MPs make urgent call to fix “confusing and opaque” governance structures in England

There is an urgent need for significant reform to the way that England is governed, with the current arrangements preventing the effective delivery of policies and services, a parliamentary committee has found.

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report, 'Governing England', concluded that the Government should urgently create a cross-party Commission on the future governance of England to tackle the issue.

MPs said the structures in England are far too complex, with local authorities split between two-tier (county and district) and unitary authorities, with some areas having additional town and parish councils.

Further complexity has arisen with the coverage of an intermediate level of Government, such as a combined authority or the Greater London Authority in some areas.

This "patchwork structure that is confusing and opaque" has made it unclear where decisions are made, where accountability lies and how policies and services can be adapted to the needs of local areas and local people, the committee said.

Furthermore, the committee said that funding arrangements, one of the main levers of power central government wields over local authorities, are ineffective.

"In particular, we found that the ubiquitous process of bidding for pots of money should be ended as it is wasteful of precious local resources that could be utilised more effectively", MPs said.

The committee also raised significant concern over the 'West Lothian question', the issue of non-English MPs voting on issues in the House of Commons which affect only England.

With the creation of the Welsh Senedd, Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, England has been left as the only nation still wholly governed by the UK Parliament.

Hypothetically, a UK election could result in a party winning a majority which does not have a majority of English seats. Such a UK Government could pass legislation for England without the support of the majority of England's parliamentary representatives.

The report said: "While the Government's position of ignoring the West Lothian question may be sustainable for so long as the current parliamentary arithmetic holds, this is not a long-term solution.

"It is not inconceivable that a future general election might render the West Lothian question one that cannot be ignored and doing nothing in the meantime solely on the basis of the current parliamentary composition risks being viewed as constitutionally negligent."

The committee said that a different approach is needed in order to deliver reform for governance in England and made the "unusual" step of making a recommendation not only to the Government but also to the opposition and other parties in the House of Commons to bring forward the establishment of a Bill to create a cross-party Commission on the future governance of England that is funded by and responsible to Parliament.

"The Commission should have the remit to draw up proposals for reforming the governance arrangements for England, addressing the questions of England's place in the Union, and proposing legislation to implement these proposals", the committee added.

Adam Carey