Devolution - Impacts of Devolution

Local Government In England:

• 55 unitary authorities responsible for a full range of services
• 27 county councils responsible for some local services e.g education
• 201 districts responsible for some local services
• 36 metropolitan branch councils responsible for local services in other areas.

What Did Bogdanor Say:

• States that the UK has a quasi-federal state where it retains some features of a federal state and some of a unitary state
• AV Dicey argues that there is no halfway house between Parliamentary Sovereignty and separatism.

Features Of A Quasi-Federal State:

• Limited Parliamentary Sovereignty: In legal terms, Westminster is sovereign because it can overturn or abolish bills in the devolved bodies but, it does not have unlimited power. The Scotland Act of 2016 ensured that Westminster must get consent from Scotland before legislating. Also constrains Parliamentary Sovereignty by stating that devolution can be overturned by a referendum.
• Quasi-Federal Parliament: Westminster is an English Parliament that makes domestic law in England but it is a federal Parliament for Scotland, Wales and NI because it has retained reversed powers on the states. MPs from the devolved states have few constituency responsibilities.
• Joint Ministerial Committee: UK ministers and their counterparts from the devolved administrations meet here to consider non-devolved matters which will affect the devolved states and resolve disputes e.g Brexit and Scotland.
• Supreme Court: UK Supreme Court resolved disputes over competences by determining if the devolved bodies have acted within their powers.

Policy Divergence:

• Some policies in the devolved states are different to that of the UK government for England
• Evident in health and education before devolution and has now become more pronounced since devolution.
• But they can be regarded as positive as it responds to the concerns of the electorate
• Some divergence was then taken up by the UK government such as the 5p plastic bag charge
• Divergence may undermine the principle of equal rights for UK citizens such as NI where same-sex marriage remains illegal.

Funding:

• Devolved states are funded by block grants settled by the Barnett formula
• The formula translates changes in public spending into equivalent changes in the block grants for Scotland, Wales and NI.
• NI receive more public spending per head of population than England does
• In 2016: Scotland, £28 million, Wales: £14 million, NI: £10 million
• Critics claim that this amounts to an English subsidy of the rest of the UK but Scotland and Wales have seen their fair share of public spending cut
• Whilst not set in statute law, the government are committed to using it and has been reluctant to undertake major revisions in how they are calculated.

Britishness:

• An umbrella identity that provides a common bond between the people of the UK whilst maintaining their distinctive national identities.
• Number of people describing themselves as primarily Scottish, Welsh and Irish has increased favouring things like EVFEL and independence from the UK

What Next:

• The end point is uncertain, whilst it was designed to safeguard the union it has become weaker

Should The UK Become A Federal State:
Yes	No:
The creation of federal state would provide a coherent constitutional settlement for the UK and its nations, establishing a clearer relationship between the different devolved governments.	Federalism works best in states in which there is not a dominant nation or region (USA), it is unsuitable for the UK where England makes 4/5 of the population
Establishing a federal state would resolve some anomalies (WLQ) that have arisen under the current ad-hoc approach to devolution	An English Parliament would rival Westminster Parliament particularly if different governments were in government in both England and the UK, and English MPs could still be a majority at Westminster
Creating an English Parliament and government as part of a federal UK would answer the English question	Measures to reduce the dominance in England such as the creation of elected assemblies in the English regions would be problematic and unpopular
The status of Westminster Parliament would be clarified, it would be a federal Parliament dealing with issues such as border control and defence	Disputes over funding occur in federal states, creating a federal UK would not automatically resolve difficult issues such as equity of funding and welfare provisions
HOL could be reformed to become a chamber representing the component nations of the UK, or abolish the HOL altogether.	There is little public appetite for a federal UK with devolution being the preferred constitutional position for voters in Scotland, Wales and NI

Has Devolution Undermined The Union:
Yes:	No:
The piecemeal approach to devolution has meant that problems have not been addressed effectively	Devolution has answered Scottish, Welsh and NI demands for greater autonomy being decision making closer to the people
Insufficient attention has been paid to the purpose of the union	Devolution has proceeded relatively smoothly, without major disputes between the UK government and the devolved bodies
Rules of the game on policy coordination and disputes have not been clear enough	Policy divergence reflects the different interests of the nations and has allowed initiatives to be copied
Policy divergence has undermined the idea of a common welfare right in the UK	Most people in the UK still feel British, and devolution is the still the preferred constitutional matter rather than independence
SNP is the dominant party in Scotland and support for independence has increased	Devolution has delivered peace and power sharing in NI after 30 years of violence and instability.
Some unease in England about the perceived unfairness of the devolution settlement

Devolution - English Devolution

What Is The English Question:

• Due to devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the English question was created.
• “How should England be governed?”. Concerns that England have not been recognised fully within the post-devolution UK
• An English Parliament, EVFEL and an elected regional assembly are ways this is being done but some want more

Arguments For And Against An English Parliament:
For:	Against:
It would complete devolution within the UK and resolve the English question by giving England it’s own Parliament	Creates an additional layer of government and creates tensions between the UK government and English Parliament. Also expensive to do this
Creates a more coherent system of devolution with a federal UK parliament and government responsible for UK wide issues	‘Devolution all round’ would not create a coherent and equitable system because England is a bigger place than the other devolved places
Would give political and institutional expression to the English identity and interest	There is limited support in England for an English Parliament.

