Devolve all legislative powers currently enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament to equivalent devolved Parliaments in England, Wales and (eventually) Northern Ireland. The UK Parliament to retain control over macro-economic, foreign, and defence policy.
We support the principle of subsidiarity, in the general sense that decisions should be devolved to the most local organisational level capable of effectively handling the issue.
Our current view is that: a) We should consider devolving legislative powers currently enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament to equivalent devolved Parliaments in England, Wales and (eventually) Northern Ireland. b) The UK Parliament to retain control over macro-economic, foreign, and defence policy.
In the case that a local area is unable to deal with any issue effectively, there shall be an escalation path available to ensure that the issue can be decided at the next broader level.
@PaulJRobinson - almost 10 years ago
Does this mean some issues are devolved to Borough/district or unitary/County councils too? Or does subsidiarity stop at the four national Parliaments?
I think the same principle applies?
That's one of the reasons why I think it is better to first establish the principle. You can then have separate debates on exactly which decisions need to get taken at which level.
There are things that change over time too. For example technology means typically that: a) new economies of scale enable greater efficiency. For example, there is very little justification for any local council to be running back end IT systems nowadays. This would lead you to centralise back office services, on average. b) on the other hand, more decisions can be decentralised while still maintaining transparency / co-ordination. This would lead you to decentralise more decision making around specific cases / planning decisions etc.
The OpenPolitics Manifesto
@mikera - almost 10 years ago
We need to be smarter on devolution / local government. Stating principle of subsidiarity is proposed as a good start.