Four leading UK academics have joined forces to warn the UK Government that its commitment to resetting relations with the devolved governments cannot be met without addressing the impact of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act (UKIMA).
In a report published by the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy, the authors argue that the UKIMA has undermined the authority and status of the devolved institutions and contributed to the erosion of intergovernmental trust.
They argue that reforming the legislation is a critical step in restoring that trust, as well as helping to ensure more effective policy making.
The report is co-authored by Coree Brown Swan, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Stirling, Thomas Horsley, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Liverpool, Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Glasgow, and Lisa Claire Whitten, ESRC Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast.
McEwen said: “The UK Internal Market Act was introduced despite considerable opposition from devolved institutions. It has already had a constraining impact on their policy ambitions. The UK Government should recognise and address that if it is to achieve a meaningful reset in its relationships with the devolved governments”.
Brown Swan said: “The problems and delays surrounding the deposit return scheme is illustrative of the challenges posed by the Internal Market Act and especially the process of seeking exclusions from its market access principles. A clarified and agreed process is necessary to support devolved policymaking going forward, particularly in the environmental policy space.”
Horsley said: “We recognise the challenge that the Act was designed to address. But there are many legal and intergovernmental reforms – as set out in our report – that could make it less harmful to the policymaking powers of the devolved institutions”
Whitten said: “As with many aspects of Brexit, the UKIMA hits differently in Northern Ireland because of the Windsor Framework and the unique circumstances it was designed to address. Any reform of the legislation must take full account these, if it is to be effective and beneficial for the whole of the UK.”
The report offers a spectrum of reform options. These include amendments to the existing legislation and new processes that balance the objective of unfettered trade alongside the ability of the devolved institutions to make their own policy choices.
It further warns that many of the existing problems of UKIMA were caused by the unilateral action of the UK Government and that resolving them can only be done collaboratively across the four administrations.