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The Constitution Unit

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Devolution in England

The Unit is conducted a project, led by Meg Russell, examining the options for the design of an English Parliament.

This project builds on a wealth of earlier work in the Unit into different aspects of devolution in England, starting with an early report setting out the options for Regional Government in England (1996). We also took an early interest in The English Question (2000), demands for an English Parliament, and whether Westminster could provide a stronger voice for England. That led to a wider research project looking into different aspects of The English Question (2002-6), with half a dozen publications, culminating in a book on The English Question (2006). Mark Sandford produced a series of reports on Elected Regional Assemblies, Regional Chambers, the draft Regional Assemblies Bill, and the Scrutiny Role of Regional Assemblies.

The rise and fall of Regional Assemblies, and further evolution of regional policy in England, is recorded in detail in the English Devolution Monitoring Reports, 1999-2005 and 2006-09.

Meg Russell has long been interested in Westminster and the English Question (2005). In 2016 she was awarded a research grant to conduct the detailed feasibility study of an English Parliament that is noted above.