Evaluate The View That Devolution Reforms Havenʼt Gone Far Enough.

Question 1

P1: English Parliament Agree

Answer 1

1. Power is asymmetrical.
2. Scottish Parliament has been able to represent this in policies such as free tuition fees and higher income tax.
3. Provides an answer to the West Lothian Question.
4. 2024, when 29 Scottish MPs voted in favour of the highly significant Terminally Ill Adults End of Life) Bill and 17 voted against, despite the bill only affecting England and Wales.
5. Give interests effective political and institutional expression in a way that greater use of regional assemblies wouldn’t.

Question 2

P1: Disagree English Parliament

Answer 2

1. Would create another layer of government and would create tensions.
2. These tensions would be greater and the relationship more fraught because around 85% of the UKʼs population is in England.
3. Federalism arguably works best when there is no dominant state or region, such as in the US. There is little support for an English Parliament within England.
   4.Brexit, for example, was opposed by both Northern Ireland and Scotland, yet was pursued strongly by the UK Parliament in order to represent the majority of England which supported it

Question 3

P2: Agree More Regional Devolution England

Answer 3

1. Would deliver greater representation of local interests, whilst not disrupting the UK Parliament.
2. The Greater Manchester City Region, mayor Andy Burnham,has gained administrative control. Linked to modest increases in life expectancy, partly because of emphasis on mental health care.
3. In March 2023, the UK government introduced two Trailblazer Devolution Deals for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.Didnʼt grant legislative control, but autonomy over control over post-19 skills education, affordable housing programs, and infrastructure investment.
4. Experiment with different policies ,a number of policies introduced in Scotland have been adopted in the whole of the UK, ban on smoking in public place

Question 4

P2: Disagree More Regional Devolution

Answer 4

1. Greater use of city regions/regional assemblies would break up England.
2. A 2012 referendum on whether Birmingham should have an elected mayor received a 58% no vote on just a 28% turnout. 2004 referendum on whether to introduce a regional assembly for the North East of England received a 78% no vote on a 47% turnout.
3. North East regional assembly was introduced in the 2023 Autumn statement, with control over areas including transportation and economic development. Can be seen as undemocratic.
4. Devolved bodies including combined authorities and directly elected metro mayors now cover 64% of the English population and over 90% of the population in the North.

Question 5

P3: Agree Further Powers to S,W,NI

Answer 5

1. Existing devolved bodies have shown they can run public services and decide policy effectively, including during the COVID crisis.
2. Scotland, could be granted further powers over transport, welfare and tax policy to reflect the more left wing views of the Scottish population in policy.
3. Brexit allows a lot of policy areas that used to be governed by the EU to be given to devolved bodies,already devolved areas agriculture and energy.Wales could gain greater control is to justice and policing
4. Potentially discourage either of them from voting for independence in the future.

Question 6

P3: More Powers to S,NI,W Disagree

Answer 6

1. Risks leading to greater disparities in the public services offered to people..
2. Little interest in the devolved bodies and little support for further devolution. 2021 WP elections received just 46.6% support. In NI, further devolution is strongly opposed by the DUP and other unionists.
3. August 2023, the Guardian reported that the devolved bodies had fallen behind E in some key measures of NHS performance, despite them having significantly higher per capita spending on health than E.
4. You are x2 likely to be on a year-plus waiting list in S or NI than in E whilst it is even worse in W, with 1 in 20 people on NHS waiting lists for more than a year.
5. Scotland and Wales have fallen behind England in the PISA ranking (international rankings that measure educational performance).
6. The NIP is frequently suspended due to tensions and a lack of compromise between Sinn Fein and the DUP. It therefore makes little sense to grant further powers to a Parliament which rarely functions