The report from the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee says interactions between the UK government and those in devolved nations should be less ad-hoc with a formal, structured and transparent schedule published in advance.

The publication reports “significant concern” around the understanding of the powers and role of the devolved governments and parliaments within Whitehall, and as a result, it says there appears to be a lack of thought in some cases about how devolution affects the development of policy by the UK government and passage of legislation at the UK Parliament.

The new report was supported by four members – committee convener Clare Adamson MSP, Keith Brown MSP, George Adam MSP and Patrick Harvie MSP. Neil Bibby MSP, Stephen Kerr MSP and Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP dissented from the report.

The publication follows the committee’s inquiry on the transparency of intergovernmental activity – the interaction and cooperation between central and devolved governments – and its implications for parliamentary scrutiny and ministerial accountability.

As part of its work, committee members held a number of informal meetings in London with UK government ministers, Cabinet Office officials and parliamentary committees in the House of Lords and House of Commons. Its recommendations were also informed by previous work and reports including on the UK Internal Market Act.

The report describes it as “striking” that a majority of common frameworks have yet to be agreed by the Scottish government, more than eight years after an initial agreement on their principles. Common frameworks are the agreed approaches between the UK government and the devolved administrations to manage regulatory consistency in specific areas including food safety, environmental standards and agriculture, following the UK’s exit from the EU.

The report notes the example of the UK Internal Market Act (UKIMA), where although Holyrood voted twice by division to repeal UKIMA, the possibility of repeal was not considered as part of the UK government’s review of the Act. It concludes that it is “unclear” how further progress can be made in agreeing common frameworks in policy areas impacted by UKIMA, which undermines certainty and trust among businesses and hinders ministerial accountability and parliamentary scrutiny.

Committee convener Clare Adamson said: “There continues to be a number of ongoing challenges which are undermining effective intergovernmental relations.

“The committee’s view is that the resetting of intergovernmental of relations should include improving the effectiveness of engagement between governments and parliaments in the devolved nations.”