Devolution has ‘knock-on’ implications for many aspects of the UK constitution. The United Kingdom may still be classified as a unitary state, but the relationship of the devolved institutions of Scotland, Wales and (when operating) Northern Ireland with the Whitehall/Westminster nexus will gradually acquire many quasi-federal features. Federalism has a particular concern with the vertical relationship between different tiers of government. However, it also offers important insights into horizontal relations between institutions sharing legal, constitutional and political authority, with close interaction between these vertical and horizontal aspects of governance.
The various potential and actual spheres of reform – House of Lords, election systems, devolution, appellate and judicial review system – are closely inter-related. The Federal Trust will be producing a number of papers looking in turn at these issues and seeking to show how federal thinking and federal ideas can make a positive contribution towards the reform of our constitution.
Papers and Conferences
Briefing: The Coalition and the Constitution after the Referendum
by Dr Andrew Blick, July 2011
Conference: Constitutional Reform - The End of the Road?
14 July 2011, with Prof Robert Hazell, Director of the Constitution Unit
Conference: The Alternative Vote Electoral System
14 April 2011
Conference: Coalition and Constitution: A laboratory of change?
13 January 2011
Conference Report
Evidence Submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Barnett Formula, March 2009
Commentary on the Government White Paper "Strong and Prosperous Communities"
by Stanley Henig, November 2006
Reforming the House of Lords – a federal perspective
by Stanley Henig, April 2005