6 Regional planning in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
6.2 An evolving institutional context
6.2.1 Devolution pressures
The three countries have enjoyed a history of a greater degree of administrative devolution than the English regions. In Scotland this dates back as far as the 1707 Act of Union, since when the country has maintained its own independ- ent judicial and legal systems. Since 1885 a substantial proportion of central government responsibilities in Scotland have been transferred to the Scottish Office, with a Secretary of State subsequently of UK Cabinet rank. Similar arrangements were introduced in 1964 for Wales, via the Welsh Office, but with a smaller proportion of responsibilities. Similarly, there was a Northern Ireland Office. Such offices had the advantage of being both regional and central government departments. In the Scottish Office, the Scottish Develop- ment Department (SDD) and the Scottish Economic Planning Department (SEPD) played significant roles in regional development and planning.
However, there was growing pressure for more devolved powers.
The devolution debate was intense during the 1970s. A Royal Commission on the Constitution (1973) produced a Majority Report (the Kilbrandon Report) which advocated directly elected assemblies for Scotland and Wales, with legislative responsibility for matters such as local government, town and country planning, new towns, housing and roads. In contrast, the Minority Report, less motivated by satisfying the nationalist discontent in Scotland and Wales, and more concerned with finding a wider solution, believed that it was unfair to discriminate between Scotland and Wales and the English regions.
The then Labour Government response separated out the discussion on devolu- tion to Scotland and Wales from devolution to the English regions, which was seen as less urgent and less clear cut. Key issues in the debate were around the functions to be devolved, the extent of financial autonomy of the devolved assemblies and the potential intra- and inter-regional impacts. Following an array of Discussion Documents, Green Papers, White Papers, Bills, Acts and two Referenda, the movement came to a grinding halt in 1979. Separate Scot- land and Wales Acts had received parliamentary approval in 1978, but failed to clear the 1979 referendum hurdle, whereby 40 per cent of the electorate had to vote in favour of the proposals. Concern about the bureaucracy of an extra tier of government, worries from the remoter areas of Scotland about being squeezed out by an assembly dominated by Central Scotland, and possibly the inappropri- ateness of referenda for assessing progressive legislation may all have played a part (Glasson 1992).
Devolution disappeared from the central government agenda during the Thatcher years, although other parties maintained their support, and devolu- tion pressures grew – especially in Scotland. With the return of a Labour
Government in 1997, devolution to Scotland and Wales was quickly, but differ- entially, progressed. Under the Scotland Act of 1998, Scotland has an Execu- tive, and a Parliament with legislative powers over all matters not reserved to the UK Parliament. Under the Government of Wales Act of 1998, Wales has only executive functions. However, it does have full powers in relation to subor- dinate legislation, including planning, environmental, housing and local government functions. Unhappily, in contrast to these developments, the very serious and long-running crisis in Northern Ireland undermined the Northern Ireland administration, resulting in a long period of ‘direct rule’ from central government in Westminster. Overall, as elaborated by Bogdanor (1999) the varying approaches to devolution across the UK reflect a range of inherited and emerging political, electoral and cultural circumstances.
6.2.2 Devolved government
The Scottish Executive is the devolved government for Scotland, responsible for a range of issues of direct relevance to regional development and planning, including planning, environment, economic development and some aspects of transport. It has a budget (2006–2007) of almost £30 billion. Planning is cur- rently handled by the Communities Ministry, but most other ministries have relevance for regional development. There are also a number of executive agen- cies and non-governmental public bodies. Scottish Enterprise with its key role in economic development is an important example of the latter. A Scottish Planning Bill (2005) was being debated at the time of writing, and has subsequently become law as the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006. Among other things, it includes provision for a National Planning Framework, and for Strategic Development Plans; these are discussed further in sections 6.4 and 6.5.
The Welsh Assembly took over a wide range of functions from the former Welsh Office (now Wales Office) and other government departments, including town and country planning, housing, local government, economic development and transport. Unlike the Scottish Parliament which has powers of primary leg- islation, the Welsh Assembly has fewer devolved powers, and its annual budget is about one-third that of the Scottish Executive. However, the making of sub- ordinate legislation, which details how UK legislation will apply in Wales, can be powerful in its own right. Again all Ministries have some relevance to plan- ning and development; the current ministry responsible is Environment, Plan- ning and Countryside. Its aim is to ‘deliver better government in relation to Planning, in the context of both the Better Wales (the Assembly’s corporate plan) and the Partnership Agreement of 2000’. The Welsh Development Agency has been a key public body, responsible to the Welsh Assembly. Welsh planning activities include, among many others, the Wales Spatial Plan (2005) also discussed in section 6.4.
The Northern Ireland situation is markedly different. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) was created in 1972 after the Northern Ireland Government was Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 107
dissolved in the face of the deteriorating security situation. Its primary aim is fundamental, to support the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to secure a lasting peace. The new Northern Ireland Executive was similarly suspended in 2002, and the NIO resumed responsibility for all government departments. All the main services, including town and country planning, transport, countryside policies and urban regeneration were administered directly by the NIO. The key department is Environment, which has responsibility for most of the services.
Planning is undertaken by an executive agency, the Planning Services Agency, operating through eight divisional planning offices. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is another key agency, which took control of the local authority housing stock in 1971. As and when the new Executive is returned, the Department for Regional Development will renew its responsibility for stra- tegic planning.1
6.2.3 Relationships with local government
Local government in the UK has been subject to much reorganisation over the last 30 years. The result in England is a mix of one- and two-tier structures, whereas elsewhere there is a single-tier system. In Northern Ireland, a unitary system was set up in 1973. There are 26 district councils, with quite limited powers, and only consultation status in relation to planning. Despite this demo- cratic deficit, Hendry (1992) argues that they have operated with a considerable measure of success. The reorganisation into unitary authorities took place in Scotland and Wales in 1996. Scotland has 32, and Wales 22, unitary councils responsible for all local government planning functions, except in the areas of national parks. In each country there is considerable variation in the population and area size of the local government units, with some very large areas covered for the Highlands in Scotland and Powys in Wales. There is some concern about the fragmentation of strategic planning, as discussed later in this chapter.
There has been some concern, from international experience, that ‘when formerly centralist states decentralise powers to the regional level, local govern- ment can suffer from the “decentralisation of centralism” ’ as the new regional governments seek to grasp power from the local governments within their juris- dictions (Jeffrey 1998). Stewart (1995) makes a similar argument. However, from an examination of early experience in Wales, Laffin (2004) indicates that regional centralism is not inevitable, and ‘the Welsh Assembly allows local government considerable policy influence and exercises looser direct controls compared with Whitehall departments’. The Assembly is an important source of resources; local government is important for policy implementation and is also a vital source of political support for election to the Assembly. Good working relationships are also fostered by formal mechanisms, including the Welsh Local Government Association and the new Partnership Council (which institutionalises communications between central and local govern- ment). Laffin also notes that ‘In part this comparatively good relationship in Wales reflects the small scale of Welsh central-local relations; it is a setting in
which everyone knows everyone else.’ This also tends to be the case in Scotland (Bennettet al. 2002). Allmendinger (2005) also argues that there may be more defined local government relationships in Scotland and Wales as a direct con- sequence of devolution.