## Learning Outcomes

- Understand what devolution is and how it differs from independence
- Identify the devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and where they meet
- Recall the key dates when devolved institutions were formed (1998 and 1999)
- Distinguish between devolved powers and matters reserved to the UK Parliament
- Recognise that devolved powers are not identical in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

## Life in the UK Test Syllabus

For the Life in the UK Test, you are expected to understand the devolved administrations of the UK and their basic powers, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

- Define devolution and know that the UK Parliament at Westminster remains sovereign
- Know the names and locations of the devolved legislatures: Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales), Belfast/Stormont (Northern Ireland)
- Recall when the devolved institutions were established: 1999 (Scotland and Wales), 1998 agreement leading to a 1998-based settlement in Northern Ireland
- Identify examples of devolved areas (for example health and education) and reserved areas (for example defence and foreign affairs)
- Know that the UK government can suspend devolved government (used in Northern Ireland on several occasions)
- Understand that Northern Ireland has a power-sharing system and uses proportional representation, like Scotland and Wales

## Test Your Knowledge

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. What does “devolution” mean in the UK, and does it make Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland independent?
2. Name the three devolved legislatures and the cities where they meet.
3. Give three examples of devolved matters and three examples of reserved matters.
4. In what year were the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly established?
5. What special feature of the Northern Ireland Assembly affects how government ministers are chosen?

## Introduction

The United Kingdom is governed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, but since the late 1990s some decisions have been made closer to where people live. This is done through devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For the Life in the UK Test, you need the basics: what devolution is, which bodies have devolved powers, which issues are still decided for the whole UK, and a few key dates and places.

> **Key Term: devolution**
> The transfer of some law-making and decision-making powers from the UK Parliament at Westminster to devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

### The devolved institutions: who they are and where they meet

The UK has three devolved legislatures (parliaments/assemblies). Each has an elected body that debates and passes laws in devolved areas, and an executive (government) that puts those decisions into practice.

Scotland has a Parliament and a Government based in Edinburgh. Wales has a Parliament (often called the Senedd) and a Government based in Cardiff. Northern Ireland has an Assembly and an Executive based at Stormont in Belfast.

> **Key Term: UK Parliament (Westminster)**
> The Parliament of the United Kingdom, which sits in Westminster in London and can legislate for the whole UK.
>
> **Key Term: devolved administration**
> The system of government in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland that has devolved powers in certain domestic policy areas.

Key facts you should be able to recall quickly:

- **Scottish Parliament** (legislature) sits in **Edinburgh**; the **Scottish Government** runs devolved public services.
- **Senedd (Welsh Parliament)** sits in **Cardiff**; the **Welsh Government** runs devolved public services.
- **Northern Ireland Assembly** sits at **Stormont, Belfast**; the **Northern Ireland Executive** runs devolved public services.

Devolution applies to **Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland**, not England. Many England-only issues are decided by the UK Parliament and the UK Government.

> **Test Tip:** In questions about “where” devolved institutions meet, remember the capital cities: **Edinburgh (Scotland)**, **Cardiff (Wales)**, **Belfast (Northern Ireland)**—and link Belfast with **Stormont**.

### Key dates and how devolution developed

Devolution in its modern form is linked to political decisions taken in the late 1990s.

- **1999**: The **Scottish Parliament** and the **Welsh Assembly** (now commonly called the Senedd/Welsh Parliament) began work after being set up through devolution.
- **1998**: The **Belfast Agreement** (also called the **Good Friday Agreement**) led to new devolved arrangements in Northern Ireland and the creation of the **Northern Ireland Assembly** soon afterwards.

Northern Ireland’s institutions have a more complicated history than Scotland’s and Wales’s. Northern Ireland had its own parliament from **1922**, when Ireland was divided, but it was **abolished in 1972** during the period of conflict known as **the Troubles** (which began in **1969**). The current Assembly is part of the 1998 peace settlement.

A key test point is that devolution is **not permanent in the same way as independence**. The UK government has the legal power to suspend devolved government, and it has done this in Northern Ireland at different times when local politicians could not agree on running the Executive.

> **Key Term: Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998)**
> The 1998 agreement that helped bring peace to Northern Ireland and led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly and power-sharing government.

Devolution is often described as “home rule” for certain domestic matters, but it operates within the UK’s constitutional system. The UK has an “unwritten” constitution in the sense that it is not contained in a single document, and the division of powers is set out through laws (Acts of Parliament) and conventions.

> **Test Tip:** If a question asks whether devolved institutions are “independent” or “sovereign,” the safe answer is: **No. Westminster remains sovereign, even though many domestic services are run by devolved governments.**

### Devolved powers vs reserved matters (the core exam distinction)

Devolution does not mean that each nation controls everything. The most test-relevant skill is to sort policy areas into:

- **Devolved matters**: mainly decided by Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland for their own area.
- **Reserved matters**: mainly decided by the UK Parliament and UK Government for the whole UK.

In general, devolved matters are the day-to-day public services that people use locally, while reserved matters are UK-wide functions such as national security and international relations.

