As we all know by now, the solution to every problem in Wales is to form a committee. The more serious committees are called commissions or conventions instead.
The recent announcement of a new Welsh Government-backed constitutional commission chaired by Prof. Laura McAllister and The Rt Rev. Rowan Williams has generated a lot of buzz; given the credentials and profiles of the chairs that’s to be expected. I don’t think there’s any question that this is going to be a serious piece of work even if there’s some confusion over the terms of reference.
Nevertheless, the sobering reality is that Wales is currently averaging a commission to look at the Senedd’s powers, electoral reform or constitutional reform roughly once every three to four years. Yes, that often.
That’s before including the other non-constitutional committees, conventions and commissions – for example, the Diamond Review (student finance), the Senedd-commission review into digital media and the Burns Commission (Newport bypass alternatives).
What everyone needs to keep in mind before they get too excited about the latest commission is the poor track record we have in Wales of turning pages in a report into real things.
When the latest commission was announced people were saying “get excited”, “interesting” and getting pumped up because “the i-word” was mentioned. The commentariat and political bubble get excited by these things because they think these are big brain discussions which will involve the hoi polloi to a token degree. However, they’ll take comfort from the fact that it will be carefully controlled, led and guided by think tanks, politicians and academia – and that means we’re a proper polity instead of a pretend country.
At the risk of squeezing another morsel of enjoyment from being a party pooper, if there’s anything you can take from this short history of “constitutional commissions” it’s that Wales is world-class at talking about doing things then not doing them. Nobody can touch us.
The Senedd and Welsh Government don’t have the power to do everything they would like to do, but even in areas where they do have the power to make big changes – such as most of the remit of the Williams Commission – not much has happened.
I don’t think it’s wrong to expect hard outcomes from these committees, commissions and conventions. You can say, “Well, they’re only there to gather ideas and views and have ‘serious discussions’ to provide an evidence base”, but that’s an admission that while they’re not strictly a waste of time, they’re still talking shops. That’s not the fault of the commissions; it’s the fault of the politicians.
Only the All Wales Convention has had all of their recommendations become a reality to date. One. Maybe that’s a harsh assessment as many of the recommendations from the Richard and Silk commissions have eventually been introduced too; and the McAllister Review is on the road despite the Senedd doing its best to overheat the engine. But look at how long it takes. Look at how many obstacles are placed in front of them and how many times arguments are repeated by different commissions and committees.
We’re still discussing doing things the Richard Commission recommended almost 20 years ago. I don’t know about you, but in my view that’s a failure.
With this kind of track record, you should probably keep any ideas floating around your head on what the latest commission can achieve well in check. Although I always hope to be pleasantly surprised, expecting that with anything concerning Welsh politics is just setting yourself up for disappointment. So keep those expectations low.
Labour will then be able to put a tick next to its 2021 manifesto commitment to hold a “national civic conversation about our constitutional future” and there’s a nice space for the report on the dusty shelf next to the rest of them.
The Tories can stop wetting themselves over the Union (again). Plaid Cymru can look as though they’re doing something meaningful to move Wales closer to independence while being as far away from delivering it as ever before. So it goes.