What Is West Lothian Question:

• “Why should Scottish MPs be able to vote in Westminster when English MPs cannot vote on matters in the Scottish Parliament”

The Thinking Behind English Votes For English Matters:

• There are very few cases in which without Scottish MPs it would come into legislation e.g tuition fees
• By allowing it, it would introduce special procedures in the HOCs for dealing with legislation that only affects England
• In 2013, it was argued that parliamentary procedures should be put into place so that a majority of English MPs is needed to pass legislation which only affects England
• David Cameron then stated that further devolution in Scotland must be accompanied by EVFEL
• In Oct 2015, MPs voted to amend the Standing Orders Of The House in which a new ‘double veto’ would be placed where the speaker would judge which bills are English and which aren’t.
• Then an additional process in which English MPs can veto bills or amend them but this would mean that the bills would require Parliamentary support and so, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales could essentially amend of block bills at the third reading
• First used in Jan 2016 for the Housing And Planning Bill
• Arguments that: By allowing EVFEL, if public spending went down due to EVFEL It would affect the rest of the UK; it would create a band of MPs who are English and those who are not and finally, it would require a majority in England which itself has not happened since 1945 but a government with a small majority would struggle.

Elected Regional Assemblies:

• Blair governments created directly elected regional assemblies with limited executive functions in the eight English regions outside London.
• Plans were dropped when a referendum said that 74% of people did not want a North-East assembly

Arguments For And Against A Regional Assembly:
For:	Against:
Would bring decision making closer to the people and address the differing interest of a region	Few areas of England have a strong sense of regional identity
Would create a more balanced devolution settlement within the UK because England is too large to have it’s own Parliament	Would break up England and fail to provide expression for English interests and identity
Would enhance democracy as regional assemblies would take over the functions of the unelected quangos	Would be tensions between the regional and local government
Areas such as Cornwall and Yorkshire and the northeast have a strong sense of regional identity	Would be dominated by urban rather than rural interests
A regional assembly could act as a catalyst for economic and cultural regeneration	Little public support for creating a regional layer of government in England.

Devolution - An Introduction to Scottish, Welsh & Irish Devolution

What Is Devolution:

• The transfer of political power but not sovereignty from a central government to a subnational government

What Is Primary Legislation:

• Authority to make laws on devolved policy areas e.g tax raising powers
• Wales has only had executive powers but then gained primary legislation power along with tax raising powers

Demands Of Devolution:

• Pressure had been building since the 1970s with the revival of national callups for those who were nationalist Scottish and Welsh
• Government responded to pressure by allowing a referendum due to the rise of parties wanting referendums on devolution.

Outcomes Of ‘79 And ‘97 Referendums:

• ’79 Wales: The campaign for No won because only 20% of the people backed the assembly
• ’79 Scotland: 52% wanted devolution but Westminster said they would only create an assembly if 40% of the Scottish people supported it, only 33% did.
• More people wanted devolution in the Conservatives long reign over government and Labour then came into power and allowed referendums in both places.
• ’97 Scotland: 74.3% supported a Scottish Parliament and 65.3% wanted tax powers
• ’97 Wales: 50.3% wanted devolution with a high proportional of Welsh speakers, East Wales did not want devolution.

Scottish Devolution:

How Is The Scottish Parliament Chosen & Which Parties Have Governed Scotland:

• Scottish Parliament has 129 members (MSPs) elected by AMS
• 73 MSPs (57% of the total) elected in single member constituencies using FPTP
• 56 MSPs (43% of the total) are ‘additional members’ chosen from the LIST system. Elected from 8 multi-member constituencies using regional list or PR.
• They draw up policy proposal and also implement legislation
• First Minister (leader of largest party) heads the government and appoints cabinet
• 1999-2007: Labour in coalition with Liberal Democrats
• 2007 – 2018*: SNP under Alex Salmond and from 2014 Nicola Sturgeon.

