Today the Constitution Unit publishes a wide-ranging new report. The Constitutional Landscape: Options for Reform briefly summarises 31 areas of constitutional policy, describing the current state of affairs and the options for reform. In this post Lisa James, one of the report’s authors, explores its contents. 

Healthy political functioning depends upon robust constitutional structures and norms. The Constitution Unit’s new report, The Constitutional Landscape: Options for Reform, briefly surveys the current state of constitutional policy, and the ways in which the functioning of the UK constitution might be strengthened.  

The report spans 31 topics of constitutional policy, in a series of short standalone sections. Each of these discusses the current state of affairs, and identifies potential reforms. The topics chosen include those which are (or seem likely to be) on the government’s agenda for this parliament; others where expert groups inside and outside parliament have called for reform; and some additional topics which have been most prominent and long-running in constitutional debate, such as the electoral system for the House of Commons. 

Background

When the Labour government came to power in July 2024, it did so with some ambitions for constitutional reform already in mind. The manifesto pledged changes to governance arrangements within England, ‘modernisation’ in the House of Commons and reform of the House of Lords, plus an extension of the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds. Various of these reforms are already underway: a devolution white paper published in December laid out proposed reforms within England; the House of Commons Modernisation Committee has been set up, and recently identified its initial priorities; a bill to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords is currently before parliament; and plans for reform of elections are expected this year. 

But in various areas, there remains scope for considerable further change. Over the past decade, the extraordinary events of the Brexit and Covid periods exposed long-running tensions in the functioning of the constitution. Many concerned the perennial question of how power should be balanced between the UK’s core constitutional actors, in terms of how far parliament should be able to constrain government, how power should be balanced between the UK and devolved administrations, and the role of the courts. At the same time, Brexit and Covid both posed enormous challenges for the state and shone a spotlight on questions about government capacity, capability and organisation. And a series of much-publicised scandals damaged public trust in politics and demonstrated gaps in the standards system. The new report aims to identify potential reforms in all these areas. 

The report 

The report considers a range of topics in six broad areas: parliament, government, the royal prerogative, devolution and the future of the Union, elections and public participation, and law, justice and the courts. 

The chapter on parliament considers how the legislative process might be improved, and the scrutiny of delegated legislation strengthened. Ministers have voiced ambitions to improve practice in both these areas, following a period of decline; the report lays out some of the ways in which this might be achieved. Closely related to any consideration of scrutiny is the question of how House of Commons procedures function, and how they might be reformed. The new Modernisation Committee offers one vehicle for achieving this; the report considers both how procedural reform in the Commons works, and what types of reforms might be desirable. A separate section considers MPs’ standards – also on the agenda of the Modernisation Committee. Finally, as mentioned above, the first step in Labour’s planned reform of the House of Lords (removal of the remaining hereditary peers) is underway; but a broader programme of short-term reform has not yet been acted upon. The report lays out some options, as well as considering the thorny question of long-term reform of the second chamber.  

Labour has also indicated ambitions to introduce reforms relating to the conduct, practice and machinery of government itself. The report’s chapter on government considers various topics relating to this. On some – for example, ministerial standards, and lobbying and transparency – there is broad expert agreement on what should be done (though the government’s stated plans so far fall short of what experts have recommended). Civil service reform, meanwhile, has been the subject of long-running debate. Two other topics – the government’s use of emergency powers and state of emergency preparedness, and the effectiveness of public inquiries – have been given fresh urgency by the events of recent years. 

The chapter on the royal prerogative discusses reforms relating to the dissolution and prorogation of parliament, the scrutiny and approval of international agreements, and parliament’s role in authorising military action overseas. These ‘prerogative powers’ sit formally with the monarch, but are exercised either by or on the advice of ministers, with minimal parliamentary oversight. All four of the prerogative powers discussed in this chapter have been the subject of controversy in recent years – from military action in Iraq or Syria, to disputes about parliament’s role in approving the Brexit deal, and the unlawful prorogation of parliament in 2019.  

The future of the Union is a perennial topic of debate. But major change to the Union’s structure seems unlikely in this parliament. However, there is scope for reforms to the processes and norms that surround intergovernmental relations and legislative consent – pursuing these might provide a way for the government to deliver its promised ‘reset’ of relations with the devolved governments. As the report’s chapter on devolution and the future of the Union lays out, close engagement between Whitehall and the devolved administrations will be crucial – not least in Northern Ireland, where restoring positive relations with all parties will be key to strengthening institutions. The chapter also addresses reforms to governance structures within England – an area where, as mentioned above, the government is currently pressing ahead with its reform programme. 

Another area where the largest-scale reform seems to be off the cards, but other reforms are likely, is elections policy. As the report’s chapter on elections and public participation lays out, while the electoral system for the House of Commons is a matter of ongoing debate, it seems very unlikely that a shift away from first-past-the-post will take place in this parliament. However, various other reforms have been promised, including changes to the franchise, voter ID, and campaign finance. Meanwhile, experts have warned about the importance of preserving healthy political discourse; the report lays out their reasons for concern, and their recommendations. It also addresses the options for increasing public participation in politics, particularly through the use of deliberative bodies such as citizens’ assemblies.  

The final chapter of the report concerns law, justice and the courts. These topics have been the subject of sometimes acrimonious debate in recent years, with tensions raised by attacks by some government ministers on the legal profession. The chapter considers the role of the Lord Chancellor and the law officers – a topic brought recently into the spotlight by criticisms of Attorney General Lord (Richard) Hermer. It also discusses reforms that have been proposed to judicial review, and, finally, considers what practical steps might be needed to safeguard the functioning of the courts system, and guarantee access to justice for all. 

Naturally, no report of this nature can promise to be truly comprehensive. But we hope that, with its broad sweep of topics, organised in short digestible sections, the report will provide a useful picture of the current constitutional landscape – and a guide to how it might be strengthened in the coming years. 

The Constitutional Landscape: Options for Reform is a product of the Unit’s Constitutional Principles and the Health of Democracy project. Other work connected to the project, such as previous reports and blogposts, can be found on the project page.

About the author

Lisa James is a Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit and co-author of The Constitutional Landscape: Options for Reform.