The Scottish Parliament has many devolved powers Describe in detail the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament

Intro The Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999. Power was devolved to Scotland so that Scottish people would feel more included in government decisions. The Westminster Parliament passed some powers to the Scottish Parliament – these were the issues that affect the daily lives of Scottish people, these are called the devolved matters. During the independence referendum in 2014, there was a vow made by the PM to devolve further powers to the Scottish Parliament.

The CSG negotiated Scotland’s powers with the Westminster government The following are government powers: Health, Foreign Relations, Transport, Unemployment Benefits, Education, Environment, Agriculture, Defence, Policing and Fire Service, Immigration policy Courts Sports Planning, Tourism Gun and Drug Control The CSG tried to get as many powers as possible for Scotland, whereas the Westminster Parliament tried to hold onto as many as possible

The devolved matters are: Health Education Social Work Police and Fire Services Environment Sport Planning Courts

What are the reserved matters? Why were these powers confined to the Westminster Parliament?

Health The Scottish government was given the power to deal with Health, as Scotland has very specific health problems in comparison to the rest of the UK. In some parts of Scotland, average life expectancy is much lower than in the rest of the UK. Scotland has the highest level of morbidity for men aged 15-45 in Europe. Scotland has had a significant problem with hart disease and lung cancer. This is because there are areas of Scotland which have much higher levels of smoking and poorer diets, there is a high level of poverty and inequality in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament has been given control over the health budget to decide on priorities on how to spend it. They can focus on Scotland’s specific health problems. They have introduced policies like Equally Well 2008 to try and reduce health inequalities.

Education The Scottish Parliament was given power over education policy. This makes sense as Scotland has always had a different education system than the rest of the UK. In Scotland we have Nationals and Highers, while in the rest of the UK there are GCSEs and A levels. The Scottish Parliament made the decision to keep university tuition free, and also to make sure that over 16’s can still apply for the educational maintenance allowance which helps to ensure children can stay on in school.

The Court System and Police Scotland The Courts and Police are also devolved matters, this is because there are several laws in Scotland that are different from the rest of the UK, there are also different priorities in fighting crime. The devolved powers from the Scotland Act 2012 were used to reduce the drink drive limit in 2014. The Scottish Parliament can also set priorities for the police, like the “No Knives, Better Lives” campaign which aimed to reduce knife crime, as there had been such a significant problem with knife related incidents in Glasgow.

Is devolution the best form of government for Scotland? Some people believe that devolution is not the best form of government for Scotland. Following the referendum in 2014, 45% of Scotland wanted independence – this is a large minority, therefore it could not be said that there was a clear win for devolution. Since there has been a vote to leave the EU – this may cause another indy referendum in the near-ish future Should there be – same amount of devolution, more devolution, or independence?