devolved institutions.”

Mr Crawford added: “Our committee is already commissioning international comparative research on how frameworks operate in Europe, Canada and Australia. We’ll also want to hear from academics and from policy experts.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of effective parliamentary scrutiny in this next phase of our work.”

The committee recognised in its interim report on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill that “significant further work is required in relation to the scrutiny of developing and agreeing common frameworks” and “that this is a critically important area of work and will consider it further.”

The committee identified a number of areas which require further detailed examination:

• What should replace the current EU policy-making processes across the UK;
• Addressing the governance gap in relation to the monitoring, implementation and enforcement of frameworks;
• The interaction between frameworks and the negotiation of new international agreements including free trade deals;
• Funding of obligations and commitments arising from frameworks.

The committee would welcome written submissions dealing with the issues outlined above and any other relevant views in relation to the development and agreement of common UK frameworks.

The closing date for responses is Friday 31 August 2018.