Prospects for codifying the relationship between central and local government

Written evidence submitted by Andrew Stevens, Japan Local Government Centre (L&CG01)

I write as the Research Manager of the Japan Local Government Centre (JLGC) in London. JLGC is the UK office of CLAIR - the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. CLAIR was founded in 1989 with the support of Japan's Ministry of Home Affairs (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications). CLAIR is a joint organisation of local authorities working to promote and provide support for localised internationalisation.

My response (as an item of information) is to the following question set out in the committee’s terms of inquiry: "Are there examples of constitutional settlements between central and local government in other countries that are relevant to an appropriate model for the UK?"

The committee may find the following publications on Japan’s Local Autonomy Law (as issued under Japan’s Constitution, articles 92-95) of interest in relation to the question:

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html

http://nippon.zaidan.info/seikabutsu/1999/00168/mokuji.htm

http://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/other_data/pdf/20100216_soumu_e.pdf

http://www.jlgc.org.uk/en/pdfs/CHAPTER_1.pdf

12 November 2010