Devolution and the Welfare State: Lessons from Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Wales

Abstract

The author analyses the scope and limits of the policy autonomy devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). He engages with James Mitchell's application of Ted Lowi's seminal analysis of ‘policy types’ to Scottish devolution. These concepts are used to frame a case study of Welsh early childhood education and care (ECEC), demonstrating extensive innovation in Wales concerning the form of ECEC and its impact on compulsory schooling. However, there is some evidence that innovation in the form of ECEC has not been matched by sufficient increases in spending. Although echoing Mitchell's account of the fiscal limits to devolution, the author suggests a greater scope for policy innovation than Mitchell detects. The discrepancy suggests that there is room for refinement of the ‘policy-types’ framework, to draw attention to ‘regulatory’ aspects of public service provision; it may also hint that, although formally weaker, the WAG has more potential for policy innovation than the Scottish Executive.