Why we must say no to fragrant breach of constitutional principles

A curious advert was run by the Water Regulatory Authority (WRA) in the media this week which exposes some of the incessant challenges that transitioning from a centralised system to a devolved system exhibits. In the advert the Authority, a national government body established under the Water Act 2016, requires all persons wishing to drill boreholes to seek their approval and pay requisite fees. It expressly declares that county governments have no role in this arena as, in the view of the Authority, the same is contrary to the Constitution and more particularly the Water Act.

In my short life in the devolution space, I have come across numerous instances where National government entities have sought to encroach on County roles. The Roads Authorities have continued to manage what are practically County roads. In agriculture, national government institutions routinely perform county government functions. Few such encroachments have however been as brazen as the WRA advert. As a matter of basic principle, the reason why it was felt necessary to devolve was to ensure that government functions, programmes and services were decentralised to the lowest possible level to facilitate local planning, local decision making and local implementation.