Conclusion
The evolving design of devolved institutions continues to be generated by political debate in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and by the asymmetry of the original design with the conspicuous omission of any serious attempt to tackle the so-called ‘English question'.[1196] This chapter has argued that, although devolution introduces effective constitutional oversight at devolved level, together with mainly soft law approaches to coordinating policy between the layers of government, the relative lack of attention to the detailed financial arrangements has led to a number of problems which have been exacerbated by the current economic downturn.
Having the Barnett Formula in place was a significant advantage when devolution was launched, because it not only provided a relatively generous distribution of funding to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but also prevented squabbling between Westminster and the devolved administrations over the size of the block grant. For the first time, the Scotland Act 2012 addresses the issue of relating tax raising and levels of spending in Scotland. It introduces a devolved tax regime by making provision for over a third of taxation to be raised locally. The piecemeal approach to devolution is illustrated here too, as there have been no similar proposals for Wales and Northern Ireland despite the parallels in powers and responsibilities, and accountability issues.In response to increasing dissatisfaction with the Barnett Formula, other options have been investigated and in general terms recommendations to replace it with a needs-based system calculated by a new independent body have found support from the expert commissions looking into its replacement.[1197] However, any fundamental departure from Barnett will inevitably provoke disputes over resource allocation which in turn will involve the contentious interpretation of complex economic and social indicators. The potential difficulty in achieving a new consensus as a starting point for a revised settlement accounts for the reluctance of politicians at Westminster to grasp this particular nettle. Finally, worsening economic conditions will also affect the conflicting meta-narrative which both restricted the spending of local authorities and allowed the devolved parts of the UK scope to pursue their own brands of policy. The fundamentals of the nationwide welfare state are under threat and the consequences will be confronted at the points closest to policy delivery: that is, by devolved government and by local government.