The research project
This project is about taking forward a highly successful pilot constitutional convention – ‘Assembly South’ – and making sure that it influences the regional public policy agenda.
In the wake of the Scottish referendum on independence the UK is undergoing a rapid period of constitutional reflection and reform. In response to this, a nationwide group of academics, civil society leaders and policy organisations put together ‘Democracy Matters: A Constitutional Assembly for the UK- A Comparative Study and Pilot Project’.
One assembly was held in South Yorkshire, and one in the Solent area. Each assembly was made up of a representative group of citizens recruited by YouGov, and over two weekends the participants debated the options for devolution in their area. Assembly South, the Solent based pilot, differed from the North in that a small selection of local councillors also took part in the deliberations. At the end of the two weekends participants voted on a number of proposals.
Participants voted that if there were to be a new devolved body:
- It should cover the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight area (HIOW), instead of other options like the South East or Solent.
- Health and social care integration should be the most important priority for the body, followed by public transport, business support and housing investment.
- There was a dead heat on the question of whether participants would vote for or against the current deal on the table.
A key finding of the research team is that randomly selected citizens are ready, willing and able to engage with complex policy and governance debates when given appropriate support and opportunity.
Our work with Public Policy|Southampton is to present these findings to key decision makers, and to open up a discussion on how the lessons from this deliberative constitutional convention could be incorporated into public engagement around the devolution deal for HIOW.
The project will primarily consist of three briefings and discussions.
- The first with business leaders drawn from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight business community. These attendees will all be either at a high level within a significant company, or drawn from representative groups such as the Chamber of Commerce.
- The second with the leaders of local authorities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This is a significant opportunity to influence those who will make the combined authority decisions in the final instance.
- Finally with local Members of Parliament through the HIOW APPG. This will mean that the Assembly South project will have involved real input from citizens, business leaders, council leaders and national policy makers.
Aside from the powerful impact this project will have it will also allow us to collect the views of these groups, and understand some of the differences but also the common ground between groups with different interests in the devolution process.
Useful links
About Citizens’ Assembly South
Three perspectives on Devo-South
Meet the research team
Professor Will Jennings is the Principle Investigator for the project. Will is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southampton. His research is concerned with questions relating to public policy and public opinion. Will has written extensively about how issues make it onto the public agenda and in turn influence government priorities, how public evaluations of party competence shape voting behaviour, and the trends and drivers of political discontentment.
Professor Graham Smith is Professor of Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster. He is a specialist in democratic theory and practice and environmental politics, and has a particular interest in innovative forms of citizen engagement in political decision making.
The impact project is being coordinated by the Southern Policy Centre, a thinktank which advised on the initial assembly and recruited local councillors for the project. The Southern Policy Centre cross party and covers central southern England: the area stretching from Dorset to Sussex, and the Isle of Wight up to Oxford. It specialises in public policy in southern England, the use of data for evidence based decision making, and innovative forms of public participation.
The Southern Policy Centre input is being led by Izaak Wilson, Executive Officer, and the Chair John Denham (former local MP and Secretary of State).