Consultation

The Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee have agreed to undertake an inquiry into inter-institutional working. The Committee intends to build on the work already undertaken by other legislatures on this issue, including the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee; the House of Lords Constitution Committee and the Scottish Parliament’s Devolution (Further Powers) Committee.

The Committee has set the following inquiry objectives:

• To produce best practice principles for inter-institutional working for constitutional legislation.
• To reflect and build on the work of other legislatures on inter-institutional working as it relates to broader policy areas.
• To seek, establish and promote opportunities for inter-parliamentary working, including promotion of citizen engagement.

The inquiry will focus on two strands: 

Strand I: Constitutional matters

To review how inter-institutional relations have influenced development of Welsh devolution since 1998. This will include looking at:

• How inter-governmental mechanisms have impacted on the development of the devolution settlement.
• How inter-governmental relations have developed and evolved, what worked well and the impact these relations have had on the devolution settlement.
• How inter-parliamentary relations have evolved, the current state of these relations and how they could be further developed in relation to the development and scrutiny of constitutional legislation.

Strand II: Policy matters

By building on the work previously undertaken across the UK to explore within the Welsh context:

• The nature of relationships between the Welsh and UK Government, how these relationships function and how they can be improved.
• Improving opportunities for improved policy learning between Governments and Parliaments.
• Best practice in inter-institutional relations from across the UK which could be imported into the Welsh context.
• The nature of the relationship between the Welsh and UK legislatures and to identify opportunities for effective inter-parliamentary working.
• To cover any other matters that relate to inter-institutional relationships, including relevant implications of the UK leaving the EU.

Disclosure of Information

The Assembly’s policy on disclosure of information is available; please ensure that you have considered these details carefully before submitting information to the Committee.  Alternatively a hard copy of this policy can be requested by contacting the Clerk.

Invitation to contribute to the consultation

The Committee welcomes contributions in both or either of our official languages, English and Welsh. Information not submitted bilingually will not be translated and will be published in the language of submission only.

Submissions should be no longer than five sides of A4, with numbered paragraphs, and should focus on matters set out above. Please see guidance for those providing evidence for committees.

Responses should be submitted by Monday 5 June 2017. It may not be possible to take into account responses received after this date.