BORIS Johnson has been urged to appoint a “Union tsar”, according to a leaked report on devolution.

Drafts of the findings of the Dunlop Review also recommend moving parts of Whitehall to the devolved nations and reforming the system used for holding intergovernmental meetings.

The Prime Minister, who proclaimed himself as the “minister for the Union” upon taking office last year, has been advised to appoint a “very senior Cabinet minister” to oversee the “operational arm” of four-nation relations.

It is also recommended that senior civil servants should decamp from London to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure “policy takes into account the differences within the country”.

According to a newspaper report yesterday, the recommendations are just some of the 40 contained within the Dunlop Review – which has been on the Prime Minister’s desk for eight months.

The review, which was set up by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May last July, was tasked with investigating how the Union could be strengthened after MPs concluded relations had “broken down” between the UK and Scottish governments.

The decision not to publish the review in full has been described as “perplexing” as elements of it are already being implemented.

Johnson set up a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and Chancellor Rishi Sunak with the task of drawing up policies to boost the UK.

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A UK Government spokesman told The Press and Journal: “The Government is grateful for the work that Lord Dunlop has undertaken and is carefully considering his report.”

Findings of the review are still to be shared with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations.

Last month devolved leaders told MPs they were none the wiser about its recommendations or publication date. “I’d almost forgotten it existed,” Scotland’s Constitution Secretary Mike Russell told a House of Commons committee.

Russell said the current forum for debate and decision-making between the UK and devolved governments – the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) – is “bust”.

“The JMC has not functioned properly almost since it was established,” he told MPs.

“I don’t think there’s been a single academic report that has found it fit for purpose; the JMC is bust.

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“In these circumstances, we need something new. There is a crying need for a change in intergovernmental structures, but nothing has happened from the UK Government at all, we’ve seen nothing.”

The minister said the JMC was “wisely” dropped to handle the Covid-19 crisis. “I think it was sensible and telling that all governments came to look for new structures to work in,” he added.

Russell, along with colleagues from the Welsh and Stormont governments, told MPs he “regretted” the UK Government decision to ditch the JMC’s replacement – the ministerial implementation group (MIG).

“I think we’re probably in a bit of a limbo at the present moment. I was sorry the MIGs have been disbanded, but that’s also one of the problems, there should be co-ownership of these structures if they’re going to be effective. It appears they can be lifted and laid by the UK Government without any further consultation. I regret that.”

Asked if devolved ministers have much impact on UK Government policy at these meetings, Russell said: “It depends on the meeting, it depends on the circumstances.”

He went on to say the “more important and vital the issue, the more likely it is people will be sensible” but said in some areas engagement had been “pretty appalling”.