A Constitution Unit report by Meg Russell, Hannah White and Lisa James, published jointly with the Institute for Government, provides a menu of constitutional reform options ahead of political parties’ manifesto preparation. Its chapters will be published in summary form on this blog throughout August, with this third excerpt identifying potential changes relating to the territorial constitution.  

Recent years have been unsettled ones in UK territorial politics, with structural pressures following the Brexit vote, and other tensions between the centre and the devolved institutions. Meanwhile, the devolution arrangements for England remain an incomplete patchwork.  

While wholesale reform may be complex and contentious, much can be done to mitigate the tensions that exist within the existing framework. There is widespread recognition that cooperation between the UK government and devolved institutions could be improved, and some positive steps in this direction have already been taken. With the fiercest battles about the implementation of Brexit now over, opportunities exist for strengthening interparliamentary arrangements. The governance arrangements for England could also be made more transparent and coherent.  

Such issues have been considered by various parliamentary committees and external experts. Some of their proposed solutions are relatively uncontroversial and quickly achievable, whereas others may require rather more time and consideration. There are a significant number of larger-scale reforms proposed in this area, including changes that would require far more careful deliberation and extensive consultation. Some of these are things that the UK government itself may not actively pursue, but it may need to respond to pressures from other actors. 

Quick wins 

• The first and most obvious action would be for the UK government to explicitly restate its determination to respect the devolved institutions and to uphold the agreed principles for intergovernmental relations within the UK. In recent years there have been concerns about a lack of adequate consultation, and about what some have termed ‘muscular unionism’ – with accusations that the centre has strayed increasingly into areas of devolved responsibility. A clear statement of cooperation would help to build goodwill. 
• The UK government should publicly commit to respecting the Sewel convention, whereby the UK Parliament does ‘not normally’ legislate with regard to devolved matters, or amend the powers of devolved institutions, without devolved consent. 

Moderate changes 

Intergovernmental relations and the Union 

The government’s 2022 Review of Intergovernmental Relations led to the establishment of new intergovernmental structures and a renewed commitment to constructive joint working. While these developments are welcome, further improvements can be made: 

• The government should implement the outstanding elements of the Intergovernmental Relations Review, including the addition of interministerial groups to encourage cooperation and resolve disagreements in areas such as health, welfare, transport and justice. 
• The UK government’s 2021 Dunlop Review recommended that it should establish a Secretary of State for Intergovernmental Relations and a single Permanent Secretary with responsibility for the Union who would lead the offices of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This was subsequently endorsed by the House of Lords Constitution Committee. 
• The Dunlop Review also recommended that the UK government should prioritise improved understanding of devolution across Whitehall – including via loans and secondments of officials between governments – and afford greater prominence to devolution teams working within Whitehall departments. 
• It remains a major concern that the Stormont institutions are currently suspended. The UK government should work as constructively as possible with the Irish government, civil society actors and political parties in Northern Ireland to encourage the re-establishment of devolved government and to build confidence in Northern Ireland’s governance arrangements. Polling and election results indicate that its population is increasingly abandoning the traditional unionist and nationalist identities and wants more ‘normal’ politics. 

• The Lords Constitution Committee has suggested various means to strengthen UK parliamentary oversight of intergovernmental relations, particularly for the House of Lords. The Institute for Government has proposed establishment of a Devolution Committee either in the House of Commons or as a joint committee, which could fulfil this role. 

The Sewel convention and interparliamentary relations 

• While a declaratory commitment could be an immediate first step, more could be done to follow this up. The Institute for Government is among those to have proposed changes, including far greater transparency regarding the operation of the Sewel convention. Proposals include that the UK government should share draft legislation with its devolved counterparts within an agreed minimum period before introduction, lay a detailed ‘devolution statement’ before parliament for each new piece of legislation, and make a statement to parliament justifying any decision to proceed with legislation without the consent of the devolved legislatures. Similar ideas have come from the House of Lords Constitution Committee. 
• While the Sewel convention does not technically apply in such cases, the UK government should seek consent before pursuing secondary legislation in devolved areas of competence, as the Lords Constitution Committee has recommended.  
• The UK government should also support stronger interparliamentary relations between the UK parliament and devolved legislatures (which fall properly within the competence of the legislatures concerned), including supporting and engaging with the existing interparliamentary forum. For example the Hansard Society has suggested more joint sessions between UK-level committees and their devolved counterparts, which would provide greater oversight of intergovernmental relations.  The Lords Constitution Committee has recommended incorporating an expectation for UK government ministers to appear before committees of the devolved legislatures into the Ministerial Code. 

