A NEW DEVOLVED SETTLEMENT WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NOTHERN IRELAND

The need for a new devolved settlement within the UK is crucial, with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the assemblies in both Northern Ireland and Wales, the unbalance of devolved power has increased and we are left with a centralised Scottish Parliament, and a weaker United Kingdom. What we need is a new devolved settlement within the United Kingdom, for too long devolution has been seen as something that serves the identities of the nations within the UK, when in actual fact devolution was suppose to serve the people locally, by giving powers to a more local based institution and not retained within the central UK parliament and within the current devolved administrations. Devolving the 12 regions of the United Kingdom would be the most logical solution, as many English regions have the same population as Scotland; Yorkshire for example has a higher population than Wales, and of course these two regions of the UK have different needs, meaning they need separate tailored devolved powers to serve the needs of that particular part of the United Kingdom. The list below shows each region and constituent country of the UK, based on population it would be most logical to devolve by region and not by constituent nation, as many regions of England have a higher population than the three current devolved constituent parts of the UK. Each region of the UK would have a devolved assembly, with adequate powers to deal with the issues that are affecting that part of the United Kingdom; powers are given to a particular assembly based on the needs of that region, which would be calculated based on factors such as employment and economic growth.

List of Regions and constituent nations as well as population

(England) Region - Population

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. East Midlands East of England Greater London North East England North West England South East England South West England West Midlands
4,533,000 (2011) 5,847,000 (2011) 8,174,000 (2011)

2,597,000 (2011)
7,052,000 (2011) 8,635,000 (2011) 5,289,000 (2011) 5,602,000 (2011)

Yorkshire and the Humber 5,284,000 (2011)

(Scotland) Current devolved institution - population

10. Scottish Parliament
5,222,100 (2010)

(Wales) Current devolved institution- population

11. Welsh Assembly
3,006,400 (2010)

(Northern Ireland) Current devolved institution- population

12. Northern Ireland
1,789,000 (2010)

As you can see from the figures above 7 out of 10 regions of England have a larger population than Scotland, 8 out of 9 have a larger population than Wales and 9 out of 9 have a larger population than Northern Ireland. Issuing each 12 regions of the UK with a head devolved executive would serve the people of the United Kingdom best, as powers would be local and not centralised. An English Parliament would retain the power of over 54 million people, which would equal the current power of the United Kingdom Parliament and would not be a form of devolution but an extension of centralisation. Devolving power by each region of England would assure that powers are being spread on a local level and not retained within one centralised body, assuring that devolution is introduced for the people locally and does not serve as a platform for separatists. The establishment of a head Executive for British Devolved Institutions, would oversee and have complete authority over each devolved institution, this would assure that each of the administrations are working to the best of their ability and are open to public inquiry and scrutiny, (this includes the three devolve institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) The Scottish executive would remain, although powers would be shared between local authorities and the Scottish government, this would also be the case with the two devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland. Ensuring that powers are not centralised within the current Parliament in Scotland and Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland would be overseen by the head Executive for British Devolved Institutions, a commission would be setup by the British Executive to determine which powers are best devolved to local authorities; MSPs and members from the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies would be present within the commission.

This report is only advisory and was created to engage the British public into the debate over the future of devolution and how it can play an important part in every part of the UK and not exclusive to the three of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom. 19/08/12

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Devolvedgovernment/DG_073306