Andy Burnham and John Swinney hail ‘constructive’ talks about devolution

Andy Burnham and John Swinney have held “constructive” talks on further devolution, both governments have said.

The pair met in Glasgow on Friday, taking part in the National Economics Council (NEC) hosted by the prime minister before holding separate bilateral talks.

Speaking afterwards, the first minister said the meeting was a “welcome start” on Burnham’s ambition to drive economic growth through devolution.

And a spokesperson for Downing Street said it had been “extremely positive” and the UK Government would “review and respond” to issues raised by the FM.

Swinney has written privately to the prime minister with a series of suggestions of what more powers could be devolved to Holyrood.

He refused to set out exactly what those were when asked by journalists, saying he wanted to “respect the intergovernmental space to allow those issues to be considered”.

He said: “I will work constructively and collaboratively with him to devolve more powers from Westminster to Scotland – as long as those proposals drive economic growth that is felt in higher wages, better jobs, more opportunities for business to start and expand, and support with the cost of living.

“Today’s meeting of the National Economic Council was a welcome start of work to develop the UK Government’s new principle of ‘devolving by default’ and the Prime Minister has been clear that he will not bypass the Scottish Parliament in this endeavour.

“I welcome that commitment, and look forward to our governments jointly developing a plan to consider further devolution to Scotland that will boost economic growth.”

The NEC involved a variety of UK Government ministers, including chancellor John Healey, Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander and energy minister Michael Shanks.

Welsh first minister Rhun ap Iorwerth – with whom Swinney recently signed a memorandum of understanding declaring an end to the UK – was also present.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister and first minister agreed the meeting at the NEC had been extremely positive. They said it had been a valuable exercise in starting the process of exploring how each government could contribute to regional empowerment, reindustrialisation and achieving good growth in every postcode.

“They agreed that now there would be a policy sprint led by No10 North, involving officials from both governments, to take this agenda forward.

“Outside that process, the prime minister said the UK Government would review and respond to a range of issues raised by the first minister. This would not include a second independence referendum in Scotland, which the prime minister has repeatedly made clear, is off the table.”

The Scottish Government has committed to reform of local government, with an initial paper setting out how regional councils could take control of skills, transport and economic development.

However, council umbrella body Cosla and three trade unions have released a joint statement expressing concern that ministers were taking a “top down” approach to these reforms.

Asked about those concerns in the context of the wider discussion on devolution, Swinney said: “We’ve got to have a discussion about what are the best powers to be exercised at national, regional and community level in Scotland. We’ve set out some of our initial thinking about how that could be taken forward, and we encourage and engage with local partners to discuss that with us.

“Interestingly, the proposals the prime minister has raised with me today resonate with that. It’s a very timely and apposite conversation to be having.”