Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to ask Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help design regional decision-making models, a plan whose powers, funding and timetable remain unspecified.
Downing Street said the Oct. 30 meeting in Glasgow would include Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, with Northern Ireland represented. It called the gathering the first National Economic Council meeting focused on the UK’s nations. Burnham has invited the devolved governments to work with him on giving cities and regions a larger role in economic decisions. He called the effort “the next stage of devolution.”
The UK government links regional decision-making to stronger growth and renewed industrial activity. It also said £1 billion would be invested in innovation clusters across the UK over four years, but did not connect that funding to the proposed models. Its announcement gave no estimate of the models’ cost.
The offer follows an Oct. 15 UK Government proposal for a similar approach in Scotland, as EconoTimes previously reported on the Scottish regional decision-making proposal. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) backed the principle of subsidiarity and said local authorities and communities should have a meaningful role in shaping any proposal.
Ahead of the Glasgow meeting, the Welsh Government said ap Iorwerth would press for justice and policing powers, parity with Scotland through a new Wales Bill, a Growth Partnership with the UK government and delivery of a £14 billion rail funding commitment. Those are Welsh requests; the statement did not confirm an agreement.
Scotland’s Parliament and Wales’ then National Assembly first took responsibility for devolved powers in 1999. The three devolved nations have different powers. Downing Street has not announced a next decision or a timetable for developing the regional models.
