,
John Swinney, and
First Minister of Wales,
Eluned Morgan, meet in
Edinburgh, Scotland. The devolution schemes in Scotland and Wales are set up in a similar manner. The
Parliament of the United Kingdom has granted legislative power to the
Scottish Parliament and the
Senedd through the Scotland Act 1998 and the Government of Wales Act 2006 respectively. These Acts set out the matters still dealt with by the UK Government, referred to as
reserved matters. Anything not listed as a specific reserved matter in the Scotland Act or the Wales Act is
devolved to that nation. The UK Parliament can still choose to legislate over devolved areas. Both parliaments can overturn any piece of existing UK legislation and introduce legislation in areas not retained by Westminster. Whereas prior to 2017, the former Welsh Assembly was only permitted to amend existing UK legislation passed by the UK Parliament in the areas devolved to Wales. The Scottish Parliament has substantially more powers than both the Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly, with the Scottish Government being described as "one of the most powerful devolved governments in the world". The Scottish Parliament has the power to set different rates and bands of income tax, whilst the Senedd may only vary rates within the current UK bands. Additionally, Scotland has been granted substantially more powers on international affairs and foreign engagement. Despite foreign affairs remaining a reserved matter to the UK parliament, the Scottish Government has been granted authority to be more directly involved in government decision making on European Union matters and relations. In Wales, this is not the case, with the Welsh Government having no additional power on international relations, with this right being retained by the
Secretary of State for Wales in the UK Government. Scotland has the most extensive tax powers of any of the devolved governments, followed by Wales and Northern Ireland. The three devolved governments have full legislative power over council tax, business tax, whilst Scotland and Wales has additional tax powers in areas such as property tax, landfill tax, stamp tax and some aspects of income tax, whilst the Northern Ireland Executive does not. Furthermore, Scotland has legislative control over areas such as air passenger duty, value added tax (VAT) and aggregates levy. The Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive do not have control over those areas in their respective countries.
Devolved powers in Scotland Of the three countries within the United Kingdom with devolved parliaments, the Scottish Parliament has the most extensive devolved powers in which it is responsible for. The responsibilities of the Scottish Ministers broadly follow those of the Scottish Parliament provided for in the
Scotland Act 1998 and subsequent UK legislation. Where pre-devolution legislation of the UK Parliament provided that certain functions could be performed by
UK Government ministers, these functions were transferred to the Scottish Ministers if they were within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. Functions which were devolved under the Scotland Act 1998 included: •
Healthcare –
NHS Scotland, mental health, dentistry, social care •
Education – pre-school, primary, secondary, further, higher and lifelong education, as well as educational training policy and programmes •
Student Awards Agency for Scotland •
Scottish Public Pensions Agency •
Scots law and justice – civil justice, civil law and procedure, courts, criminal justice, criminal law and procedure, debt and bankruptcy, family law, legal aid, the legal profession, property law and
Disclosure Scotland • Most aspects of
transport – setting drink and drug-driving limits, speed limits, some aspects of railways, including Scottish passenger rail franchises (
ScotRail), concessionary travel schemes, cycling, parking, local road pricing, congestion charging, promotion of road safety and road signs •
Environment – environmental protection policy, climate change, pollution, waste management, water supplies and sewerage, national parks and flood and coastal protection •
Policing and the
Scottish Prison Service •
Planning system in Scotland • Rural Affairs (including
Cairngorms National Park Authority,
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority,
Crofting Commission,
Scottish Forestry,
Forestry and Land Scotland,
Scottish Environment Protection Agency,
NatureScot and
Scottish Land Commission) •
Housing – housing policy,
Scottish Housing Regulator, affordable homes,
homelessness and homelessness legislation, child poverty, security of tenure, energy efficiency, homeownership,
short assured tenancy, rented housing and
rent control, Town Centre First, social rents, private sector housing security,
Tenancy deposit schemes, Scottish Social Housing Charter and the Scottish Housing Quality Standard •
Accountant in Bankruptcy • Agriculture, forestry and fisheries – most aspects of animal welfare, but not including animal testing and research •
Sport and the
arts –
Creative Scotland, the
National Gallery of Scotland, library and museum collections, the
National Museum of Scotland, national performing companies and
SportScotland, the national agency for sport • Consumer advocacy and advice •
Tourism –
VisitScotland and promotion of major events in Scotland • Economic development • Freedom of Information (FOI) requests Subsequently, the Scotland Acts of
2012 and
2016 transferred powers over: •
Some taxation powers – full control of
Income Tax on income earned through employment,
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax,
Landfill Tax, Aggregates Levy,
Air Departure Tax,
Revenue Scotland •
Drink driving limits •
Air weapons • Additional borrowing powers, up to the sum of £5 billion •
Transport police in Scotland •
Road signs,
speed limits and
abortion rights in Scotland • Powers over
Income Tax rates and bands on non-savings and non-dividend income •
Scottish Parliament and local authority elections • Some
social security powers (Adult Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment,
Funeral Support Payment, Carer Support Payment, Young Carer Grant, Job Start Payment, Winter Heating Payment) •
Crown Estate of Scotland – management of the Crown Estate's economic assets in Scotland • Some aspects of the benefits system – Best Start Grant, Carer's Allowance Supplement, Child Disability Payment, Child Winter Heating Assistance, Funeral Support Payment, Universal Credit (although this remains a reserved benefit, some powers over how it is paid have been devolved to the Scottish Parliament) • Extended powers over
Employment Support and the housing aspect of
Universal Credit • Some aspects of the
energy network in Scotland –
renewable energy, energy efficiency and onshore
oil and gas licensing • The right to receive half of the
VAT raised in Scotland. The members of the Scottish government have substantial influence over
legislation in Scotland, putting forward the majority of bills that are successful in becoming Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
Devolved powers in Wales Following the "yes" vote in the
referendum on further law-making powers for the assembly on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Government is now entitled to propose bills to the National Assembly for Wales on subjects within 20 fields of policy. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Government of Wales Act 2006,
Acts of the National Assembly may make any provision that could be made by Act of Parliament. The 20 areas of responsibility devolved to the National Assembly for Wales (and within which Welsh ministers exercise executive functions) are: The
Government of Wales Act 2006 updated the list of fields, as follows: •
agriculture,
fisheries,
forestry and
rural development • ancient monuments and historic buildings •
culture •
economic development •
education and
training •
environment •
fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety •
food •
health and health services •
highways and
transport •
housing •
local government • the
National Assembly for Wales •
public administration •
social welfare •
sport and recreation •
tourism •
town and country planning •
water and
flood defence • the
Welsh language Schedule 5 to the 2006 Act could be amended to add specific matters to the broad subject fields, thereby extending the legislative competence of the Assembly.
Comparison between Scottish and Welsh powers Specific reservations cover policy areas which can only be regulated by Westminster, listed under 'heads': The reserved matters continue to be controversial in some quarters and there are certain conflicts or anomalies. For example, in Scotland, the funding of
Scottish Gaelic television is controlled by the Scottish Government, but broadcasting is a reserved matter, and while energy is a reserved matter, planning permission for power stations is devolved. ==Northern Ireland==