Unit in the News 2007
'"Managing relations with London will be a significant challenge for the Welsh Assembly Government", says Alan Trench. "On this front it has a full agenda ahead of it, and ensuring this key relationship works well will be vital for its success overall…a different approach (is called for) to managing its relations with London than the Assembly Government has shown up to now. So far, this has been under the overall supervision of the First Minister, and handled on the civil service side by a small number of officials in Cathays Park who usually combine this work with other jobs. This area now covers so many complex issues, and is so important for the Assembly Government's overall success, that it needs much more ministerial attention and a clear strategic direction. Otherwise, the new coalition risks failing to deliver on its ambitious programme."
The Western Mail, 13 July 2007
[On Towards a New Constitutional Settlement: An Agenda for Gordon Brown's First 100 Days and Beyond]: 'Robert Hazell's contribution is much more practical, with useful bullet points outlining what he and the UCL Constitution Unit believe Brown should do to improve democratic accountability. The pamphlet calls for the prime minister to chair the Cabinet Office's constitutional reform committee, create a small constitutional secretariat within the department, put an "experienced and committed" minister in charge of the reform programme and revive the joint ministerial committee on devolution. In addition, ministerial codes of conduct should be tightened, greater powers given to the appointments commission, prime ministerial patronage powers to the House of Lords be scrapped, and the modernisation committee merged with the procedure committee.'
The Guardian, 5 July 2007
'…surrendering the prime minister's exclusive right to dissolve Parliament (and thus call an election) will matter little so long as the prime minister commands a majority in the House of Commons. As Robert Hazell, of University College London, points out, if Mr Brown really wanted to give up his right of dissolution, he would have advocated fixing the parliamentary term. Scrutiny of appointments by parliamentary committees, another proposal, is an advance—but it would be a bigger one were they actually to have a veto. And so on.'
The Economist, 5 July 2007
'As thinktanks such as the Constitution Unit at UCL point out, the new prime minister has been banging on since the 90s about the relationships between state, community and individuals; liberty, fairness and obligation; and, yes, Britishness. He has now coopted the ever-flexible Jack Straw and put his own ally, Michael Wills MP (a major contributor to yesterday's green paper), into Mr Straw's Ministry of Justice to chivvy debate along.'
Michael White, The Guardian, 4 July 2007
'The prime minister has also talked about using citizens' juries, where panels of voters discuss problems facing the country and try to reach a conclusion. According to Meg Russell of University College London's Constitution Unit, the juries "engage voters in honest conversations about some of the really difficult choices facing government.'''
Robert Hutton, Bloomberg, 3 July 2007
'The study, by the Constitution Unit of University College London, concluded that transforming Cornwall County Council into a unitary authority, subsuming the existing district councils, would strengthen the county's hand in negotiations with a South West assembly. But it said this would represent only a small change from the current structure of local government. The report's authors suggested that a separate Cornish assembly would work most effectively if it was given stronger powers than the limited strategic functions the Government is offering to English regions that choose elected government.'
The Independent, 8 June 2007
'Rhodri Morgan's legislative programme seems like the product of a government “that doesn’t think it will be in existence for very long”, according to one of Britain’s leading constitutional experts. Alan Trench is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London’s Constitution Unit. Last night he said, “These proposals may not be particularly exciting, but most of them have the advantage of being achievable. What most of them do is bring legislative power into line with the executive authority already held by the Assembly Government in relevant areas."'
Western Mail, 7 June 2007
'Mr Brown's plans for constitutional reform won't affect the monarchy, according to Robert Hazell, head of the Constitution Unit at University College London. "There's this silly argument that removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords will affect the monarchy - emphatically it won't. There are half a dozen hereditary monarchies in Europe, none of whom has hereditary members of their second chambers."'
Sunday Express, 3 June 2007
'Sarah Holsen, a research fellow at University College London's Constitution Unit, stressed that the government deserved credit for bringing in the freedom of information law at all, describing this as "a real winning point." "For 25 years, there was talk of FOI and it was finally brought forward," she said.'
Baku Today, 20 May 2007
'The Constitution Unit at University College London has proposed regular summits between the UK Prime Minister and heads of devolved administrations. By meeting regularly, it is argued this could help avert problems and build a stable relationship. Akash Paun, the academic leading the Unit's devolution research programme, said there should also be ways for MPs to meet MSPs, and members of the Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly, so they can work their way through policy issues that affect the whole of the UK.'
Douglas Fraser, The Herald, 8 May 2007
Journalists find using the Freedom of Information Act useful for historical and investigative stories, but have also found the process of using the law "frustrating" according to a new study. Researchers from the Constitution Unit, a think tank at University College London, found that some journalists from both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers had experienced "significant disappointment" with the process of getting answers to and appealing requests. Constitution Unit director Robert Hazell said: "The media are the conduit through which much of the public learns about FOI, therefore, what they choose to publish is important. The problems journalists experience with the administration of the Act are not necessarily unique to them – the Act is fairly new and still bedding down.
Press Gazette, 24 April 2007
'(Scottish) Independence would include extra costs. According to estimates from the Constitution Unit in 2002, the additional annual costs from independence would be £1.5 bn each year.'
