The final piece in this mini-series examining decentralisation within Wales after independence looks at perhaps the thing you’ve been waiting for – how many federal states, how many elected members etc.
In A Federal Wales III, I’d settled on the name “province/talaith” for the name of the devolved/federated regions – though that’s just a name for the sake of having one.
Provincial Executives: Head of Government
The leader of the provincial executive could be titled “Governor/”Llywodraethwr” and they would be the head of government for the province. Much like the First Minister in the Senedd, their role would be to set policy priorities and provide political accountability for all services delivered by the province.
There are at least three options as to how to appoint a provincial head of government:
- A directly-elected provincial head of government/separate executive. This is suitable if we opt for elected mayors for municipalities or even an elected president. They can then appoint whoever they want into their government, including expert outsiders.
- The leader of the largest party/coalition who can command the confidence of their Provincial Assembly. This is normal for a parliamentary system.
- Collective leadership where all executive positions are apportioned based on the number of seats each party has in each provincial assembly. This system is used in Switzerland.
The parliamentary system – where the leader of the largest party/group/coalition becomes Governor – would be the most likely and favoured one in Wales, I assume.
Provincial Executives: Commissioners
The Governor would shortlist people to serve in other executive roles, subject to the approval of their Provincial Assembly and formal appointment by the Head of State.
Collectively, the government of each province could be called the “Provincial Executive/Provincial Executive Council” to distinguish them from lower tiers of local government and the Welsh Government.
These members of the provincial executive could be titled “Commissioner”/”Comisiynydd” to avoid confusion with national “ministers”.
So the member of the Provincial Executive in charge of policing and fire services could be titled the “Public Safety Commissioner for (Province)”. The person in charge of health would be the “Health & Social Services Commissioner for (Province)”.
Each Commissioner would be politically accountable for the management of their respective portfolios and subject to the Ministerial Code.
The number of Commissioners should be kept to an absolute minimum and formally capped – perhaps between 5-7 (similar in size to the Executive Councils of the Swiss Cantons) to ensure there are enough backbench members to fill committee and board positions and provide proper scrutiny.
A typical Provincial Executive could look something like this:
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You would expect most Commissioners to come from within the provincial assemblies but that shouldn’t be a strict requirement – particularly if a role requires some form of hands-on experience. For example, a Governor may choose an experienced headteacher, college principal or education academic to be Education Commissioner.
Some decisions – such as budget-setting – would be made collectively or with input from the provincial assembly boards, so there would be no need for a dedicated Finance Commissioner.
Naturally, the Commissioners would be supported by a team of officers such as a Permanent Secretary, Treasurer, department directors (i.e. director of the NHS in the province) and legal officers.
How would services be run?
To highlight how this could work in practice, it’s worth using health services as an example.
Local Health Boards and Community Health Councils (as we know them) would be scrapped, and NHS services would be run directly by the Provincial Executive.
Political accountability would be provided via the responsible Commissioner (i.e. “Commissioner for Health & Social Services”), while day-to-day decision-making would be made by the Provincial Assembly’s health board. Scrutiny/oversight would be provided by the Provincial Assembly’s health committee.
The Commissioner would be in charge of running health services in the province. They would listen to advice from NHS managers/directors – who would remain in place to oversee the day-to-day running of the NHS on the ground – and approve recommendations and policy changes, coordinating with the Governor and the rest of the Executive. They would also be directly answerable to members of the provincial assembly and face regular questioning.
While most NHS services would be provided by the provinces, certain services could either be run collaboratively across all or several provinces, or run as national trusts by the Welsh Government. This could include services such as the Welsh Blood Service, health screening programmes, Velindre Trust (cancer) and Public Health Wales.
Given the breadth of responsibilities at their disposal, individual provinces would have greater flexibility than an existing Local Health Board in how they organise and fund health services. It might make it easier to, for example, integrate health and social care if it was being managed locally and regionally instead of relying on stop-start reforms from the Senedd or coordination between multiple local authorities and stand-alone regional bodies.
If they want to close, for example, a neo-natal unit or an A&E unit, it would be down to the Provincial Assembly and Provincial Executive to debate, fund and justify such a move in public under parliamentary rules – not in a boardroom.
The role of the Senedd & Welsh Government in provincial affairs
Just because certain functions would be devolved down to the provinces, it doesn’t mean the Senedd wouldn’t have a scrutiny role or that MSs would be barred from asking questions about provincial services in the Senedd. The Senedd and its committees would still be able to hold inquiries too into whatever topic they want.
It’s just that instead of Local Health Boards and the multitude of largely unaccountable bodies we have now, it would be rationalised into democratically accountable provincial executives and assemblies.
So it would provide two opportunities for in-depth scrutiny – nationally at the Senedd and regionally via the provincial assemblies. There may be times when joint inquiries can be run or one legislature helps the other.
In terms of the Welsh Government, there would probably still be a Health Minister or equivalent setting national health priorities, ensuring the provinces are provided with enough money to meet those priorities and providing additional funding for new health initiatives.
However, instead of being bogged down in micromanaging, they would be able to leave that work to the provincial health commissioners and allow themselves to take a more strategic approach. This could ensure national standards are being met or that services are consistent across the whole of Wales (i.e. prescription charges [or lack of], clinical excellence, medical education).
This would be the same for education, policing, fire services, national parks, social services, strategic planning etc.
