UK devolution

Question 1

how many members does Scottish parliament have?

Answer 1

129 members: who 73 elected in single-member constituencies, 56 additional members

Question 2

in what areas did the Scottish Act 1998 give Scottish parliament legislative powers in?

Answer 2

law and order, health, education, transport, the environment and economic development e.g could raise or lower income tax up to 3%

Question 3

what reserved powers does Westminster hold?

Answer 3

UK constitution, defence and national security, foreign policy and relations with EU, fiscal, economic and monetary systems, common market for British goods and services, employment legislation, social security (some areas devolved), broadcasting, nationality and immigration, and nuclear energy

Question 4

what percentage of people voted no to independence in the 2014 independence referendum?

Answer 4

55.3%

Question 5

what are some powers give to Scottish parliament by the Scotland Act 2016?

Answer 5

power to set income tax rates and bands, right to receive 50% of VAT raised in Scotland, control over certain welfare benefits, and control of road signs, speed limits rail franchises and onshore gas and oil fracking

Question 6

what do the SNP want?

Answer 6

another independence referendum - now say they have a mandate after them and the green party who also support independence gaining a combined over 50% of the vote in the 2021 election

Question 7

how many members does the Welsh Assembly have?

Answer 7

60, 40 of which are elected in single-member constituencies using FPTP, and 20 of which are elected in five multi-member regions using the regional list system of proportional representation

Question 8

who is in power in the Welsh Assembly?

Answer 8

Labour has been in power either alone or in coalition since 1999, labour currently in power with majority 2021-

Question 9

how powerful is the Welsh Assembly?

Answer 9

the powers of the Welsh Assembly have expanded since its creation but are not as extensive as those of the Scottish Parliament

Question 10

what did the Government of Wales Act 2006 enable?

Answer 10

enabled the assembly to ask for for further powers if approved in referendum - 2011 referendum 64% yes vote. following this assembly gained power to make primary legislation in existing 20 devolved areas specified in government act of wales 1998 including education, health, transport, the environment and economic development

Question 11

what is the silk commission and what did the wales act 2014 do?

Answer 11

established by coalition UK government, the silk commission considers the case for the transfer of further powers to the Welsh Assembly. the wales act 2014 put into place the first tranche of Silks proposals by devolving control of landfill tax and stamp duty

Question 12

what did the Wales Act 2017 do?

Answer 12

specified list of matters reserved to Westminster - all other areas devolved to assembly. Act created a welsh rate of income tax by giving assembly control over 10 pence in the pound of income tax and removed need of referendum to do this. newly devolved matters include assembly and local government elections, fracking, rail franchising and road speed limits. welsh government wanted policing and justices to be devolved but UK government did not agree. established assembly and welsh government as a permanent feature of UK constitution.

Question 13

what is support for independence in wales?

Answer 13

around 10%

Question 14

what are the differences between politics in the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland?

Answer 14

communal conflict (unionists v nationalists), distinctive party system, security, separate system of government

Question 15

what did the Good Friday Agreement do?

Answer 15

established power-sharing devolution and required UK and Irish governments to amend their constitutions to clarify status of Northern Ireland

Question 16

how many members in the Northern ireland assembly and who is it led by?

Answer 16

consists of 90 members, led by a first minister who is the leader of the largest party and deputy first minister from the second largest party

Question 17

what powers does the northern Ireland assembly have?

Answer 17

has primary legislative powers in a range for policy areas. does not have major tax raising powers, although corporation tax was devolved in 2015. some legislative measures require cross community support from both unionist and nationalist parties

Question 18

arguments in favour of an english parliament

Answer 18

• would create complete devolution in the UK and resolve the english question by giving england its own parliament
• it would create a more coherent system of devolution, with a federal UK parliament and government responsible for UK wide issues - rather than, at present, these combined with English issues
• it would political and institutional expression to english identity and interests

Question 19

arguments against an english parliament

Answer 19

• it would create an additional layer of government and create tensions between the UK government and an english parliament and government
• ‘devolution all around’ would not create a coherent and equitable system because England is much bigger than the other nations of the union
• there is only limited support in england for an english parliament (around 20% in 2015)

Question 20

what is the West Lothian Question?

Answer 20

the West Lothian question (named after Labour MP for West Lothian Tom Dalyell) asks why Scottish MPs should be able to vote on English matters when english MPs cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish parliament

Question 21

what is EVEL and when was it first used?

