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1

Which part of the UK provides the prototype for the operation of devolution?

Northern Ireland.

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2

In what year did the electorate in Wales vote for an extension of the law-making powers of the Assembly?

2011.

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3

What is the oldest form of government still operating in the UK?

Local government, dating to Anglo-Saxon times.

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4

Why do advocates of a strengthening of local government argue that it is necessary?

• Local government is the closest tier of government to people, performing an important democratic role
• Local government provides many crucial services
• It presently lacks autonomy, with a variety of statutory duties placed upon it, and restrictions on its fund-raising capacity
• In England in particular, the lack of devolution means that the system at present is heavily centralised

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5

What distinguishes the devolved political systems from UK-wide political systems?

• They were formed following referendums
• Their powers are defined by Acts of the UK Parliament
• Their spheres of operation are legally limited
• They use proportional voting systems

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6

What are the main obstacles met and advances achieved by devolution?

•  Frequent difficulties in Northern Ireland
• Defeat for devolution in the North East referendum in 2004
• Only limited devolution in England generally
• Expansions in Wales and Scotland
• Development of constitutional entrenchment, including through Sewel convention
• Devolution of police and justice in Northern Ireland

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7

How centralised a state is the UK?

• Devolution has marked a genuine change in the territorial power balance of the UK
• The UK Parliament has come to be subject to a political understanding or convention that it does not interfere in devolved business without express agreement
• In England, building on devolution in London, combined local authorties are taking on devolved responsibility
• But…
• Parliamentary supremacy or ‘sovereignty’ remains a legal principle of the UK constitution
• In the UK, devolution is limited
• Local government throughout the UK is subject to significant constraints

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8

To what extent has devolution become a fixed part of the UK political system?

• It is founded in referendums
• It has established itself over a period of two decades
• It now has legal protections for its existence
• But…
• Its powers and structures are potentially subject to interference from the UK government and Parliament
• In Northern Ireland it has broken down on multiple occasions

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9

Is devolution different in nature from local government?

• Both systems apply to territories other than the whole UK
• Both are justified on the grounds that they bring important decisions closer to those directly impacted by them
• Both lack the full legal status possessed by the UK Parliament
• But local government – which predates Parliament itself - is far older than devolution which was first implemented roughly a century ago.
• Local government has been subject to more frequent and dramatic overhauls than devolution. It is likely UK governments would feel less able to intervene so extensively in devolution as they have in local government.
• Devolution, especially in the case of Wales and Scotland, is a vehicle for the political expression of national identity in a way local government is not.