Regional Assemblies

UK examples of Regional Assembles:  The Scottish Parliament  The Welsh Assembly  The Northern Ireland Assembly (‘Stormont’)  The London Assembly  Note: a referendum on a North East Regional Assembly rejected the idea in  All further tackle the democratic deficit  Characterised by asymmetric devolution : each of the devolved institutions has different powers  Key concept: devolution – the transfer of powers from a central to a regional authority.

The Scottish Parliament  Created as a result of the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum and the subsequent 1998 Scotland Act  functions used to be administered from the Scottish Office.  Comprises: 129 MSP s: 73 elected by the First-Past-the-Post system and 56 through the AMS system from 8 Scottish regions. 4 year term.  First Minister : Nicola Sturgeon (SNP).  Highlights the West Lothian Question, first raised by Tam Dalyell, in Should Scottish MPs (eg Alex Salmond) be able to vote on English matters when English MPs cannot vote on areas of primary legislative responsibility for Scotland.

Timeline  1979: failed devolution referendum  1997: successful devolution referendum  1998: Scotland Act  1999: First Scottish Parliamentary elections. Parliament based at Holyrood House. Labour/Lib-Dem Coalition  2003: Second Scottish Parliamentary elections. Labour/Lib-Dem Coalition. (Rainbow Parliament: Green Party; Senior Citizens Party; Save Stobhill Hospital Party)  2004: moved to new Scottish Parliament building

Timeline cont’d  2007 elections: minority SNP government (Alex Salmond First Minister)  2011 elections: majority SNP government  2012 Scotland Act: new powers to Scotland, eg over drink driving laws and land taxes  2014: Scottish independence referendum  2016 elections due in May (should have been 2015, but would have clashed with the UK general election). 

Scottish Parliament powers Primary legislation Law & home affairsHousing Economic developmentEnvironment Agriculture & fisheriesTransport EducationCulture Local governmentTax varying powers (+/- 3p) Health

UK reserved powers Westminster Parliament UK ConstitutionSocial Security DefenceMedia Foreign PolicyBorder Controls/immigration Monetary systems Employment

The independence referendum 2014  Narrowly rejected independence  Proposals for a ‘devo-max’ clause had been dropped  But the three main parties in Westminster signed up to offering more devolved powers to Scotland  The Smith Commission was established after the referendum to report on the transfer of further powers to Scotland and to establish a timetable.

Further Powers for Scotland  Following the referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014, a process is underway to transfer further powers to the Scottish Parliament in areas such as  Taxation (full powers)  welfare  and elections to the Scottish Parliament.  The UK Government introduced the Scotland Bill in the UK Parliament in May 2015, based on the findings of the Smith Commission.  In March 2016, this bill became the Scotland Act 2016.

The Barnett Formula  Proposed by Joel Barnett, MP, in 1978 (amid demands for devolution)  a mechanism used to supplement the revenue for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based on population size  In it applied to about 85% of the Scottish Parliament's total budget  Controversy about its continued existence

Merits of Scottish devolution  Widely seen as democratic (helps overcome the democratic deficit)  Provides legitimate government: more proportional voting system  Provides a more socially representative chamber: 35% MSPs women  Preserves the UK as a political entity  Resulted in distinctively Scottish policies (eg education; housing)  BUT:  The West Lothian Question remains  Has fuelled demands for greater independence

The Welsh Assembly  Established after the devolution referendum (1997) and the Wales Act (1998); opened in  Comprises 60 AMs: 40 elected through the First-Past-the-Post system and 20 elected by the AMS system. Elections held every four years.  First Minister Carwyn Jones (Labour)  Devolved policy areas include: education, health, transport & environment  initially only secondary legislative powers  therefore it enjoyed only administrative devolution, but not legislative devolution

The Welsh Assembly cont’d  Government of Wales Act (2006) allowed for the Welsh Assembly to ask for primary legislative powers.  Assumed primary legislative responsibility over these areas only in  2012: the Silk Commission recommended that the Welsh Assembly should have tax varying powers by 

Northern Ireland Assembly  A parliament existed in Northern Ireland at Stormont Castle from It was dominated by Protestants  Stormont suspended in 1972 amid ‘The Troubles’: IRA (Catholic, Republican) vs the Ulster Volunteer Force (Protestant, Unionist). There was direct rule from Westminster.  Republicans : Irish Nationalists (Catholics)wanted to end British rule.  Loyalists : unionists (Protestants) defended continued British rule.  1985: Anglo-Irish Agreement led to the government of Eire being involved in reaching a settlement  A peace process was initiated by John Major’s government in the early 1990s.  Northern Ireland has a distinctive party system based on communal (religious) divisions.

The Northern Ireland Assembly cont’d  1998: The Good Friday Agreement signed by the Blair Government. Led to power sharing among all the major parties in Northern Ireland.  1999: Assembly was created. It included members of the DUP (Protestant); Sinn Fein (Catholic); the UUP (Protestant); the SDLP (Catholic) and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.  It has been suspended by Westminster on 4 occasions.  It has primary legislative powers over areas such as health, education, employment, housing, economic development, etc 

Devolution & intergovernmental relations: concepts  concordats (rules which govern the relationship between Westminster and the devolved assemblies);  Joint Ministerial Committee (meetings between UK Ministers and representatives from devolved administrations);  the Supreme Court arbitrates in disputes about competences (eg Welsh Assembly not acted ultra vires in its Local Government Bye-Laws Bill, 2012)  Westminster and the English question: should there be an English Parliament and a federal structure?

The impact of devolution  A new politics : more representative (35% MSPs women; 40% AMs women); Scotland’s ‘Rainbow Parliament’.  Multi-party politics : particularly true initially in Scotland with minority governments and coalitions.  Policy divergence : especially in health and education (no University tuition fees in Scotland)  Funding issues : eg the Barnett formula  What does it mean to be ‘British’?  What sort of state is Britain: unitary; union (quasi federal); federal?