Devolution

Question 1

What powers does the Scottish Parliament have?

Answer 1

It had considerable primary legislative powers from the start and over its short life has passed over 300 pieces of legislation

Question 2

What acts of parliament have legislated devolution in Scotland?

Answer 2

The Scotland Act of 1998, the Scotland Act of 2012 and the Scotland Act of 2016

Question 3

What was the effect of the 1998 Scotland Act?

Answer 3

It gave the Scottish Parliament primary legislative powers in a number of domestic areas like health and education. It also gave them the power to vary the rate of income tax by up to 3p in the pound

Question 4

What was the effect of the 2012 Scotland act?

Answer 4

It transferred significant tax raising powers to the Scottish Parliament, devolved stamp duty and landfill taxes, and allowed the Scottish government to borrow up to £5 billion and set up its own tax authority

Question 5

What was the effect of the 2016 Scotland Act?

Answer 5

It gave the Holyrood Parliament authority over areas like abortion law and speeding limits, allowed the Scottish parliament to set its own rate of air passenger duty, create income tax rates and make its own laws about who could vote in elections for the Scottish Parliament

Question 6

What powers did the Welsh Parliament have?

Answer 6

It initially had few powers, reflecting the much lower level of initial support for devolution but these have since been extended

Question 7

What has devolution been like in Northern Ireland?

Answer 7

Its progress has been less smooth

Question 8

What acts of parliament have legislated devolution in Wales?

Answer 8

The Government of Wales Act 1998, The Government of Wales Act 2006, the 2011 referendum, the Wales Act 2014, the Wales Act 2017 and the Senedd and Elections Act 2020

Question 9

What was the effect of the 1998 Government of Wales Act?

Answer 9

It set up a Welsh assembly, it had no primary legislative powers but could devise secondary legislation eg about agriculture and housing

Question 10

What was the effect of the 2006 Government of Wales Act?

Answer 10

It enabled the Assembly to request more power from Westminster. It also established a proper executive body, the Welsh Assembly government

Question 11

What was the effect of the 2011 referndum?

Answer 11

There was a resounding ‘yes’ vote of 64% which showed how support for a Welsh government had grown. It meant the assembly could make primary legislation on 20 policy areas including health and transport

Question 12

What was the effect of the 2014 Wales Act?

Answer 12

It was the first major transfer of some tax-raising powers, including the stamp duty and business rates, they could create new taxes specific to Wales

Question 13

What was the effect of the 2017 Wales Act?

Answer 13

It gave the government more primary legislative powers in policy areas like the Welsh electoral system and rail franchising. Also gave it power to vary income tax by 10p in a pound. Gave the government power to change its name. It put Welsh devolution on the same footing as Scottish devolution.

Question 14

What was the effect of the Senedd and Elections Act 2020?

Answer 14

It formally changed the name of the legislature to Senedd Cymru or the Welsh Parliament. Gave the vote to 16 and 17 year olds for Welsh parliamentary and local elections.

Question 15

Why has devolution in Northern Ireland been complex?

Answer 15

It has taken place behind the backdrop of the ‘Troubles’, a period of sectarian violence

Question 16

What was Northern Ireland’s first devolved parliament?

Answer 16

The Stormont parliament lasted from 1921 to 1972 and was dominated by unionists, and was seen as being discriminatory towards the nationalist minority.

Question 17

What was the impact of the Good Friday agreement on devolution?

Answer 17

It promised a reintroduction of a devolved government. This was approved by the 1998 referendum when 71% approved which allowed for the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly and executive

Question 18

When was the Northern Ireland assembly suspended?

Answer 18

It was suspended from 2017 to 2020 after the power sharing agreement between the Democratic Unionist Part and Sinn Fein collapsed, this followed controversy over the DUP’s handling of a green energy scandal

Question 19

How does the suspension of the Northern Ireland assembly show the ultimate legislative authority of Westminster?

Answer 19

Westminster used the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly to extend same sex marriage and legalise abortion in the province

Question 20

Why is devolution in Northern Ireland different to that in Wales or Scotland?

Answer 20

1. The party structure is different as it comprises of parties from both communities, eg the DUP from the unionists, Sinn Fein from the nationalists and the Green party from the non-sectarian centrist sides
2. It has power sharing embedded in its structure as the executive always contains members from both communities with ministerial posts allocated on a proportional basis. The first minister is chosen by the party with the largest number of seats and the deputy first minister is chosen by the second largest party
3. Unlike in other regional assemblies, Assembly members must designate themselves as nationalist, unionist or other
4. Scotland and Wales have seen their powers enhanced since 1997, but the Northern Ireland Assembly has not had its powers added to substantially, eg it has very limited tax raising powers and Westminster still holds power over ‘reserved matters’ eg defence and immigration

Question 21

Why has devolution worked well in the UK?

