1 Define the Following Useful Terms/Concepts

Volume, Number 1, September 2017

Activity Devolution worksheet Jessica Hardy

This worksheet can be used to accompany ‘Debate: Should there be further devolution of power in England?’ POLITICS REVIEW Vol. 27, No. 1, pages 22–23. 1 Define the following useful terms/concepts Write a sentence for each with an example or explanation as appropriate

 unitary  federal  local government  region  devolved  the West Lothian question  regionalism  localism  centralism  English nationalism  the Barnett formula  the ‘Northern powerhouse’  English votes for English laws 2 Timeline What’s happened so far…

 1965: creation of the Greater London Council (GLC), a single authority for London  1990s: some other areas moved to a single tier of local government known as ‘unitary authorities’

 1986: Margaret Thatcher abolished all unitary authorities. As part of her ‘roll back the state’ agenda, she argued that they were a waste of money, but this was also linked to political clashes. This led to increased centralisation of power

 1997: Tony Blair elected prime minister. The Blair government aimed at and succeeded in radically reforming the constitution, but in terms of devolution, the focus was very much on Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, rather than England. This led to concern about the West Lothian question

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017 www.hoddereducation.co.uk/politicsreview  1998: referendum on London mayor and Assembly. Result: Yes/Yes. Turnout 34.1%  2000: creation of the London Assembly and London mayor. Ken Livingstone, an independent candidate, became the first directly elected mayor. However, this body has considerably less powers than the Greater London Authority had

 2004: northeast referendum on the creation of a regional assembly. Result: ‘No’ 78%. Turnout 48%. This ended Blair’s hopes of creating 8 regional assemblies

 1998–2010: creation of nine regional (unelected) development agencies under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. They had an economic focus, aiming to improve skills, employment opportunities, competitiveness, innovation and infrastructure. However, they had no legislative powers

 2010: abolition of the regional development agencies, as part of Cameron’s programme of cuts. Their powers were given to local government or, in the case of London, the London mayor and Assembly

 2011: the Localism Act permitted local governments to hold referendums on having an elected mayor

 2011: the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act introduced the ability to have elected crime and police commissioners

 2012: ten local referendums held on having an elected mayor. Only Bristol voted in favour  2013: the McKay Commission proposed that legislation which affects only England should require the support of a majority of MPs representing English constituencies

 2015: EVEL (English votes for English laws) introduced by prime minister David Cameron. If a measure that concerns England (or England and Wales) and not Scotland comes before the House of Commons, it can only pass if the majority of English (or English and Welsh) MPs vote for it. Used for the first time in January 2016

 2016: Cities and Local Devolution Act allows for the election of metro mayors to lead combined authorities 3 Why (and by whom) has English nationalism been seen as problematic? 4 How could English devolution work? Write three options before you look at the rest of this sheet    5 Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have either a Parliament or an Assembly. Do you think there should be an English Parliament? What problems might it face? Think about and research:

 the size (population) of England  the need and relevance

2  the relationship with the UK Parliament  the views of the English population  the democratic issue  how it would/could be elected 6 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the following options?  English votes for English laws in the UK Parliament  elected regional assemblies (using PR), e.g. in the southwest or northeast  elected mayors  combined authorities of councils and/or giving greater power to local authorities  cutting the number of Scottish MPs 7 What decisions could appropriately be made on a more regional level in England? Yes or no, and why?  housing  tax  economic growth  wages  transport  education  defence and foreign policy  policing and justice  welfare and benefits  health 8 Why was the result 78% ‘No’ in the northeast referendum of 2004? 9 Should there be further English devolution? Using the Debate articel plus your own research, complete the following table: Arguments in favour, in order of Arguments against, in order of significance significance

Write a summary paragraph stating your own view

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017 www.hoddereducation.co.uk/politicsreview 10 Further research Find out about the role of the newly elected metro mayors (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election- 2017-39817220). What powers do they have? Who has been elected? How successful have they been so far?

 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough  Greater Manchester  Liverpool City Region  Tees Valley  West of England  West Midlands Jessica Hardy is deputy editor of POLITICS REVIEW magazine