From unseen to accountable: The journey towards transparency and scrutiny of intergovernmental relations in the UK

When examining intergovernmental relations within the devolved UK state, scholars have largely focused on the intergovernmental machinery itself and the nature of executive relations. Instead, this article focuses on transparency and scrutiny of the intergovernmental relations system. It asks why governments have become increasingly transparent in their conduct of intergovernmental relations, potentially opening themselves up to enhanced parliamentary scrutiny. In tracing the introduction of government-enacted transparency measures (at both the UK and devolved levels) since 1999, this article argues that the years around 2016 and 2022 marked key moments for greater openness of intergovernmental relations. The article contends that the opening up of intergovernmental processes to parliamentary examination – while far from complete – occurred chiefly as a response to changing political-constitutional contexts. The dramatic intergovernmental ‘high politics’ surrounding the Scottish independence referendum and Brexit proved decisive in securing greater government transparency, following other long-standing, often unsuccessful, campaigns for enhanced scrutiny.