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Scotland could be a testbed for the best of British policy – but isn't Scotland could be a testbed for the best of British policy – but isn't
(about 1 hour later)
The man standing to one side in this week’s pictures of Hillary Clinton scraping through in Iowa. Remember him?The man standing to one side in this week’s pictures of Hillary Clinton scraping through in Iowa. Remember him?
Former US president Bill Clinton was once the governor of Arkansas in the halcyon days when the air was rich with talk about policy experiments. The idea was that different US states would do social policy and transport and cities differently, so each could learn from one another. They were, said Clinton, “laboratories of democracy”.Former US president Bill Clinton was once the governor of Arkansas in the halcyon days when the air was rich with talk about policy experiments. The idea was that different US states would do social policy and transport and cities differently, so each could learn from one another. They were, said Clinton, “laboratories of democracy”.
That was a deliberate echo of the phrase from the renowned early 20th-century lawyer and member of the US supreme court, Louis Brandeis, who said states should try social and economic experiments on their citizens.That was a deliberate echo of the phrase from the renowned early 20th-century lawyer and member of the US supreme court, Louis Brandeis, who said states should try social and economic experiments on their citizens.
By Clinton’s day, some of the labs had turned out Frankenstein’s monster. In Texas and Montana, Tea Party fundamentalists and gun-toting anti-government militants now call the existence of the federal government into question.By Clinton’s day, some of the labs had turned out Frankenstein’s monster. In Texas and Montana, Tea Party fundamentalists and gun-toting anti-government militants now call the existence of the federal government into question.
So it’s worth a word of caution when we again hear, in the report on devolution published on Tuesday by innovation charity Nesta, echoes of the same laboratory idea. So it’s worth a word of caution when we again hear, in the report on devolution published on Tuesday by innovation charity Nesta and the Institute for Government, echoes of the same laboratory idea.
Of course the analogy is stretched. The UK is different to the US, not least, as Jill Rutter and her colleagues at the Institute for Government thinktank have shown in their own reports on devolution, in the shambolic and uncodified way in which power has been devolved and governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh have and haven’t reshaped policy. More haphazard and inconsistent devolution is now going on in Greater Manchester and the would-be city regions in England, as the Commons communities and local government committee pointed out on Wednesday. Of course the analogy is stretched. The UK is different to the US, not least, as Jill Rutter and her colleagues at the Institute for Government thinktank have shown, in the shambolic and uncodified way in which power has been devolved and governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh have and haven’t reshaped policy. More haphazard and inconsistent devolution is now going on in Greater Manchester and the would-be city regions in England, as the Commons communities and local government committee pointed out on Wednesday.
Devolution is superficial until it hits the bedrock question of money. The centre is and must remain potent unless and until the countries of the UK and/or the regions of England pay their own way; otherwise, with redistributive spending allocations must come restrictions and scrutiny.Devolution is superficial until it hits the bedrock question of money. The centre is and must remain potent unless and until the countries of the UK and/or the regions of England pay their own way; otherwise, with redistributive spending allocations must come restrictions and scrutiny.
Devolution in the UK has opened space for trial and error. But you only get a “living laboratory” if you have scientists who not only know what is going on but can calibrate and monitor the experiment. While there can never be a randomised control trial in public management, central government could have been cleverer and kept at least a watching brief over the cession of powers. There are umpteen ways in which policy has diverged within a decade or so on higher education, social care and infrastructure. But there is no one in the control booth to do any measuring.Devolution in the UK has opened space for trial and error. But you only get a “living laboratory” if you have scientists who not only know what is going on but can calibrate and monitor the experiment. While there can never be a randomised control trial in public management, central government could have been cleverer and kept at least a watching brief over the cession of powers. There are umpteen ways in which policy has diverged within a decade or so on higher education, social care and infrastructure. But there is no one in the control booth to do any measuring.
Should we blame civil servants and successive cabinet secretaries? When two former heads of the civil service, Gus O’Donnell and Bob Kerslake, both now peers, recently talked to the Lords constitution committee about devolution to Scotland, they were remarkably sanguine about how the civil service has retained shape and identity while loyally serving new administrations. They gave the impression that an occasional appearance by the most senior civil servant in Scotland at the regular Wednesday permanent secretaries’ meeting in Whitehall sealed the deal.Should we blame civil servants and successive cabinet secretaries? When two former heads of the civil service, Gus O’Donnell and Bob Kerslake, both now peers, recently talked to the Lords constitution committee about devolution to Scotland, they were remarkably sanguine about how the civil service has retained shape and identity while loyally serving new administrations. They gave the impression that an occasional appearance by the most senior civil servant in Scotland at the regular Wednesday permanent secretaries’ meeting in Whitehall sealed the deal.
But Nesta, quite rightly, wants much more from the present state of devolution. The report calls for dynamic exchange between governments, including the planned move of people back and forward; innovation; standard datasets for better monitoring and – critically – central capacity to plant winning policies and delivery ideas in new soil.But Nesta, quite rightly, wants much more from the present state of devolution. The report calls for dynamic exchange between governments, including the planned move of people back and forward; innovation; standard datasets for better monitoring and – critically – central capacity to plant winning policies and delivery ideas in new soil.
Maybe back in 2000 when Whitehall was awash with new ideas – some of them from Nesta boss Geoff Mulgan – that might have been possible. It looks a lot less possible now, in a political atmosphere in which David Cameron cannot resist cheap shots at Labour-run Wales and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon points to England only to say “anything but that”.Maybe back in 2000 when Whitehall was awash with new ideas – some of them from Nesta boss Geoff Mulgan – that might have been possible. It looks a lot less possible now, in a political atmosphere in which David Cameron cannot resist cheap shots at Labour-run Wales and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon points to England only to say “anything but that”.
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