Devolution

Question 1

Scotland

Answer 1

• Reserved model: there are some things the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate upon. Following the 2014 referendum, devolved powers were extended in the Scotland Act 2016.
• Elections; powder to amend part of the Scotland Act 2016; control over taxes; fiscal autonomy; Sewel convention.

Question 2

Scotland Act 1998

Answer 2

s28 - provides for the Sewel Convention to be placed on legal footing. Contrast the emphatic language of subsection 7 with the qualified language in subsection 8. However, note: Miller - “political token in legislative garb”.

s63A - provides that devolution can only be abolished following a referendum. Does this mean that legal security has been provided to the concept of devolution?

Question 3

West Lothian Question

Answer 3

Why can Scottish MP’s vote on English matters where there is no reciprocity?

Two issues:

• Micro level: the law can be imposed on England (eg. Foundation Hospitals Bill)
• Macro level: majority in England - voting is UK wide (eg. 2010 election with conservative coalition would have been unnecessary in an England only electorate).

Note EVEL - England now has a veto in England only matters.

Question 4

Wales

Answer 4

• Conferred model: with Government of Wales Act 2006, Wales was given power to repeal or amend the law - although it needed UK permission to pass assembly measures.
• However, the process of convergence to the Scottish model was boosted (but not completed) by the Wales Act 2017.

Question 5

Wales Act 2017

Answer 5

• Ability to amend the 2006 Act.
• Legislative control over areas such as road signs, speed limits, onshore oil…
• Management of Ofcom in Wales.
• Recognises that body of Welsh law exists.

Question 6

Northern Ireland

Answer 6

Close to the Scottish model:

• Assembly has an electoral college function.
• Provision for unionists and nationalists electoral and cabinet minister counts (mandatory power-sharing executive).

Question 7

Big Picture

Answer 7

• Note the way devolution impacts the legal/political constitution of the UK.
• Politically, it seems that Parliamentary sovereignty is bound by devolution.

Question 8

Federalism

Answer 8

• Bogdonor: “There is a clear conceptual distinction between federalism and devolution: the one divides sovereignty, the other merely delegates it”.
• Hale: “The UK has becomes a federal state with a constitution regulating the relationships between the federal centre and the component parts”.

NOT FEDERAL:

• Asymmetrical: different parts of the UK have different amounts and types of devolved power.
• The UK Parliament is still legally sovereign (top-down).
• UK devolution enjoys a different degree of constitutional security: it is always open to Parliament to retract the power.

Question 9

Scotland Act 2016

Answer 9

• s1: permanency of Scottish Parliament in UK constitution.
• s2: Sewel Convention - according to Miller, was merely a statement of political fact with no concrete legal relevance.
• s3: not to be abolished without referendum.