Discuss whether devolution has strengthened or weakened the United Kingdom.

Devolution
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland came to be as it is today after a series of
agreements between the English, Welsh, Scottish and the Irish people. The act of union between
England and Wales in the 1530s gave Welsh Constituencies representation in the House of Commons.
The Anglo-Scottish Union Joined, the then Scotland, with the British, merging the Scottish and
British Parliament to form the parliament of Great Britain. Later on in the 1800s the British-Irish
union was formed and the entire arrangement came to be known as the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. Following the division of Northern Ireland and Eire, the current state of UK and
Northern Ireland was formed. In the following essay we firstly will discuss how matters have been
devolved to the subordinate states for an efficient government then weigh the advantages and
disadvantages of devolution and its impact on the UK as a whole.
For most of the 20th century states unified under the name of the United Kingdom were mainly run by
a very centralized government in Whitehall and the UK Parliament at Westminster. Although there
remained significant cultural differences between the parts of the United Kingdom. Hence, the need
for a devolved or technically a delegated government came to be. This shift from a unitary system of
government to a devolved system came about via statutes where the UK parliament delegated some of
their legislative powers to form independent governments in different parts of the land of Great
Britain. These devolved powers granted by statute meant that they can be repealed by the parliament
at any given time because the parliament retains ultimate sovereignty over the constitutional
arrangements in the UK. Prio to 1998 enactments, there were previous efforts made by Minister James
Callaghan who tried to push devolution of Scotland and Wales in the late 1970 but failed to succeed
in the referendum held in the Wales and Scotland. Therefore the acts had to be repealed.

In relation to devolution in Scotland there was a referendum held, prior to the enactment of
the 1998 act, for the Scottish people which asked whether there should be a Scottish parliament
and whether that parliament should have limited tax varying powers. The total turnout was 60% in
favor hence the enactment. Hence, The Scottish Parliament was officially convened on 1 July 1999
and powers which were previously exercised by the Secretary State for were conferred to Scottish
ministers. The Scottish Parliament under S29 was given powers to legislate in all areas of the law
except for the ‘reserved matters’set out in Schedule 5. The Scotland Act 2012 implemented the
recommendations of the Calman Commission, including giving the Scottish Parliament the power to
set a separate Scottish income tax rate. The Scotland Act of 2016 made additional amendments to the
1998 Act gae effect to the recommendations of the Smith Commission. The 2016 act also
incorporated that the Westminster parliament will not legislate about devolved matters without the
consent of the Scottish parliament.
With regards to the devolution in Wales, there was a referendum held On 18 September 1997 a which
asked the question ‘Do you agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly as proposed by the
government?’ A majority voted in and consequently the Government of Wales Act 1998 was enacted
followed by the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.
However, the original devolution settlement in did not give the National Assembly for Wales any
primary law-making powers. But the Government of Wales Act 2006 created a separate legislature
and executive with ministers who are members of the Assembly following the May 2007 elections.
Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006 defines the scope of the Assembly’s legislative
competence to make Assembly Acts. It lists areas of policy exclusively under the Westminster
Parliament’s jurisdiction. Any area not listed in Schedule 7A is devolved to the National Assembly
for Wales.
The Wales Act 2014 further implemented the ‘Silk Commission’ to devolve fiscal powers to the
National Assembly. The 2014 Act also amended the statutory name of the executive to the Welsh
Government.
The Wales Act of 2017 implemented the Command Paper known as the ‘St David’s Day Agreement’.
This included putting in place a reserved powers model of devolution for Wales, and devolving
further powers to the Assembly and Welsh ministers in areas such as elections, transport, energy and
the natural environment.
Ireland already had a devolved arrangement of government between 1922 and 1972. The UK
government suspended this system of government in 1972 and the institutions were formally
abolished by the Northern Ireland constitution Act 1973. From 1972 to 1998 direct rule was in place.
However, it was the endorsement of the ‘Good Friday’ Agreement by 71.1 per cent of electors in a
referendum in 1998 that led to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the establishment of the Northern
Ireland Assembly. The Northern Ireland Act 1998 in provided for devolution to the Northern Ireland
Assembly which sits at the Parliament buildings in Belfast, known as Stormont. S4 described the
areas over which the Assembly has legislative control as ‘transferred matters’ and the central UK
Government retains responsibility for the ‘excepted matters’ of significant national importance,
Reflecting history of Northern Ireland, a requirement for cross-community collaboration is built into
the operation of the Northern Ireland Executive where the First Minister (a Unionist representing the
largest party) and the Deputy First Minister (a Republican representing the second largest party) are
required to cooperate in a number of important ways.
In 2017 the Assembly was suspended after the collapse of the power-sharing executive in Northern
Ireland, until very recently. During suspension responsibility for the direction and control of
government in Northern Ireland lay with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Northern
Ireland Office. In January 2020, however, devolved government has been restored in Northern Ireland
and a new five-party Executive has been formed.
The above defined asymmetrical system of devolution in the UK has strengthened the country
because the decentralization that resulted has certainly abolished the cultural differences between the
citizens and the authorities. The UK enjoys the benefits that federal system of government without a
codified constitution. This can potentially result in achieving efficiency in management of the state
since it eases the Westminster parliament and the executive. The delegation of power to legislate on
certain areas of law and a level of autonomy can potentially result in a more refined system of
government. Additionally it is ultimately in the hands of the parliament to carry on or to abolish the
devolved arrangements of the UK. So the devolution arrangements have in fact strengthened the UK.