The role and powers of devolved bodies in the UK and the impact of this devolution on the UK Flashcards
What is devolution ?
- The dispersal of power but not sovereignty within a political system
What is asymmetrical devolution ?
- A type of devolution where various regions have been granted unequal amounts of power
What did the 2006 government of Wales act do ?
- Provision for further powers in 20 key areas to be transferred from Westminster to Wales, if this was requested through a referendum
- ## 2011 : 64% voted to confirm that further devolution was preferred (including healthcare, education, transport and the environment)
What did the 2011 Welsh devolution referendum also do and when was their influence shown ?
- Creation of the silks commission which investigated the ways in which financial powers could be devolved and how it would better meet the needs of the people
- 2012 : commission proposed the transference of the tax-raising measure to give it eventual control in raising 25% of its annual budget (Adopted in 2014)
When did the Welsh assembly officially become the Welsh Parliament ?
- May 2020
- Known as Senedd Cymru
Why were further powers granted to Scotland in 2016 ?
- 2016 : in response to the surge in nationalistic feeling following the close result in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum
- Granted financial autonomy known as ‘devo-max’
What did the Wales act of 2017 grant ?
- Some proposals of the second part of the silk commission
- Granted similar levels of legislative and fiscal powers and responsibility to those of Scotland
What is the West Lothian question ?
- Scottish and Welsh MPs voting on matters that don’t effect their own constituents eg 2002 : Uni fees were raised to £3,000 a year due to Scottish MPs voting in favour despite it not effecting Scottish students
What is EVEL ?
- English votes for English laws
- If the speaker determined a bill as only concerning England or England and Wales then could be vetoed by MPs representing those regions
- FAILED to ensure measured desired by a majority of English MPs would be passed
- Eg 2016 : Extension of trading on a Sunday passed the EVEL stage but was defeated by a vote of the whole chamber with SNP voting against even though Scotland wouldn’t be directly effected
- Uni fees were tripled under cameron in which the SNP supported yet it didn’t effect scottish students
Where has there been devolution in the England ?
- During the coalition, attempts were made to introduce directly elected mayors to major cities in England
- Parliament granted the 12 largest English cities on whether to have a directly elected mayor or not
- Only 1/10 other major citifies voted to have a mayor (Bristol)
What was introduced across England ?
- Combined authorities / metro areas
- Areas that were previously metropolitan areas with a local council could combine resources and share services across a wider area to make them more effective and efficient
- Means of cutting cost and providing an economic incentive
What did the 2015 chancellor commit to and why ?
- Osborne was committed to granting autonomous powers to large cities as means of tackling the issue of underperformance in major cities
- Announced in Oct 2015 that combined authorities would be allowed to keep all revenue from business rates if they agreed to have a directly elected mayor
What enacted devolution to cities in England ?
- Cities and local government devolution act 2016
- Represented a major step towards more devolved local government in England with a sizeable economic incentive to adopt them
As of 2021 how many metro-mayors were there ?
- 8
What are the powers of the Greater Manchester devolved body ?
- 30 year investment fund of £900 million
- Control of £6 billion health and social care budget
- £30 million per year hosing investment fund
Tees valley devolved city powers ?
- 30 year investment fund of £450 million
- Consolidated transport budget bus franchising £59 million transforming cities fund
- No control over health
