The Greater London Authority Bill was given a second reading. The Bill proposed an enhanced package of powers for the GLA - including new lead roles on housing and tackling climate change, a strengthened role in planning and waste, and enhanced powers in health and culture.
Source: Greater London Authority Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 12 December 2006, columns 751-835, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | DCLG press release | GLA press release | London Councils press release | Mayor of London press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The Northern Ireland Office published its autumn performance report, detailing progress being made towards its public sector agreement targets.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2006, Cm 6991, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
The government published a Greater London Authority Bill, proposing an enhanced package of powers for the GLA - including new lead roles on housing and tackling climate change, a strengthened role in planning and waste, and enhanced powers in health and culture.
Source: Greater London Authority Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | DCLG press release | London Assembly press release
Date: 2006-Nov
The government published the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill. The Bill provided for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the devolved institutions on 26 March 2007 (under the terms of the joint statement by the Prime Minister and Taoiseach of 6 April 2006). The Bill was given a second and third reading.
Source: Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 21 November 2006, columns 417-518, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC brief | Hansard | Text of agreement | Downing Street Briefing | Times report | FT report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the ways in which devolution was experienced and understood by citizens from the devolved regions of the United Kingdom.
Source: John Wilson and Karyn Stapleton, Devolution and Identity, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
An article said that the 'Barnett formula' (for determining public expenditure levels in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) ignored differences in prosperity and differences in need.
Source: R. Ross Mackay, 'Identifying need: devolved spending in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland', Contemporary Wales, Volume 18 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
The second annual interim report was published of a study which assessed the eight regional assemblies in England over the period from spring 2004 to the end of 2005. It set out the main findings in relation to the progress, issues, and achievements of the assemblies over this period.
Source: Arup, Evaluation of the Role and Impact of Regional Assemblies: Second Annual Interim Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Oct
A survey examined public attitudes towards the Scottish Parliament, local government, and electoral systems. The Scottish Parliament was trusted and accessible: but people incorrectly assumed that it had limited power to make final decisions.
Source: Scotland - Poll Position: Public attitudes towards Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report by a committee of MSPs said that a stronger governance framework was needed for the parliamentary commissioners and ombudsman to ensure that they were more accountable to Parliament for their spending.
Source: Inquiry into Accountability and Governance, 7th Report 2006, SP Paper 631, Scottish Parliament Finance Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Sep
A survey found that public support in Wales for devolution had continued to increase, with a majority wanting devolution to be extended further.
Source: Wales - Poll Position: Public attitudes towards Assembly elections, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A think-tank published a collection of essays on the future of city-regions. City-regions needed to reflect grassroots realities, not top-down design by central government.
Source: Views of the City: Can city-regions find their place?, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release
Date: 2006-Aug
An article said that devolution was central to an understanding of developments in social policy in the United Kingdom; and also that social policy was a key means to develop a critical understanding of the process of devolution itself. However, the discussion of devolution had largely focused on institutional and/or organizational differences - marginalizing the wider social relations of welfare around which social policy was organized.
Source: Gerry Mooney, Gill Scott and Charlotte Williams, 'Rethinking social policy through devolution', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
An article examined the ways in which social policy was being used to recreate and reproduce a sense of nation and national identity in post-devolution Scotland and Wales. Devolution had important consequences for people's sense of Britishness, Scottishness, and Welshness - not least in relation to the ways in which social policies were presented and 'legitimated'.
Source: Gerry Mooney and Charlotte Williams, 'Forging new ways of life ? Social policy and nation building in devolved Scotland and Wales', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
A think-tank report called for greater devolution to the regions and local government, and greater collaboration within city-regions, without the imposition of fixed models or new governance structures. (The authors included two government ministers.)
Source: Ed Balls MP, John Healey MP and Chris Leslie, Evolution and Devolution in England: How regions strengthen our towns and cities, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Summary | LGA press release | Planning Resource report
Date: 2006-Jul
The Welsh Assembly Government published its annual report for 2005-06. It said that it was on course to deliver most of its major promises. It identified a reduction in National Health Service waiting lists as among its major achievements over the previous year.
Source: First Minister?s Report 2006, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
The Government of Wales Act 2006 was given Royal assent. The Act gave the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Act also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Act 2006, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes to Bill | HOC Library research paper | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs examined ways of improving the communications procedure between the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments, and how MPs could be better alerted that a particular Bill before Parliament had been subject to a 'Sewel motion' in the Scottish Parliament. (The Sewel Convention seeks to ensure that the United Kingdom Parliament legislates on devolved matters only with the express agreement of the Scottish Parliament.)
Source: The Sewel Convention: The Westminster perspective, Fourth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 983, House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jun
The Northern Ireland Act 2006 was given Royal assent. The Act prepared the ground for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly (suspended since October 2002). Assembly members would participate in a process to select a Northern Ireland Executive. If the process were successful, full restoration of devolved government would take place.
