Devolution Flashcards
How many elected members are in Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Parliaments?
Scotland - 129. Wales - 60. Northern Ireland - 90.
What electoral system is used in devolved nations?
Scotland and Wales - AMS. Northern Ireland - STV.
Which party is in power in each devolved nation?
Scotland - SNP. Wales - Labour. Northern Ireland - Sinn Fein and the DUP.
Who is the first minister of each country?
Scotland - Humza Yousaf. Wales - Vaughn Gething. Northern Ireland - Michelle O’neill.
What is the location of each devolved government?
Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast.
What did the Scotland Act 1998 do?
Gave the Scottish parliament primary legislative powers in areas such as law and order, health, education, and transport.
What did the Scotland Act 2012 do?
Transferred tax raising powers to the Scottish Parliament by 10p in a pound. Devolved stamp duty and Landfill taxes.
What did the Scotland Act 2016 do?
Transferred more powers to Holyrood, such as abortion, law, speed limits. Allowed Scotland to set its’ own income tax.
How many pieces of legislation has the Scottish Parliament passed since it started?
300.
What are the examples of Scottish Parliament Legislation?
Period Products Act, Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill adults act, Gender Recognition reform bill, visitor levy bill.
What did the Wales Act 1998 do?
Set up the welsh assembly, and gave it the ability to devise secondary legislation areas such as Agriculture, Education and Housing.
What did the Government of Wales Act 2006 do?
Enabled assembly to request further powers from Westminster, set up the welsh government.
What was the welsh referendum 2011?
Asked if people wanted the assembly to be able to make legislation in the areas it has power. Yes Had 64%.
What did the Wales Act 2014 do?
It was the first major transfer of tax raising powers to Welsh Government, such as Stamp duty and business rates.
What did the Wales Act 2017 do?
Transferred important powers to Wales, gave the welsh government more primary legislation power.
What did the Senedd and Elections Act 2020?
Changed the name of the parliament to the Senedd, gave the vote to 16 and 17 year old’s.
What are the examples of welsh parliament legislation?
Abolition of the right to buy act, Trade Union Act, Childcare funding act, Public health act.
Why is devolution for Northern Ireland different?
It’s done so with the backdrop of the troubles, meaning terrorist campaigns by nationalist and republican paramilitaries.
When was there a devolved government in place?
From 1921 to 1972.
Why was the previous NI devolved government abolished?
It was dominated by unionists, and discriminatory towards nationalists.
Where was Northern Ireland governed from during this time?
Directly from Westminster.
Why was there a British Army presence in Northern Ireland?
To keep peace.
What happened to Northern Ireland in 1998?
The Good Friday Agreeement.
What did the Good Friday Agreement promise?
A return to devolved government, prisoner release for paramilitary terrorists, reductions in British Army troops.
What did the 1998 referendum ask residents?
If they approved of the Good Friday Agreement, they voted yes by 71 to 29%.
Why was the assembly suspended in 2017?
The collapse of the power sharing agreement, due to the handling of a green energy scandal.
What happened to Northern Ireland while the executive was closed?
The civil service extended rights of same sex marriage, and legalised abortion.
What are the unionist parties in NI?
The DUP, and the UUP.
What are the nationalist parties in NI?
SDLP, Sinn Fein.
What are the two non-sectarian parties in NI?
Alliance Party, Green Party.
How are ministerial posts decided in Northern Ireland?
Party strength in the devolved elections.
Which matters are devolved?
Health, Education, Local Government, Agriculture, Transport, Taxation, Justice, Sports.
Which matters are reserved?
Social Security, Broadcasting, Constitution, Defence, Employment, Equal opportunities, Foreign Policy, Immigration, Trade.
What are the arguments devolution has worked well in the UK?
It has allowed regional political differences to be settled, strengthened the union, popular with voters, ensured the peace process, allowed policy laboratories, enabled different electoral systems.
What are the arguments devolution hasn’t worked well in the UK?
Inequalities in provision and cost of public services, demands for greater separation, gave nationalist parties more governing confidence, community relations are still fragile, hasn’t created momentum for a change in the voting system.
What are the examples of devolution in England?
Unitary councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, County councils, district boroughs, combined authorities, London boroughs, City Mayors.
What are local councils responsible for?
The full range of local services such as social services, education and training programmes, leisure, planning, waste collection.
What is the role of Combined authorities?
Enable a group of two or more councils to collaborate and take collective decisions across council boundaries.
What are the examples of combined authorities?
Greater Manchester, West Midlands.
Which piece of legislation allowed City mayors to be elected?
The local government act 2000.
Which piece of legislation allowed metro mayors to be elected?
Cities and Local government devolution act 2016.
How many city mayors are there currently?
15.
How many metro mayors are there currently?
8.
What do English local authorities rely on for funding?
Central Government.
What limits do they have on their power?
They can only raise council tax by up to 5%, but can gain approval from government to raise it by more.
What are the arguments for an English Parliament?
Would provide parity with the rest of the UK, provides an answer to the West Lothian Question, convention was broken in 2015 by Scottish MPs voting on English legislation, A private members’ bill was introduced to parliament, which would have meant federalism.
What are the arguments against an English Parliament?
An English parliament would dominate a federal UK, England lacks cohesive identity, argument over location, extra cost with more government, would severely undermine Westminster, weaken the union, lack of enthusiasm.
