Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales meeting: 20 July 2023
Minutes of the commission's meeting on 20 July 2023.
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In this page
Present
Co-chairs
- Rowan Williams
- Laura McAllister (items 3 and 4)
Commission members
- Anwen Elias
- Miguela Gonzalez (item 3)
- Lauren McEvatt
- Albert Owen
- Philip Rycroft
- Shavanah Taj (item 3 onwards)
- Kirsty Williams
- Leanne Wood
Expert Panel
- Gareth Williams
- Hugh Rawlings
Item 2
- Professor David Phinnemore, Queen's University Belfast
- Dr Lisa Claire Whitten, Queen's University Belfast
Item 3
- Dyfed Alsop, Chief Executive, Welsh Revenue Authority
Item 4
- Professor Erin Delaney, Distinguished Visiting Professor at UCL Faculty of Laws
- Professor Nicola McEwen, Professor of Public Policy, University of Glasgow
- David Melding CBE
Secretariat
- Gareth Morgan, Deputy Director and Head of Secretariat
- Carys Evans, Adviser
- Heulwen Mai Vaughan, Secretary
- Victoria Martin, Policy Lead
- Tessa Hajilambi, Office Manager
Apologies
- Michael Marmot
Item 1: Welcome from the co-chairs
1. The co-chairs welcomed the commissioners, and noted apologies from Michael.
Item 2: Northern Ireland experts
2. The co-chairs welcomed Dr Whitten and Professor Phinnemore from Queen's University Belfast. The discussion explored the main current constitutional issues in Northern Ireland, including the budget, reform of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, community affiliation, border poll, federalism and devolved government.
Item 3: Welsh Revenue Authority
3. The co-chairs welcomed Dyfed Alsop, Chief Executive of the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA). Dyfed reflected on the establishment of the WRA, discussed its culture - in particular its relationships with tax payers, and some differences in approach compared to HMRC, and provided some thoughts on the scope for further devolution.
Item 4: Federalism roundtable
4. The co-chairs welcomed David Melding, Professor Erin Delaney, and Professor Nicola McEwen. The discussion about federalism focused on issues including complexity, conflict, security, intergovernmental relations, the size of England, the House of Lords, and the route to secession.
Item 5: Final report update
5. The commissioners discussed the latest draft, and identified areas for further work. The Secretariat would produce a further draft for the next meeting.
Item 6: AOB
6. The co-chairs thanked commissioners for their contributions and provided an update on the forward programme.