Inter-Parliamentary Forum

The Inter-Parliamentary Forum (IPF; Welsh: Fforwm Rhyngseneddol) is a mechanism for dialogue and cooperation between the members of the two houses of the UK Parliament, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and the devolved legislatures of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd. It is composed of the chairs or conveners of relevant committees of each legislature.

The forum was established in 2022 as the successor to the Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Brexit which first met in 2017 to help coordinate the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.

Terms of reference

The forum's terms of reference were adopted following its first meeting in February 2022 and are as follows:

"The Interparliamentary Forum provides a collective space to share information about, and does not supplant, each parliament's scrutiny of its executive.

Initial priorities for the forum will include oversight of:

Inter-governmental relations including agreeing a joint annual report on addressing common scrutiny challenges;

The operation of international agreements including the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol;

The UK internal market including the UK Internal Market Act and Common Frameworks;

The impact of the new constitutional arrangements on the legislative process including the use of secondary powers and the legislative consent process.

The Interparliamentary Forum will aim to improve scrutiny in these areas through both a mutual exchange of information and best practice at a parliamentary level and in seeking a consistent approach to improving accountability at both a Ministerial and inter-governmental level."

Meetings

The Inter-Parliamentary Forum usually meets twice a year, in spring and in autumn.