Ken Symon, Sunday Herald, 12 April 2007
[On FOI Act]: 'Robert Hazell, the barrister and former Home Office official who runs the Constitution Unit at University College London, is confident civil servants have nothing to fear. An official writing today's memo need only worry that it is "thorough, accurate and balanced". Hazell's verdict is worth having because he was sent to Australia, Canada and New Zealand in 1986, four years after passage of their FoI acts. Local fears at the time that it would make government near-impossible had proved untrue, he found.
… Hazell's team is examining 700 national newspaper reports on FoI files released in year one, 2005. It finds that FoI increases accountability and public understanding. But the hostile tone of reporting undermines trust.'
Michael White, The Guardian, 4 April 2007
Alan Trench, of the Constitution Unit at University College London, also said a single referendum was unlikely to resolve the issue of Scotland's future. He said a second referendum could be called on whether an agreed independence settlement should go forward. "I think a single referendum would be bad practice and undesirable from the point of view of the Scottish people because it means they do not actually know whether independence will come or not, and under what terms. It gives too much power to the government to decide these questions and not enough to the people. A second referendum would be a better way forward for the UK and for Scotland."'
Loiuse Gray, The Scotsman, 26 March 2007
'The Constitution Unit at University College London has ruminated the independence in Europe question and concluded membership cannot be taken for granted. Continued membership for Scotland, it argues, would hinge on the approval of all member states.'
Torcuilo Crichton, Sunday Herald, 25 March 2007
'… the post-1999 Lords has changed considerably and been effective in forcing the Government to change Bills (as Dr Meg Russell of the Constitution Unit has authoritatively shown).'
Peter Riddell, The Times, 8 March 2007
'If resisting the government's will is indeed a mark of effectiveness, then the unreformed Lords have been doing a fine job since most of their hereditary members were removed from the chamber in 1999. In the intervening years the Lords have defeated the government more than 350 times, according to the Constitution Unit at University College London. Although Labour has the largest number of peers, they are harder to control than their cousins in the lower house. And an alliance of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independents can easily defeat the Labour lords, should they choose to do so. They have been particularly truculent when defending unpopular causes such as civil liberties. Even so, support for this crew of unelected spoilers has been rising.'
The Economist, 8 March 2007
'Academics and bodies such as the Constitution Unit at University College London are also expecting Brown to move on the constitution because of the implications of devolution. There has been a good deal of grumbling over the past year about the West Lothian question and the Barnett formula, and it’s expected that Brown will make some moves on these issues, if only to quell criticism in the conservative press about his nationality.'
Ian Macwhirter, Sunday Herald, 12 February 2007
[On House of Lords reform]: 'Whatever happens on the big issue of composition, there is, however, a growing consensus that, at minimum, the appointments commission should be made statutory, taking over the key decision on political nominations made by party leaders; and there should be no replacements for the remaining 92 hereditary peers. Ministers would also favour an age limit and provision for retirement/resignation. Any reform should also ensure that membership is a job, not an honour, as Meg Russell of the Constitution Unit, a leading authority on the Lords, commented yesterday.'
Peter Riddell, The Times, 8 February 2007
'The government's white paper on Lords reform - largely revealed by the Guardian last week but formally unveiled today - has drawn a mixed reaction. Dr Meg Russell, an academic at the UCL Constitution Unit, thinks people are worrying too about the percentages of elected members, and missing the radical departure in removing the power of patronage from the PM, in favour of an independent appointments commission. Professor Robert Hazell, the UCL Constitution Unit's director, says: "Critics may carp at some of the details but this is the best Lords package we have seen from the government yet. It would be a tragedy if reform founders over percentages."'
Guardian News Blog, 7 February 2007
'On behalf of the Nuffield Trust, the non-profit health policy group, Scott Greer of the Constitution Unit at University College London has been peering at the DH's entrails. It has become, he argues, the paradigmatic Blairite department. It's small, it works through delivery agencies, is responsive to central direction and is filled with managers and specialists rather than civil service generalists. That's what the Blairite recipe was, but has it delivered?'
The Guardian, 1 February 2007
'The Wales Office faces being merged with other Whitehall departments into a "Ministry of the Nations and Regions" as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of government if Gordon Brown takes over as Prime Minister. Alan Trench, an academic at University College London's Constitution Unit, said, "This is an idea that has been waiting its turn for a long time. It would create a framework for thinking about the territorial framework of the UK. The absence of that has been particularly evident over the past few weeks and months.'
Western Mail, 23 January 2007
'…even if Scots could reasonably be excluded from English votes, you would be left with an anomaly far greater than the West Lothian Question. As Robert Hazell of the Constitution Unit puts it: "It would create two classes of MP, and lead to potentially serious instability if the UK government could not command a majority for its English business."'
Ian Macwhirther, The Herald, 17 January 2007
'One of Britain's leading constitutional experts has expressed serious concerns about the National Assembly's ability to cope with its new powers with the present number of AMs. Alan Trench, an academic at University College London's Constitution Unit, believes it will be necessary to increase the number of Cardiff Bay politicians from 60 to 80 to ensure proposed laws receive proper scrutiny. At a conference in Cardiff organised by the campaign group Tomorrow's Wales, Mr Trench questioned Wales Office Minister Nick Ainger over the issue. When asked whether the Labour Government at Westminster would reconsider its decision to stick with 60 AMs, Mr Ainger said, "We will suck it and see."'
Martin Shipton, Western Mail, 3 January 2007
This page last modified
28 July, 2008
by v.spence@ucl.ac.uk |
