Devolution Flashcards
What is devolution?
- transfer of political power (not sovereignty) from central government to subnational one
Why has UK devolution been described as asymmetrical?
- devolved bodies have different levels of power
What did the Scotland Act 1998 do?
- est. primary legislative powers in certain areas eg health, education.
What did the Scotland Act 2012 do?
- tax-raising powers - ability to raise/lower income tax by up to 10p; stamp duty; landfill taxes
What did the Scotland Act 2016 do?
- authority over equal opportunities/social issues
- created own laws regarding who could vote
What did the Gov of Wales Act 1998 do?
- created official Welsh Assembly
- granted secondary legislative in certain areas eg housing, highways
What did the Gov of Wales Act 2006 do?
- proper executive body set up
- requested primary legislative powers if approved by referendum
What was the 2011 Referendum?
- Welsh Assembly gained power to enact primary legislation in 20 devolved areas of policy w/64% of vote.
What was the Wales Act 2014?
- gained similar tax-raising powers to those of Scotland eg stamp duty, landfill tax
What was the Wales Act 2017?
- greater powers overall eg control over own electoral system
- put on similar level of power as Scotland
What was the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020?
- changed name of legislature to Senedd Cymru
- gave votes for Welsh parliamentary/local elections to 16-17 year olds
- power over role/use of Welsh language
What were the Troubles 1969?
- major divide between unionists/nationalists; made agreement very difficult in devolved gov; suspended/abolished
What was direct rule?
- NI governed under Westminster - caused further divide
- devolution/peace would have to come hand in hand.
What was the Good Friday Agreement 1998?
- devolution included in GFA with great support
- both unionists/nationalists to be subject to same treatment
NI post-1998
- still considerable divide; suspended between 2017-2020 due to collapse of power-sharing agreement between DUP and Sinn Fein; has been suspended for nearly 40% of existence
- therefore, considerably less powerful
Overview of Scottish Parliament
- 129 elected members
- AMS electoral system used
- Minority SNP gov in power (2023)
- John Swinney is first minister
- located in Edinburgh (Holyrood)
Overview of Senedd
- 60 elected officials
- AMS used
- Labour in power (2023)
- Eluned Morgan first minister
- located in Cardiff
Overview of NI Assembly
- 90 elected members
- STV used
- Michelle O’Neill (SF) as first minister, Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy first minister (DUP)
- Parallel Consent needed for key decisions - more than 50% of both unionists/nationalists needed.
- located in Belfast (Stormont building)
What are the different local gov authorities in England?
- 57 unitary councils
- 36 metropolitan boroughs
- 25 county councils
- 188 district, borough, city councils
- combined authorities
- 32 London boroughs
- city mayors
What is a unitary council?
- single-tier body responsible for full range of local services
- found in large towns/cities eg Portsmouth
What is a metropolitan borough?
- single-tier with broadly similar powers to unitary councils, but formed in 1974
- found in heavily urbanised areas in North/Midlands eg Barnsley
What is a county council?
- part of two-tier local authority structure/responsible for key services
- less heavily urbanised areas eg Suffolk
What is a combined authority?
- enables group of two or more councils to collaborate/take collective decisions
- 10 including Greater Manchester
What is a district, borough or city council?
- part of two-tier responsible for more localised services
- less heavily populated eg New Forest District Council
How many London boroughs are there?
- 32 boroughs + Greater London Authority w/25 elected members/mayor
What is a city mayor?
- gov has encouraged directly elected city mayors
- Local Gov Act 2000 allowed any local council to hold referendum on intro of directly elected mayor; allowed to intro without referendum now.
- 25 directly elected mayors in England.
Should England have its own Parliament?
FOR:
- would complete devolution; remove current asymmetry
- would enable English identity/culture to flourish
- would enable more power to be decentralised from London
- growing calls from some politicians
- has worked well elsewhere in UK
AGAINST:
- England different in size/economy; might not automatically work in larger region
- lacks own national identity
- EVEL addressed West Lothian Question by giving English MPs more control
- considerable expense; weaken role of Westminster
- no evidence of strong public support for it
Impact of devolution on UK gov?
- British Constitution - from unitary framework to quasi-federal; Westminster still sovereign/could repeal devolution; sovereignty reduced outside of England.
- Policy variation - reduced control Westminster has on domestic policy beyond England; how four parts handled Covid.
- Alternative voting systems
- Pressure groups - how/where they operate; Scottish Parliament passed law banning smacking of children; increased lobbying of devolved bodies.
