Last Thursday, the finance committees of Scotland and Wales met with members of the Commons Treasury Committee, former Treasury Minister Rt. Hon David Gauke, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Chair, William Wragg MP (pictured with us) and others in Portcullis House, London.
The IFCF is cross-party and serves to collectively discuss finance and public administration issues of concern to the devolved nations and raise them with the UK Government, particularly in relation to developing UK budgets and financial scrutiny.
Northern Ireland attended in an observer capacity but will hopefully participate soon.
We had originally planned to travel last November but delayed our visit due to the reluctance of Westminster to engage. We were very disappointed that Treasury Ministers and Officials refused to meet with us on this occasion either. We were therefore very appreciative of those MPs officials and third parties such as the Office for National Statistics, Statistics Authority and Institute for Government who did.