> **Key Term: reserved matters**
> Policy areas that remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament and UK Government rather than devolved institutions.

#### Examples of areas commonly devolved

Across the devolved nations, typical devolved areas include:

- **Health** (how the NHS is run in that nation)
- **Education**
- **Housing**
- **Local government**
- **Planning**
- Some parts of **transport**
- Some parts of **environment** and **agriculture**

This is why public services can work differently in different parts of the UK. For example, Scotland can pass laws in devolved areas for Scotland, and Wales can pass laws in devolved areas for Wales.

The Scottish Parliament’s powers are often described broadly: it can legislate on matters that are **not specifically reserved** to Westminster. The Welsh legislature has powers in defined areas and, over time, has gained wider law-making powers in domestic policy areas (for Life in the UK Test purposes, you should know that Wales gained the ability to make laws in key areas without UK Parliament agreement from **2011**).

Northern Ireland has its own list-based system, and devolved matters are the areas “transferred” to the Assembly (in everyday revision, you can treat “transferred” as “devolved now”).

#### Examples of matters that are reserved to Westminster

Reserved matters include major UK-wide powers such as:

- **Defence**
- **Foreign affairs**
- **Immigration**
- **Taxation** (most taxes)
- **Social security** (benefits)

You may see questions that list options and ask which are reserved. The safest items to remember are defence, foreign affairs and immigration, which are consistently UK-wide.

#### Powers are not identical in all three nations

The test expects you to know that the devolved administrations are not all the same. They share many devolved areas (health and education are the easiest examples), but the exact split differs.

- **Scotland**: has wide devolved powers and can legislate in many non-reserved areas. It also has **some tax-raising powers**.
- **Wales**: has devolved powers in key domestic areas such as health and education, and since **2011** it has been able to pass laws in specific areas without needing agreement from the UK Parliament.
- **Northern Ireland**: has devolved powers in many domestic areas and a power-sharing system; it has also been suspended at times.

For Life in the UK Test revision, focus on being able to:

1. name each institution and location, 2) give a few devolved areas, and 3) give a few reserved areas.

> **Test Tip:** Many multiple-choice questions can be answered by spotting “UK-wide” topics. If you see **defence**, **foreign affairs**, **immigration**, **tax** or **social security**, these are strong candidates for “reserved to Westminster.”

### How the devolved legislatures are elected and how Northern Ireland differs

All three devolved legislatures are elected using a form of **proportional representation** (PR). That is a key difference from UK general elections to the House of Commons, which use “first past the post.”

You should know the member titles and the approximate structure:

- Scotland: **129 MSPs** (Members of the Scottish Parliament)
- Wales: **60** members (often called **MSs** today; older materials may say **AMs**, Assembly Members)
- Northern Ireland: **MLAs** (Members of the Legislative Assembly)

Northern Ireland is distinctive because government is designed to include more than one community and more than one party.

> **Key Term: proportional representation**
> An electoral system designed to allocate seats more closely in line with the share of votes each party receives.
>
> **Key Term: power-sharing**
> A system in Northern Ireland where ministerial positions are shared among the main parties as part of the peace settlement.

Northern Ireland’s power-sharing model is linked to the peace process and the Belfast Agreement. The aim is to make sure that the Executive represents different political traditions. This is one reason why the Northern Ireland institutions can be more politically fragile, and why they have been suspended at times.

Scotland and Wales also use PR systems for their devolved elections, but their governments are not required to operate the same formal power-sharing arrangements as Northern Ireland.

### What devolution does not change: sovereignty and UK-wide identity

A common misunderstanding is to treat devolved institutions as if they replace the UK Parliament. They do not. The UK Parliament remains the main legislature of the UK and can still pass laws affecting the whole UK.

Devolved institutions deal mainly with devolved matters. Reserved matters remain UK-wide and are handled by UK institutions. The practical result is that people may experience different rules and services depending on whether they live in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or England.

Devolution also does not change basic facts about the UK’s political geography:

- The UK is made up of **England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland**.
- The official name is the **United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland**.
- **Great Britain** refers to **England, Scotland and Wales** (not Northern Ireland).

Devolution fits within this structure. It gives Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland more control over many domestic matters, while keeping the UK together under one Parliament for reserved matters.

## Key Point Checklist

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- Devolution transfers some decision-making from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- The UK Parliament at Westminster remains sovereign and can legislate for the whole UK
- The Scottish Parliament and Welsh devolved institutions were established in 1999
- The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in 1998 led to the Northern Ireland Assembly and power-sharing government
- Devolved legislatures meet in Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales) and Belfast/Stormont (Northern Ireland)
- Typical devolved areas include health, education, housing, local government and planning
- Reserved matters include defence, foreign affairs, immigration, taxation and social security
- The devolved institutions are elected using proportional representation
- Northern Ireland’s system includes power-sharing and has been suspended on several occasions
- Devolution is not the same as independence; it operates within the UK’s constitutional system

## Key Terms and Concepts

- devolution
- UK Parliament (Westminster)
- devolved administration
- Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998)
- reserved matters
- proportional representation
- power-sharing


Political geography - Devolved institutions and powers (basics)