Answer 21

a. allowed regional political differences to be recognised
b. strengthened the union between regions by creating a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario where devolved regions have some autonomy but still benefit from being part of a larger nation in areas like defence and trade
c. been popular with voters, this is particularly true for Wales when comparing the 1997 and 2011 referendum results
d. enabled the peace process in Northern Ireland and enabled cross-community cooperation
e. encouraged innovative policy making and enabled devolved assemblies to function as ‘legislative laboratories’, with administrations learning from policies launched elsewhere eg the 2006 ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in Scotland was extended to Wales, northern ireland and england

Question 22

Why has devolution not worked well in the uk?

Answer 22

a. led to inequalities in the provision and cost of public services eg in Scotland university tuition is free but in England costs over £9000 anually
b. encouraged greater demands for full independence therefore weakening the UK’s unity. Brexit highlighted divisions within the UK as Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain, but played no role in following negotiations
c. SNP called for a second independence referendum suggesting devolution hasn’t calmed demands for full independence. As they are the dominant party this suggests many Scots hold this view
d. Community relations and devolution remain fragile eg the suspension of the Northern Ireland assembly from 2017 to 2020
e. No increase in referndum for replacement of First Past the Post for general elections. Cross party working in Northern Ireland has been problematic
f. Policy ideas, eg the 5p charge on plastic bags first brought in by the Welsh Assembly would have happened anyway via westminster

Question 23

Describe devolution today in England

Answer 23

There is no formal devolution in England, there is no English Parliament but their is an extensive system of local government institutions and directly elected mayors/ regional police and crime commissioners

Question 24

Elaborate on the power of local government

Answer 24

Local government authorities have no primary legislative powers but different local government authorities have different powers
eg there are 57 unitary councils which are single tier bodies responsible for local services eg education and social care. They are found in large towns and cities eg Portsmouth
whilst there are also 25 county councils which are part of a two tier local authority structure and oversee key services like education and social services. These are found in less urbanised areas eg Suffolk
Local government is frequently reorganised, often with smaller units being merged together to increase efficiency, this shows their lack of real power and self determination
Their revenue raising powers are extremely restricted with English councils relying on a block grant from central government. They gain additional revenue through Council tax but this too is controlled by Whitehall
The introduction of directly elected mayors was not met with enthusiasm, in hartlepool the post was abolished in a referendum

Question 25

What are the arguments for an English Parliament?

Answer 25

1. would provide parity with the rest of the UK and 'logically complete' devolution, ending the current asymmetry. In her unsuccessful Private Member's Bill, MP Gorman said England deserved 'fair and equal treatment' 2. would permanently answer the West Lothian question and end the convoluted process of 'English votes for English laws'. In 2015, Cameron withdrew his attempt to relax the foxhunting ban in England and Wales after the SNP said they would vote against it, breaking the convention that Scottish MPs won't vote on English matters 3. would reduce the centralisation of power in Westminster and a Parliament would likely be based outside of London, so would reduce the dominance of London in English politics 4. would give clear expression and priority to English identity and interests 5. devolution has worked well in other parts of the UK 6. support has grown in recent years, primarily, but not exclusively, amongst the Conservatives

Question 26

What are the arguments against an English Parliament?

Answer 26

1. An english parliament would dominate, economically and by population, a federal United Kingdom, as it would generate the bulk of National GDP and contain 85% of the total population 2. England lacks a cohesive and strong cultural identity, eg Cornwall and Merseyside enjoy strong regional identities but have little directly in common 3. There would be much debate over its location, eg in London close to Westminster for efficiency or in the Midlands 4. significant costs would be involved as representatives must be paid and new civil servants hired 5. the Westminster parliament would be undermined and the so called 'mother of all parliaments' would run the risk of being orphaned 5. it would weaken not strengthen the union and there is no threat of England leaving the UK if devolution doesn't occur 6. No public enthusiasm and a 2004 referendum on the introduction of a north east assembly was rejected by 78%

Question 27

How has devolution affected the British constitution?

Answer 27

It has changed from a unitary framework to one that is 'quasi-federal'. It is still unitary as ultimate sovereignty lies with Westminster but policy in many key areas is now decided by devolved bodies outside Westminster. Parliamentary sovereignty has been significantly reduced outside Westminster eg the Scotland Act 2016 meant Westminster can't legislate in devolved matters without consent

Question 28

How has devolution led to policy variation?

Answer 28

It has led to policy variation, or some would say inequality across the UK. There is great contrast across the UK, both in terms of policy eg university tuition fees or the implementation eg the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic

Question 29

How has devolution affected alternative voting systems?

Answer 29

It has brought in alternative voting systems besides FPTP, these have usually resulted in minority or coalition governments. Some say it has lead to a stalemate instead of encouraging cross-party cooperation. In regions with devolved assemblies, multiparty governance is now often the norm

Question 30

How has devolution affected pressure groups?

Answer 30

It affects how and where pressure groups operate, inevitably they focus their energies on where policy is made so increasingly they have begun to lobby devolved bodies and not just Westminster