Funding and the Barnett formula 

• This is a complex and contested area, but the Institute for Government has suggested that improvements could be made in the first instance through greater transparency in devolution finance. For example, the UK government could publish its annual analysis of comparative spending levels on public services in the devolved nations, and make clear alongside every spending decision whether and why it will produce additional resources for each devolved administration. 
• In addition, an independent body such as the National Audit Office could be asked to report annually on how the Barnett formula has been used to calculate changes in devolved budgets. 

Governance arrangements for England 

• In recent years the metro mayor and combined authority model has been central to the government’s devolution agenda. However, there are many ways in which it could be improved. For example the powers of metro mayors could be made more coherent, with devolution of further powers in areas such as transport, skills and housing, building on the trailblazer devolution deals in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. The government could commit to respond publicly to requests for devolution, and to explain its reasons if it declines to devolve to one area a power devolved elsewhere.  

• A new government could also set out a clear route map for how devolution will be extended to the half of England left out of the devolution process so far. Such proposals were included in the report of the commission chaired for Labour by Gordon Brown. 
• More could be done to improve communications between existing devolved bodies in England and the centre. There are different proposals for how this could be achieved. The Institute for Government and Bennett Institute have suggested that the UK government should establish an English Devolution Council, comprised of England’s elected mayors, to represent local authorities in the heart of the UK government. Others have proposed similar arrangements also incorporating the leaders of local authorities. 
• It has also been suggested that more could be done to deepen understanding of English devolution across Whitehall, for example through secondments between UK government officials and Mayoral Combined Authorities. 
• The government has been encouraged to establish an independent or cross-party commission on current and future governance arrangements for England by bodies such as the Institute for Government and Bennett Institute, and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. 

Larger, more controversial reforms  

• One of the biggest questions about the territorial constitution facing government is the future of Scotland. The SNP has pressed for a further referendum on Scottish independence, which the UK government has so far refused. These pressures may continue. A new government in Westminster may wish to consider the case for further devolution to Scotland, as well as seeking opportunities for closer cooperation with the Scottish government. 
• Support for Irish unification could grow to the extent that a referendum on Northern Ireland’s future constitutional status is legally required – though that is clearly not the case at present. The Constitution Unit’s Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland has set out, in an objective manner, a series of considerations for politicians regarding such a poll. 
• Currently, the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales is considering various options, including federalism for the UK or alternatively Welsh independence. The Commission is also examining the case for further devolution in areas such as justice, welfare and transport. The Welsh government has suggested a UK-wide constitutional convention. 
• A series of larger-scale reforms for strengthening and developing devolution have been proposed by the commission chaired for the Labour Party by Gordon Brown. These include further devolution of power to the nations, regions and local level, and a constitutional statute to clarify the relationship between the constituent nations of the UK and how political power should be shared. 
• In addition, bodies such as the Institute for Government have suggested that the Treasury and devolved administrations should jointly conduct or commission a new assessment of the relative spending needs of each part of the UK, including at the subnational level within England. Many past reviews have also recommended that the Barnett formula should be replaced by a needs-based mechanism for allocating new government spending.  

This is the third of five chapters to be published in blog form from the recent joint Constitution Unit and Institute for Government report Rebuilding and Renewing the Constitution: Options for Reform. Previous chapters have covered the executive branch and parliament; future posts will look at the courts and the rule of law, and elections and public participation. A summary post marking the report’s publication is available on this blog, and the full report is available for download on the Constitution Unit and Institute for Government websites. 

About the authors 

Meg Russell FBA is Professor of British and Comparative Politics at UCL and Director of the Constitution Unit. 

Hannah White is Director of the Institute for Government. 

Lisa James is a Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit.