CHAPTER 6: INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS,
DEVOLUTION AND THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
209. As we stated at the start of the Introduction
to this report, inter-governmental relations are a necessary part
of multi-level governance, such as we have in the UK. The shape
of these relations is dependent on the shape of the different
devolution settlements, and therefore needs to adapt to significant
changes in those settlements.
210. Through the UK Parliament, successive governments
have created and shaped the devolution settlements. They are now
in a state of flux. They need to be stabilized and given a coherent
rationale. It is for the UK Government to find and commit to a
way forward to achieve that stability and coherence, within a
strong United Kingdom. We believe that, as the Smith Commission
emphasised, inter-governmental relations have an important contribution
to make to that objective. This Report seeks to help define that
contribution. Until the current process of devolution reaches,
if not a permanently settled state, at least a period of greater
stability, the system of inter-governmental relations will need
to keep on adapting to changes in the devolution settlements.
211. As we note in our recent report Proposals
for the devolution of further powers to Scotland, we consider
that the Government, and the major UK-wide parties, need to devise
and articulate a vision for the future of the state and its devolution
settlements. An overarching vision for the future shape of the
United Kingdom should be a stabilising force in its own right
and would also allow for inter-governmental arrangements to be
organised on a more stable basis.
- In September 2014 the people of Scotland voted
for the continuation of a devolved Scotland within the UK; the
people of the UK as a whole need now to establish how the Union
will work in future. An overarching strategy should reinforce
the central position of the Union in our country's constitutional
architecture, while recognising the benefits that devolution can
bring. A comprehensive, pan-UK strategy is needed to provide a
coherent basis for any discussions of further devolution and afford
greater constitutional stability to the United Kingdom.
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