DI-VOLUTION: An essential guide to winning in a digitally transformed post-pandemic environment

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Devolution, federalism and a new constitution for the UK". Public Law for Everyone. 2014-01-08 . Retrieved 2019-02-22. Taken together, we believe these reforms can strengthen the United Kingdom for the challenges ahead and bring the peoples of our constituent nations and regions far closer together – connecting our financial centre with new clusters of industry and technology; reconnecting our towns with our cities and our devolved nations with Westminster; and reconnecting our politics with the needs and voices of our fellow citizens. The existing process of devolution began in the late 1990s. The incoming Labour government promised referendums on devolution to Scotland and Wales as part of its 1997 election manifesto. In Northern Ireland, the establishment of a ‘power-sharing’ government was agreed as part of the Good Friday/‘Belfast’ Agreement – the peace agreement brokered between the nationalist and unionist communities to end the longstanding conflict known as ‘the Troubles’. Devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was confirmed in all three cases by referendum (although only by a very small majority in Wales). The devolved institutions were established by the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (all three of which have been changed in various ways since). A more limited form of devolution was introduced shortly after for London, also after approval via a referendum in 1998. Their purpose to give power and legitimacy to local communities in the nation and to give voice to growing regional or, as in the case of Scotland, nationalist pressures. We have accepted the challenge that those who believe in the UK as a positive force have to and will offer a better and more trustworthy prospectus for change than independence. The alternative we put before the people of Scotland and Wales is better than either costly and destructive independence and a stagnating status quo: change within the United Kingdom that can entrench self-government in Scotland whilst improving shared government across Britain and we believe that our recommendations offer not just faster and safer change, but fairer change.

In particular we believe that by empowering Mayors, Combined Authorities and local government in new economic partnerships, we can create and advance a supportive environment for the dynamic new clusters in the digital, medical, environmental and creative industries in a new pro-growth strategy, and make every part of our country more prosperous. Enabling our cities, regions and nations to be economic powerhouses in their own right is essential to deliver fairer and more equitable UK-wide economic growth. Yukon was carved from the Northwest Territories in 1898 but remained a territory. In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were carved from the Northwest Territories. Portions of Rupert's Land were added to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, extending those provinces northward from their previous narrow band around the St. Lawrence and lower Great Lakes. The District of Ungava was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories from 1895 to 1912. The continental areas of said district were transferred by the Parliament of Canada with the adoption of the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1898 and the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912. The status of the interior of Labrador that was believed part of Ungava was settled in 1927 by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which ruled in favour of the Dominion of Newfoundland. The offshore islands to the west and north of Quebec remained part of the Northwest Territories until the creation of Nunavut in 1999.

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Some believe devolution has also challenged the notion of parliamentary sovereignty. There are a range of different areas, such as education, transport and housing, which are now the responsibility of the devolved bodies. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic it became clear that the many of the rules enacted by central government did not apply in Scotland. This divergence came about because health is one of those areas that is devolved to the Scottish Parliament. There is an agreement that the UK Parliament would not normally pass legislation in areas which are devolved without the consent of the devolved parliaments. This is known as the ‘Sewell convention’. Furthermore, although the Westminster Parliament still technically retains the power to abolish the devolved governments and legislatures should it vote to do so, many have observed that it is highly unlikely to use this power, meaning the devolved institutions are in practice permanent features of the UK constitution. Some have said that, on this basis, sovereignty is in fact now spread throughout the United Kingdom and no longer resides solely in the Westminster Parliament. However, the UK Parliament has increasingly in recent years passed laws that relate to devolved areas without the consent of the devolved legislatures. Some have suggested that the present central government is keen to assert the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and govern in a manner more typical of a unitary state. Our third set of recommendations concerns Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Commission’s blueprint is intended to give the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a new opportunity to benefit from the unique and mutually beneficial combination of self-government and shared government that their nations enjoy: the opportunity to pursue faster change within a reformed UK. For everywhere you travel in the United Kingdom you can see potential waiting to be tapped, talent yet to be developed, and ability still to be realised.

Local leaders should be able to take new powers from the centre, through a new, streamlined process to initiate local legislation in Parliament. The UK is the most centralised country in Europe. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few. The deadening, controlling hand of central government is, as we will show, stifling initiative and development throughout the country. The standard right-wing Conservative answer to leave everything to the free market will not work either. Instead we must put more control in the hands of people nearest where they are in every area of the country. Indeed, the challenges we face are now so complex – and the needs of our country are so diverse -that no matter how well-intentioned the powers-that-be are, the one size fits all solutions of the past, imposed from the top, cannot work to the benefit of people everywhere. Scottish Referendum David Cameron Devolution Revolution". The Guardian. 19 September 2014 . Retrieved 19 September 2014.Enhanced access to economic resources for Scotland: the British Regional Investment Bank should maximise support for innovation and investment in Scotland, in conjunction with the Scottish National Investment Bank and the European Investment Bank. There are multiple routes to establishing a combined authority. Under the original procedure from the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, a council or group of councils may carry out a ‘governance review’, which must publish a ‘scheme’ recommending the creation of a combined authority. Publication of the scheme requires the consent of the local authority areas included in the scheme. The Secretary of State may then agree to create a combined authority via secondary legislation. At the root of this failure is not just an outdated neo-liberal economic dogma, but also an unreformed, over-centralised way of governing that leaves millions of people complaining they are neglected, ignored, and invisible, all too often left to feel as if they are treated as second class citizens in their own country. Our aim must be to put power and resources in the hands of communities, towns, cities, regions and nations, to make their own decisions about what will work best for them. Towns and cities across England should be given new powers to drive growth and champion their areas.