Recommendation 17

There are no easy answers to the question as to what model(s) of reform to the governance arrangements for England would be successful or would satisfactorily address all the issues that we touched on during our inquiry, given the range of views. While there is unanimous agreement on this Committee that real, meaningful, and urgent changes need to be made, there is a range of different views about what these changes could or should be. The crucial point is that we recognise that the need for reform now outweighs the need for any particular approach to be adopted. Successive Government have tinkered on the edges of these questions and problems, and unfortunately we feel the Levelling Up White Paper is destined to continue that pattern. What is needed is a different approach that commits to meaningful, long- term reform that seriously addresses the questions and problems we have set out, but also removes the issue from the mainstream party-political arena in order to arrive at a sustainable solution acceptable to all. As such we are taking the unusual step of making the following recommendation not only to the Government, but also to the Opposition and other parties in House of Commons.

Paragraph Reference: 107