On 12 June 2025, the Interparliamentary Forum (IPF) held its seventh meeting since its establishment in 2022.
This In Brief provides information on the role of the IPF and summarises what was discussed at the recent meeting.
For more information on the IPF, see our earlier article.
What is the IPF
The IPF holds meetings twice a year, bringing together parliamentarians from across the UK to discuss cross-cutting issues.
The current iteration of the IPF met for the first time in February 2022, following on from the work established by the Interparliamentary Forum on Brexit.
The IPF’s priorities include oversight of:
- Intergovernmental relations including agreeing a joint annual report on addressing common scrutiny challenges;
- The operation of international agreements including the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol;
- The UK internal market including the UK Internal Market Act and Common Frameworks; and
- The impact of the new constitutional arrangements on the legislative process including the use of secondary legislation powers and the legislative consent process.
The seventh meeting
This meeting was hosted by the House of Commons and chaired by Simon Hoare MP, Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Following the meeting, the IPF released a joint statement summarising what was discussed. This included:
- Concerns in relation to the operation of the Internal Market Act;
- The limitations of the existing funding system for the devolved governments;
- The volume of legislation brought by the UK Government in devolved areas, the challenges faced by devolved parliaments in the effective scrutiny of consent memoranda and the unsatisfactory nature of the legislative process;
- The slow pace of the process associated with agreeing Common Frameworks and the consequent implications for their implementation;
- Difficulties the devolved parliaments face in engaging in scrutiny of international treaties;
- The challenge of incorporating representation from the devolved parliaments in the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly;
- How the UK Government has approached intergovernmental relations since the General Election.
The IPF agreed to invite ministers from all four Governments to appear together at the next Forum.
The next meeting is scheduled to take place in autumn 2025.
Article by Adam Cooke, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament.