Answer 21

EVEL means that there are special procedures in the House of Commons for dealing with legislation that only affects England. The new procedures provide a ‘double veto’. Bills certified by the speaker as England-only are considered in a Legislative Grand Committee - an additional stage i the legislative process - where MPs representing English constituencies can veto them and parts of them. But these bills still require majority support in the House of Commons and MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can still veto on them. first used in 2016

Question 22

disadvantages of EVEL

Answer 22

determining territorial extent of bills problematic as decisions on public spending in England may affect funding in the rest of the UK. creates different classes of MPs and makes it difficult for government with small majority to deliver its manifest commitments (only 6/19 governments elected since 1945 have had enough MPs from england to give them overall parliamentary majority)

Question 23

what is the london assembly?

Answer 23

established in 2000 following referendum, 25 members elected under AMS, part of the Greater London Authority, scrutinises the work of the mayor

Question 24

what is an example of a directly elected mayor

Answer 24

the london mayor, let of the greater london authority which has strategic responsibility for economic development, transport, planning and policing.

Question 25

what was the main mayoral initiative?

Answer 25

the congestion charge introduced in 2003

Question 26

how many local authorities outside london have directly elected mayors

Answer 26

only 16 as of 2016, more to follow as part of northern powerhouse initiative

Question 27

how popular are directly elected mayors?

Answer 27

most people don’t want them. in 2012, in England’s largest cities mayoral referendums were held to determine whether to introduce directly elected mayors and in all but two of the cities the result was ‘no’

Question 28

arguments in favour of devolution to the english regions

Answer 28

• would bring decision making closer to the people and address the differing interests of the English regions
• It would create a more balanced devolution settlement within the uk
• would enhance democracy as regional assemblies would take over the functions of unelected quangos
• areas such as yorkshire, cornwall and the northeast have a strong sense of regional identity
• regional assemblies could act as a catalyst for economic and cultural regeneration

Question 29

arguments against the creation of regional assemblies in english regions:

Answer 29

• few areas of england have a strong sense of regional identity
• would break up england and fail to provide expression for English interests and identity
• would be tensions between regional and local government
• regional assemblies would be dominated by urbane rather than rural interests
• there is little public support for creating a regional layer of government in england

Question 30

what are local governments responsible for?

Answer 30

education (eg some schools)
social services (eg residential care and care in community)
housing (eg public housing)
roads(eg maintenance and regulation of smaller roads)
public transport (eg bus services)
environmental health (eg refuse collection and recycling)
leisure services (eg libraries and leisure centres)

Question 31

what are the features of quasi-federalism?

Answer 31

limited parliamentary sovereignty (Westminster remains sovereign because it can overrule or abolish devolved bodies but no longer sovereignty in practice over domestic matters in scotland, wales or northern ireland), quasi-federal parliament (westminster operates as english parliament as makes domestic law in england and federal parliament for scotland, wales and northern ireland as retains powers on UK-wide matters), joint ministerial committee, supreme court

Question 32

examples of policy divergence in UK

Answer 32

have prescription charges in england but abolished in scotland, wales and northern ireland and england has school league tables but abolished everywhere else

Question 33

how are devolved administrations funded?

Answer 33

by block grants from the UK, the size of which decided by the Barnett formula

Question 34

how much did different places receive in funding per head in 2012/2013 if UK level taken at 100?

Answer 34

England=97
Wales=111
Scotland=116
Northern Ireland=124

Question 35

how do people tend to identify their identity?

Answer 35

number of people who described themselves as primarily Scottish, welsh or english increased during first 10 years of devolution. those with stronger identities towards englishness more likely to support english parliament and EVEL whilst those with stronger scottish identity more likely to favour independence. In 2013: 17% English not British, 10% British not English -and 23% Scottish not British, 6% British not Scottish

Question 36

arguments for devolution having undermined the union

Answer 36

• the piecemeal approach to devolution has meant problems have not been addressed effectively
• insufficient attention has been paid to the purpose and benefits of the union and britishness in the post-devolution UK
• rules of the game on policy coordination and dispute resolution are not clear enough
• policy divergence has undermined idea of common welfare rights in the UK
• The SNP has become the dominant political party in Scotland and support for Scottish independence has increased
• There is some unease in England about the perceived unfairness of the devolution settlement

Question 37

arguments against devolution having undermined the union

Answer 37

• devolution has answered scottish, welsh and northern irish demands for greater autonomy, bringing decision making closer to the people
• devolution has proceeded relatively smoothly, without major disputes between the UK government and the devolved bodies
• policy divergence reflects the different interest of the nation and has allowed initiatives that have been successful in 1 nation to be copied
• most people in the UK still feel british to some degree, and devolution is the preferred constitutional position for voters in scoand, wales and northern ireland
• devolution has delivered peace and power sharing in Northern Ireland after 30 years of violence and instability.

Question 38

What is an example of a power held by the mayor of greater manchester?

Answer 38

responsible for the transport budget the region receives from Government, as well as the future of bus services in Greater Manchester

Question 39

What happened to EVEL in 2021

Answer 39

abolished by Rees-Mogg