Joint Ministerial Committee meet in London
A Plenary session of the Joint Ministerial Committee was held in London today.
commitment to protecting the economy and to responsible management of public finances. They also identified shared interests in encouraging sustainable economic growth and achieving the best value provision of public services, especially as resources get tighter. Maintaining and improving competitiveness was also agreed to be a priority.
The Finance Ministers’ Quadrilateral meetings will discuss the spending review and ensure that the devolved administrations are fully consulted.
They agreed that it would be important to maintain regular dialogue on these issues and that an early meeting of the Finance Ministers’ Quadrilateral should take place.
The meeting also agreed the attached Annual Report, summarising the activities of the Joint Ministerial Committee since the last meeting of the Plenary in September 2009. This will now be published on each administration’s website.
A Plenary session of the Joint Ministerial Committee was held in London today.
The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, David Cameron MP. The participants were the following: from HM Government the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, the Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan MP, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Hugo Swire MP and the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Sassoon; from the Scottish Government the First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP, and the Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop MSP; from the Northern Ireland Executive, the First Minister, Peter Robinson MLA and the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MP MLA; and from the Welsh Assembly Government the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM and the Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM. This was the first meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee since the formation of the new UK Government.
The meeting discussed: the mutual respect agenda and how the four administrations could work together to make this a reality; the economy and public finances and intergovernmental relations.
It confirmed the continuing importance of the institution of the Joint Ministerial Committee and agreed a programme of meetings for the year ahead.
On the economy, Ministers discussed the impact of the recession on their administrations and of the planned expenditure cuts affecting each administration. They agreed that all four administrations had a shared