Part 2: Functions of the IMA Annual reports for specialised committee etc
Paragraph 31 places a duty on the IMA to provide annual reports on the implementation and application of Part 2 of the Withdrawal Agreement to the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights (which reports to the Joint Committee established to oversee the Withdrawal Agreement), and annual reports on Part 2 of the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement to the Joint Committee established by that agreement.
	The Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights for the Withdrawal Agreement will, under its delegated functions from the Joint Committee, be responsible for supervising the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. This committee will be composed of representatives from the UK and EU. It will meet at the request of either the UK or the EU and, in any event, once a year.
	The Joint Committee for the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement will be responsible for the implementation and application of this agreement. The Joint Committee will be composed of representatives from the UK and the EEA EFTA states. It too will meet at the request of the UK or of one of the EEA states and, in any event, once a year after the end of the implementation period.
	Sub-paragraph (3) requires the IMA’s annual reports to contain information on measures taken by relevant public authorities to implement or comply with Part 2, the number and nature of complaints made, the exercise of the IMA’s functions in relation to Part 2. Sub-paragraph (4) provides that the annual reports may contain any other information that the IMA considers appropriate.
	Sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) set out the time frames the annual reports must cover. The first annual report will cover the 12-month period starting with IP completion day; subsequent reports will relate to each successive 12-month period.
	Sub-paragraph (7) provides that the annual reports should be sent to the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights and the Joint Committee as soon as is reasonably practicable after the period to which they relate. At the same time, sub-paragraph (8) requires the report be sent to the Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers and the Executive Office in Northern Ireland. This is to provide for domestic, as well as international, accountability.
	Sub-paragraphs (9) and (10) direct the Secretary of State to lay the annual report before Parliament as soon as is practicable and to publish the report as soon as is practicable thereafter.
	Sub-paragraph (11) directs the Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers and the Executive Office in Northern Ireland to lay the report before the appropriate devolved legislature as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving it.