No turning back on the long road to devolution
Here, Huw Irranca-Davies, chairman of the Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, outlines the aims of their inquiry into the process of devolution...
THE NATIONAL Assembly for Wales is still a very young democratic institution. Less than two decades old, and yet firmly established as a part of Wales’ civic and constitutional life, it is as if it has always been there to our new generations of young people.
Yet the process of devolution is just that – a process. It has often been remarked that devolution is a journey, not a destination. For some, that is a worry. For others, an opportunity. Whatever view you have, it is certainly a reality.
Including the Act of Parliament which established the first Welsh Government and National Assembly for Wales, there have now been five (yes five!) substantive pieces of Westminster law which have helped take us along the journey. Each has been controversial and heavily contested. Each has taken us a step forward – though arguably with an occasional step backwards.
Meanwhile, with increasing powers in many areas, we have made our own laws in devolved areas, building up a new body of “Made in Wales” legislation.
We know that on this journey there have been many bumps in the road. Sometimes those bumps are difficult negotiations – politically and in policy terms – between Whitehall departments and the Welsh Government on the latest transfer of powers. Or those bumps can be the week-by-week departmental issues of diverging policies on the economy, health or education.
So our committee has decided to reflect on the journey so far, finding out what has worked well and what has been less effective. Our intention is threefold: To produce best practice principles for inter-institutional working for constitutional legislation;
To reflect and build on the work of other legislatures on inter-institutional working as it relates to broader policy areas; and
To seek, establish and promote opportunities for inter-parliamentary working, including promotion of citizen engagement.
Our recent experience of scrutinising what has become the Wales Act 2017 will inform our work and help us identify how inter-relationships can be built on and improved.
As a committee, we have already sought to learn lessons. We have recognised the benefits of working collaboratively with the House of Lords Constitution Committee to influence the UK Government where a National Assembly for Wales Committee, working on its own, could not.
Our inquiry is split into two strands.
The first strand will look at how inter-governmental and inter-parliamentary relations have evolved and affected the development of the devolution settlement.
We have secured an impressive line-up of those who have been at the sharp end of shaping and working with devolution over the past 18 years. I am sure they will help us understand why sometimes devolution runs smoothly and other times it runs into potholes – sometimes very publicly. We will look at the people and the personalities, but also the mechanisms which are meant to oil the machine and keep the relationships between institutions running smoothly.
Indeed, we have already taken evidence from Lord Murphy. He spoke about the importance of building personal relationships and the challenge of changing mindsets in Whitehall where that needs to happen.
However, it is not just about reflecting on the past. We must also gain a full understanding of how the existing structures and policies operate in practice.
To this end the second strand will explore:
The nature of relationships between the Welsh and UK governments, how these relationships function and how they can be improved;
Fostering opportunities for improved policy learning between governments and parliaments;
Best practice in inter-institutional relations from across the UK which could be imported into the Welsh context; and
The nature of the relationship between the Welsh and UK legislatures, with a view to identifying opportunities for effective inter-parliamentary working.
The committee wants to make a real and direct impact on inter-institutional working by producing best practice principles and leading from the front in building those relationships.
Other countries are managing this relationship successfully and we believe there is plenty we can learn and adapt from good practice elsewhere.
Assembly Members are seeing the impact of inter-institutional working, both positive and negative, every day in relation to cross-border issues where the devolution lines can be blurred. That is why it is so important to engage with the public to understand the impact these relationships can have on citizens.
To this end we have trialled a small citizen panel – an Assembly first – to help understand the perceptions of a cross-section of the public.
We will also work hard to talk to organisations which do not usually engage with the Assembly and to find out why.
The importance of this work is also heightened by the constitutional implications for the devolution settlement of exiting the European Union.
It is vital that the inter-institutional working needed to facilitate the smooth transition across the nations that make up the UK is fit for purpose.
In so doing, we need to ensure that we do not lose powers and competence which currently rest in Wales as we exit the EU. We hope our inquiry will contribute to ensuring that is the case.
Devolution – moving power closer to the people we serve – is here to stay.
As such, for Wales and the devolved nations and regions but also for the good of the United Kingdom, we need to make sure it works effectively for all our citizens.
This inquiry will go to the very heart of those inter-institutional relationships and point the way forward for improved working in the future.
Huw Irranca-Davies AM is chairman of the National Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee. Yesterday, in a statement to the National Assembly, he set out how the committee would approach inter-governmental and inter-institutional relationships in its inquiry.