Source: Northern Ireland Act 2006, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
The Prime Minister wrote to the newly appointed Secretary of State for Scotland (following a Cabinet reshuffle), setting out priorities for the Scottish Office. He asked him to build on the "effective working partnership" which had been established with the Scottish Executive since devolution.
Source: Letter from Tony Blair MP (Prime Minister) to Douglas Alexander MP (Secretary of State for Scotland), 10 May 2006
Links: Letter
Date: 2006-May
The Northern Ireland Office published its annual report for 2005-06.
Source: Departmental Report 2006, Cm 6836, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
The Scotland Office published its annual report for 2005-06.
Source: Annual Report 2006, Cm 6834, Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the Government of Wales Bill.
Source: Government Response to a Report on the Government of Wales Bill, Tenth Report, (Session 2005-06), HL 168, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2006-Apr
An article said that the establishment in 2002 of the independent Richard Commission had enhanced civic and public debate on the meaning, operation, and potential of devolution in Wales.
Source: Laura McAllister, 'The Richard Commission Wales's alternative constitutional convention?', Contemporary Wales, Volume 17 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
The Northern Ireland Bill was published, and given a second and third reading. The Bill prepared the ground for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly (suspended since October 2002). Assembly members would participate in a process to select a Northern Ireland Executive. If the process were successful, full restoration of devolved government would take place.
Source: Northern Ireland Bill, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 April 2006, columns 597-677, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 27 April 2006, columns 737-809, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | NIO press release | Hansard (Second reading) | Hansard (Third reading)
Date: 2006-Apr
An article examined the scope and limits of the policy autonomy devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government, by reference to a case study of early childhood education and care.
Source: Daniel Wincott, 'Devolution and the welfare state: lessons from early childhood education and care policy in Wales', Environment and Planning C, Volume 24 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
A report said that, although devolution was generally working well, there had been remarkably little thinking about devolution as a coherent package of reforms. The system was working largely because Labour had led the governments in Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff since 1999: but at some point issues would become the subject of party-political conflict.
Source: Charlie Jeffery et al., Final Report, ESRC Devolution Programme/School of Social and Political Studies/Edinburgh University (0131 650 8489) Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A government report set out a more "streamlined, strategic role" for the Government Office network in the English regions. There would be an overall staff reduction of at least 33 per cent, as well as a strong "outcome focus" on future work.
Source: Review of Government Offices, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report provided a snapshot of regional governance in England in 2004. It said that the strengthening of regional governance arrangements and the proliferation of regional strategies and programmes appeared to have made no discernible difference to long-run patterns of uneven regional development in England: but the blame for this could not be laid at the door of the regional agencies.
Source: Alan Harding with Mike Coombes, Charlie Jeffery and John Tomaney, English Regional Governance in 2004, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | Data paper
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of peers said that the Government of Wales Bill, which made extensive use of secondary legislative powers to achieve important constitutional ends, had been introduced against a backdrop of controversy about delegated powers provisions in other recent Bills.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Eighth Report, (Session 2005-06), HL 142, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | WO press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined whether England needed devolution - either an English Parliament, English votes on English laws, or the development of English regional structures.
Source: Robert Hazell, The English Question, Constitution Unit/University of London, available from Imprint Academic (01392 841600)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
The Government of Wales Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to give the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Bill also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 February 2006, columns 133-155, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC Library research paper | Hansard
Date: 2006-Feb
A survey of young people's attitudes towards the democratic process in Northern Ireland found that fewer than half (47 per cent) believed that politics was relevant in their lives.
Source: Jennifer Hamilton, Youth Participation in the Democratic Process, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release
Date: 2006-Jan
It was announced that the two parties represented in the Northern Ireland Executive, the DUP and Sinn Fein, had reached an agreement on the process which would facilitate the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Northern Ireland Executive, which had not met since June because of disagreement over the issue, would begin meeting again on Thursday 20 November 2008.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 19 November 2008, columns 23-24WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NIPB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
The Government of Wales Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to give the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Bill also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 9 January 2006, columns 22-127, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC Library research paper | Hansard | Wales Office press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on its White Paper on the government of Wales.
Source: Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales - Government response to the Committee's First Report of Session 2005-06, Third Special Report, (Session 2005-06), HC 839, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Jan
A new book examined the question of Britishness – past, present, and future. It investigated how devolution had brought a new focus on the future of Britain and the nature of Britishness; discussed the challenge of a more diverse society, with the search for a basis of social cohesion and solidarity; and examined the Prime Minister's Britishness project, with its aim of producing a statement of British values.
Source: Andrew Gamble and Tony Wright (eds.), Britishness: Perspectives on the British question, Wiley (01243 779777)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan