THE unpublished devolution review set up by former PM Theresa May last year lays out a range of recommendations including the appointment of a Union tsar and moving parts of Whitehall to the devolved nations, it has been reported.

According to the Press and Journal, there are 40 recommendations contained in the Dunlop Review – which has been sitting on Boris Johnson’s desk for eight months.

The newspaper reports that the review calls on Johnson to appoint a “very senior Cabinet minister” to oversee the “operational arm” of relations between the UK nations, and send Whitehall policymakers from London to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure plans consider the differences within the UK.

The review was launched by May before she left office last year, after MPs concluded that relations had “broken down” between the UK and Scottish governments.

Just last week MPs were calling on the UK Government to publish the review – which set out to “strengthen the working of the Union” – and open it up to scrutiny.

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The Tory chairman of the cross-party Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee wrote to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove urging him to publish the report, warning the Covid-19 pandemic had raised “serious questions” about the effectiveness of how Westminster and the devolved governments work together on big issues effecting the UK as a whole.

A Westminster source told the Press and Journal that the Dunlop review “suggests policy officials should not cluster in Whitehall and recommends moving them out to the devolved nations to engage directly with stakeholders across the country”.

It adds that the Prime Minister’s self-appointed “minister for the Union” title is not enough, the source said, and warned there needs to be an “operational arm” to relations between the nations.

Additionally, the review reportedly says intergovernmental relations “need to be more of a joint endeavour” – focusing on issues that impact the whole of the UK like climate change and “productivity”.

Since the call for the review last July, polls have indicated there is a growing support for Scottish independence. Last week a Panelbase poll found 54% of Scots now support self-determination, while prior to that a series of surveys found Yes backing was higher than 50%.

The Dunlop report, which was written months ago, will not have taken this into consideration – nor the coronavirus pandemic, which has serious worldwide consequences.

Scotland’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has called on the UK Government to devolve further borrowing powers, while the Scottish Government’s own economic recovery advisory group indicated this would be a good move, to help the nation’s pandemic recovery.

The 40 recommendations of the Dunlop report will not take major new developments like this into account.

A spokesperson for the UK Government said: “The Government is grateful for the work that Lord Dunlop has undertaken and is carefully considering his report.”