What Did The Scotland Act Of 2016 Ensure:

• 3 main parties said if No campaign won in 2014, they would allow for more devolution in Scotland.
• Control of income tax rates and bands
• Scottish Parliament could now control 50% of VAT in Scotland
• Control over welfare benefits including Universal Credit and the ‘Bedroom Tax’
• Road signs and speed limits, rail and fracking
• Right to vote in Scottish Parliament

Reversed Powers:

• Name of powers which remain in Westminster
• UK Constitution, defence, foreign policy, broadcasting, social security, nuclear energy)
• Westminster did have a rule which stated that they were still above Scotland and were still in control but this changed in 2016 where 2 more rules came into place.
• Westminster will not legislate on devolved matters without consent
• Scottish Parliament cannot be abolished unless it has been approved in a referendum in Scotland.

The 2014 Independence Referendum:

• Yes campaign fronted by SNP argued that the Scottish people were best suited to make decisions which affect Scotland and then highlighted economic and social policies that an SNP government would add. They stated that the Queen would still be head of state and would keep the pound as currency but would have it’s own written constitution and full responsibility for welfare, foreign and defence policy
• Pro Union Campaign No (Better Together) was supported by the 3 main parties in the UK. Arguments that Scotland would enjoy the best of both world as well as economic benefits of staying. Thoughts that independence would damage Scotland’s economy and leaving would mean that there would no currency union. Whilst the EU said that leaving would mean that Scotland would not automatically become a member of the EU.
• 55.3% voted no vs 44.7% supporting yes (1.6 million of the total vote)
• Turnout was very high set of 84.5% this was because, 16 year olds were allowed to vote on a topic that would affect them.
• Glasgow, Dundee returned a huge majority for leaving
• Men wanted independence more than women as were the working class and people aged under 55
• National identity was also seen as important.
• SNP voters voted for independence whilst No attracted some Labour supporters.

What Is Devomax:

• Having full fiscal autonomy i.e in charge of all taxes, duties and spending. The SNP argued that after the referendum that Scotland did not have this.

Welsh Devolution:

How Is The Welsh Assembly Chosen:

• 60 members elected by AMS
• 40 members in single-member constituencies using FPTP
• 20 members elected in five multi-member regions using region list with PR
• Elections are held every 4 years but then it was changed to 5 years
• Labour-Lib Dem: 1999-2003
• Labour: 2003-2007
• Labour-Plaid Cymru: 2007-2011
• Labour-Lib Dem: 2016-present*

What Powers Has It Gained Over The Years, Especially In The Wales Act 2017:

• Powers have expanded rapidly since its creation but they are not as powerful as the Scottish Parliament
• A system of reversed power similar to that in Scotland
• 1988 Act: Powers on health, education, transport, the environment and economic development
• 2017 Act: Allows control of landfill tax and stamp duty, a Welsh rate of income tax by giving the Assembly control of income tax and the need for a referendum to decide this, local and assemblies were also created on fracking, rail franchising and road speed limits.
• If 2/3 of members support it, then the assembly can be renamed itself the Welsh Parliament

Northern Ireland Devolution:

What Differences Exist Between NI And The Rest Of The UK:

• Communal Conflict: A main divide between the unionists and nationalists. Unionists want NI to remain part of the UK whilst nationalists want a united Ireland. Unionists identity with the British State and tend to be Protestant whereas, nationalists’ identity themselves as Irish and tend to be Catholic – 45% of NI population in 2011
• Distinctive Party System: Elections are contested between the nationalists and unionists and the main issue is the constitutional status of NI.
• Security: Terrorist campaigns by republican and loyalist paramilitary organisation killed more than 3600 people during the Troubles whilst British soldiers patrolled the streets for decades afterwards. IRA removed ceasefire since 1995 but some republican groups are active.
• Separate System Of Government: NI is governed differently to the rest of the UK. Secretary of state for NI has significant policy-making powers. Devolution is designed so that the unionists and nationalists can work together by sharing powers.

Features Of The Good Friday Agreement:

• Established power-sharing devolution and required that the UK and Irish governments to amend their constitution to clarify the status of NI.
• Assembly has 108 members elected by STV of PR, elections every 4 then changed to 5 years
• Does not have major tax-raising powers but corporation tax was devolved in 2015, some cross-community support from both unionists and nationalist parties.
• First Minister is the leader of the largest party
• Ministerial posts are allocated on a proportional basis according to party strength as this ensures power sharing with the unionists and nationalists.
• No official opposition as SDLP and UUP declined to form one
• DUP opposed the Good Friday agreement and Sinn Fein a party with close links to the IRA have shared powers since 2007
• Devolution remains a preferred constitutional choice of a majority of voters in NI but the assembly collapsed in 2017 when the DUP and Sinn Fein refused to nominate a deputy first minister.