Ministers from all four nations discuss food system issues through the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In addition, officials have regular engagement on a wide range of food security and resilience issues.

Some regional bodies, including Mayoral Strategic Authorities, are already working to support local authorities across their regions, as those local authorities deliver their statutory duties relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The department will continue to work with regional authorities to consider how they could further support our reforms to the SEND system to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. There will be further announcements on devolution in due course.

The department engages regularly with Mayoral Strategic Authorities on a wide range of issues, including the devolved skills powers and funding they hold, and their role as leaders in their local skills systems. Skills devolution is an important mechanism for enabling more responsive and locally tailored provision that meets the needs of learners, employers and regional economies.

The government recognises the value of empowering Strategic Authorities to shape skills provision in line with local priorities. Through ongoing engagement, the department will continue to explore opportunities to build on existing devolution arrangements, ensuring that skills investment supports local growth and delivers outcomes that reflect the needs of communities across England.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has regular discussions with the Scottish Government on devolved issues, including their development programming. The FCDO offers support to the Scottish Government's development activity overseas, where such activities assist Ministers of the Crown under the terms of the Scotland Act.

Since the formation of the new Welsh Government after the Senedd election in May 2026, UK Government ministers have engaged with their Welsh Government counterparts on matters within their areas of responsibility. This includes the Prime Minister’s initial engagement with the First Minister of Wales following his appointment on 20 July. The newly appointed Secretary of State for Wales will also have an early conversation with the First Minister.

The UK Government publishes an intergovernmental relations dashboard on GOV.UK detailing the number of ministerial meetings between the governments. Data for the number of meetings during the first two quarters of 2026 will be published in due course.

There is no international consensus on the legal basis of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and no agreement on either the definition of the right or its scope. The UK supported United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/300 on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, accompanied by an explanation of vote which referred to this lack of consensus. This Government has no current plans to introduce legislation on the right but is monitoring discussions exploring a new instrument at the international level to enshrine the right, including at the Council of Europe. Officials have previously raised this with the Devolved Governments and will consult with them ahead of any formal international negotiations.

Since 7 May, UK Government Ministers and officials have continued to engage with the Welsh Government on police reform and future governance arrangements in Wales, including discussions between the Minister for Policing and Crime and Welsh Government Ministers on 7 July, and through established forums such as the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. These discussions have focused on future governance arrangements and the interaction between policing reform and devolved services.

It remains the view of the UK Government that policing in Wales should operate within an integrated England and Wales framework, supporting consistency, interoperability and resilience across both nations. The UK Government’s priority is delivering safer communities and stronger cross-border cooperation within the existing constitutional framework.

We will continue to work closely with the new Welsh Government, Welsh Policing and others to ensure that a new model for police governance works for Wales.

The government recognises the importance of wastewater provision on new developments. Water companies are under a statutory duty to provide new sewage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans.

The water resources planning guideline published by the Environment Agency and Ofwat, sets out how those companies should forecast demand for water based on existing customers and planned levels of household and non-household growth, with the number of planned developments being based on published local plans.

My officials work closely with other government departments, especially Defra, on matters relating to wastewater capacity and infrastructure. I would also note that responsibility for water and wastewater capacity is devolved, and that devolved institutions are best placed to determine the appropriate approach in their respective nations.

Local authorities are responsible for designing and managing their own housing allocations policies to meet local need, including managing their own housing registers (waiting lists).

The government has launched a review into how effectively social housing providers use their properties, including exploring ways to reduce the time homes are left empty, encourage greater movement within the sector to address under-occupancy and overcrowding, and support people to move into more suitable properties.

Housing is a devolved matter but my Department regularly engages with the devolved administrations across a range of issues, including housing.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771) and 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283), and the Social and Affordable Homes Programme policy statement published on 7 November 2025, which can be found on gov.uk here.

The government recently ran a shadow Right to Request process, ahead of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act securing Royal Assent. Mayors submitted 43 requests for further devolution through this process. Ministers wrote to Mayors in May to confirm the Government’s response to each request.

The government has already announced detail on several requests which were accepted as part of the first round. This includes decisions which will apply across England – including the devolution of Transport and Works Act Order approvals to all Mayors, and the devolution of Local Innovation Partnerships Funding from the next SR. The 5 June press release referred to in the Honourable Member’s question also lists a number of requests which the Government is taking forward with individual Mayors, to test new approaches in one place before deciding whether to extend these arrangements to other mayoral areas.

The requests submitted by Mayors, and the responses sent to Mayors, have not been published for this shadow round of the process. It is for Mayors to decide whether they wish to share the contents of their letters.

As crises do not respect borders or boundaries, resilience is a shared responsibility between individuals, communities, businesses, local, devolved and national government across the UK.

We work in close cooperation at both official and ministerial level on resilience, organising regular ‘four nations’ meeting. These aim to complement the everyday work teams across government do to collaborate with counterparts in the devolved governments on risk and resilience. The most recent meeting was in June.

This group discusses how each government is developing its own strategies and frameworks to strengthen resilience and identify opportunities for greater collaboration.

MHCLG has drawn on a range of devolution evidence over time, including evaluations of programmes and interventions delivered through devolved arrangements, wider analysis of devolution-related outcomes, and evidence generated by local areas themselves. This includes support for mayoral areas to evaluate the Investment Funds that have historically accompanied devolution deals. We continue to build the evidence base and are considering what further evaluation would add most value in understanding the impacts of devolution, including on local public services.

The Government believes that all communities can benefit from devolution, which places powers in the hands of local leaders who understand the opportunities and challenges facing their areas.

Strategic Authorities can play an important role in addressing the distinct challenges often associated with coastal communities, including economic development, transport connectivity, regeneration and skills.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 explicitly recognises coastal communities within the areas of competence for Strategic Authorities. This provides a clear basis for mayors and Strategic Authorities to consider the interests of coastal communities when exercising their functions and developing local priorities.

Let me be clear that these proposals will be consulted on. The A38 Derby junctions and the A46 Newark bypass schemes are not in contract and are not scheduled to start main construction until the second half of the third road investment strategy. They are not as far progressed as RIS3 enhancement schemes elsewhere, meaning that the implications of potentially cancelling them would have a less significant impact compared with schemes that are further progressed.