Governments must agree updated devolution rules to avoid further relations breakdown, say MPs
3 min read
The Westminster and devolved governments should agree updated rules on where powers are held to avoid repeating the row which broke out over the Brexit bill, MPs have said.
It comes after the UK Government sparked accusations of a “power grab” by railing through legislation to take Britain out of the EU despite failing to win the Scottish parliament’s backing.
While agreement was ultimately reached with Wales, parties from across the spectrum at Holyrood refused to back it.
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee say ministers should draw up a "Devolution Policy for the Union" document to reflect the changing nature of the UK's set-up following Brexit.
Their report says there is “ambiguity” around the Sewel Convention, which lays out that Westminster “would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish parliament”.
The group said it was “highly regrettable” that there was “little consultation” with the devolved parliaments, and called for “clear statements of circumstances under which legislative consent is not required by the convention be set out”.
Much of the clash was based on UK ministers' plans to take powers returning to Britain from Brussels to Westminster initially, despite being in areas such as agriculture, which are normally devolved.
Under rules which followed the creation of the Scottish parliament, Edinburgh should retain any power that is not expressly reserved to London, a principle the report suggested the Government failed to recognise.
The committee also say a new inter-governmental relationship mechanism should be “set out in statute”, branding the current arrangement “not fit for purpose”.
The proposal should be drawn up by the four parliaments and assemblies’ clerks as an inter-parliamentary body to scrutinise UK Common frameworks, they say.
Elsewhere the report criticises the failure to address the concerns of England, highlighting the potential risk of “increasing disconnection” between the English people and UK parliament.
They say ministers should lay out how the different parts of England should be “fairly and effectively represented” and look at devolving “whole areas of competence and not piece meal powers” within the nation,
PACAC Chair, Sir Bernard Jenkin, said: “Leaving the EU will change the UK’s constitutional arrangements, so it needs a re-think. We recommend the Government sets out a clear devolution policy for the Union as we leave the EU.
“Failure to do this just prolongs misunderstandings which are the basis for more conflict. The present machinery for developing inter-governmental relations is flimsy, and there is nothing to give the various parts of England a say. Ignoring this risks the future relations within the UK.
“We set out a path to reconciling differences and building strong relationships across the UK, which recognises that many parts of England have more in common with parts of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland than they do with London and the South East.”
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