Devolution Flashcards
Northern Ireland - ‘A Place Apart’
-Devolution did not start with New Labour.
-Campaign for Irish ‘Home Rule’ precursor for arguments for ‘Home Rule all round’.
-Devolved Government from 1920 – 1971, treated as ‘a place apart’.
-‘The Troubles’ – 3,665 deaths in the conflict.
Devolution in Northern Ireland
-Prior to the most recent collapse in February 2022 because of the DUPs disagreement with the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Assembly in Belfast had been suspended on five separate occasions.
-Meaning that because of the collapse of the power sharing executive, it had been unable to effectively perform its legislative function for approximately 40% of the time since 1998.
-Meanwhile, member software the assembly and ministers have been able to receive their salaries and pensions, costing voters millions of pounds – in defence of politicians in the province, their payment was cut after the two most recent suspicions of activity.
-The latest stalemate has led to a call from the former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister), to shake up the power sharing executive to stop one of the main parties (the DUP and Sinn Fein) from causing its collapse.
-The ongoing difficulties mean the politicians elected to the devolved assembly have been unable to go about tackling the various crises, as is the case throughout the rest of the UK, facing Northern Ireland such as the continued increases in the cost of living.
Devolution in Scotland
-Transfer of powers from the UK government to the Scottish parliament was established in 1999 as part of a wider devolution process.
-The devolution movement emerged in the late 20th century as a response to the English-centric dominance of the UK parliament and a desire for more control over Scottish affairs.
-The Scottish Parliament has responsibilities for domestic areas including health, education, transport, justice, and environment.
-The Scottish Parliament is elected through proportional representation, the SNP has been the largest party in parliament since 2007.
-Has a degree of fiscal autonomy, with the power to set its own tax rates and spend its own budget, but it still relied on funding from the UK government.
Devolution in Wales
-Establishments of the Welsh Assembly in 1999 as part of the UKs wider devolution process.
-The Senedd Cymru has powers over health, education, transport, and culture.
-Elected through a mixed-member proportional representation system, the Welsh Labour party has been the largest party since its establishment.
-Gained some fiscal autonomy with the Welsh Parliament having the power to set some taxes and spend its own budget.
An English Parliament
Arguments for and against
-Only part not devolved.
-An English Parliament would have legislative powers over domestic English issues; an English Parliament could also be created to implement policy.
-There is little support withing parties but is favoured by Conservatives.
-Arguments in favour:
-Would complete devolution.
-Would create a coherent system.
-Would give the expression of English identity and interests.
-Arguments against:
-Would not create equality as England is larger.
-Would create tensions in the UK.
-Limited support in England for an English Parliament.
‘English Votes for English Laws’ at Westminster
-MPs, no longer my law matters that have been involved to the Scottish parliament, the Senedd, and Northern Ireland assembly.
-The West Lothian Question.
-Few cases in which legislation and English issues would not have come into force about the support of MPs representing Scottish constituencies.
-EVEL procedure – scrapped in 2021.
Regional government
-Blair government to create a directly elected regional assemblies with limited functions in English regions outside London. Plans were dropped when 78% of voters voted no in 2004 referendum.
Arguments for a regional government
-Brings decision making closer to the people.
-Create a more balanced devolution settlement.
-Enhanced democracy from quangos.
-Could act as a catalyst for economic and cultural regeneration.
Arguments against a regional government
-Few areas of England have a strong sense of identity.
-Break up England.
-Tensions between regional and local government.
-Little public support.
Local government
-Lowest level of government.
-Only elected branch of government below central.
-In 2021, the structure was 58 unitary authorities, 24 county councils, 188 district councils, 36 metropolitan borough council.
-In London, the Greater London authority has strategic responsibility for economic development, transport, planning and policing. Consists of an elected mayor and 25 member London assembly. In 2021, only 15 local authorities took directly elected mayors.
-Local authorities are responsible for many services used by citizens. Receive most funding in the form of grants from central government.
-The council tax of domestic properties is the main way local authorities can raise revenue themselves.
Impact of devolution on UK politics
A quasi-federal UK
-Federalism is a federal state which sees sovereignty divided between two tiers of government, power is shared between national and regional government. However, quasi-federalism is where the central government of a unitary state devolves some of its powers to subnational governments.
-Quasi-federalism has…
-Limited parliamentary sovereignty: Westminster remains sovereign because it can overrule or abolish the devolved bodies. However, Westminster is no longer sovereign and has accepted that it will not impose legislation in devolved areas.
-Quasi-federal parliament: Westminster operates as an English parliament as it makes domestic law in England but is a federal parliament for the rest of the UK because it retains reserved powers on major UK wide matters.
-Joint ministerial committee: UK ministers and their counterparts from the devolved administrations meet to consider non-devolved matters and resolved disputes.
-Supreme Court: resolve disputes over competences by determining if the devolved bodies have acted within their powers.
-If the UK became a federal state, the West Lothian Question and the English Question would be resolved. It would provide a coherent constitutional settlement and establish a clearer relationship between the UK government and the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh parliament.
Pros and cons of devolution in the covid-19 pandemic
-The Covid-19 pandemic showed the pros of devolution as the devolved governments were responsible to respond to different local circumstances, there were different regulations in different regions.
-However, it also highlighted the cons of devolution as there were inconsistencies in the messages given to the people and the powers of the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh parliaments were limited.
Policy divergence
-Policy divergence was evident in prescription changes across the four nations in 9 years, differences in tuition fess and differences in national curriculum tests.
Funding
-The Barnett Formula is used by the UK Treasury to calculate the annual grants for the Scottish government, Welsh government, and Northern Ireland executive, determining the overall funding available for public services.
Britishness
-The concept of Britishness has changed over time as it is an umbrella identity for those in the UK while the four nations maintain their distinctive national identities.
-Those describing themselves as Scottish, Welsh or English increased during the first decade of devolution whilst those with English identities are likely to support EVEL.
