1.3 - Devolved powers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Legislatures, governments and competence

Each national settlement separates a legislature that makes law and scrutinises policy from an executive that governs within its powers.

Devolution disperses power within a state without transferring ultimate legal sovereignty. The Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly can enact legislation within their legislative competence: the legally defined range of matters and actions available to them. Their governments develop policies, manage services and implement law. A first minister and cabinet are not the same institution as the legislature that holds them accountable.

The settlements are based on statutory limits, including reserved matters and rights requirements. For Scotland and Wales, a reserved matter remains under Westminster's authority; devolved competence generally covers matters not reserved, subject to other restrictions. Northern Ireland distinguishes transferred, reserved and excepted matters. Reserved matters can potentially be transferred, or legislated on with the relevant consent; excepted matters are intended to remain at UK level. The Commons Library compares the reservations.

The UK remains conventionally unitary, with ultimate legislative sovereignty at Westminster. In a federal constitution, authority is constitutionally divided between levels. Devolved legislatures' extensive autonomy does not itself turn the UK into that federal arrangement. Nevertheless, Westminster's legal authority and the political acceptability of exercising it are different questions: public support, consent commitments and the peace settlement can strongly constrain action.

Courts can determine whether devolved legislation exceeds competence. This is an enforceable legal limit. The Sewel convention, concerning Westminster not normally legislating on devolved matters without consent, is a political constitutional constraint rather than an automatic judicial veto. Miller (2017) explains the distinction.

For example, devolved responsibility for health permits a government to propose different service arrangements. The legislature must enact any necessary law and scrutinise the government, and the proposal must remain within competence. None of those stages requires describing the devolved government as sovereign.

Scotland's powers and limits

Scotland combines extensive domestic policy powers with continued UK control of important constitutional, economic and international matters.

The Scottish Parliament has 129 MSPs, elected through AMS, and scrutinises the Scottish Government as well as passing devolved legislation. The government is headed by the First Minister and is accountable to Parliament. The Parliament explains the distinct institutions.

Devolved fields include health, education, housing, local government, justice and policing, with significant responsibilities concerning transport, the environment and some benefits. Reserved matters include defence, foreign affairs, immigration, currency and important parts of taxation and social security. These categories have exceptions; “transport” or “benefits” should not be treated as entirely devolved or entirely reserved. The Scottish Parliament's powers guide sets out the boundaries.

The 2012 and 2016 Scotland Acts strengthened revenue powers. The Parliament can set rates and bands for Scottish taxpayers' non-savings, non-dividend income, while the personal allowance remains a UK responsibility. It does not control every part of income tax or every national tax. The UK government's September 2026 implementation report confirms the current power and its use.

This permits policies reflecting Scottish preferences, supported by some responsibility for raising revenue. It also complicates accountability: voters must distinguish decisions made in Edinburgh from those made in London. Dependence on a UK block grant, UK-wide taxes and a common economic framework limits fiscal independence.

Constitutional powers remain important limits. The 2014 independence referendum followed a temporary transfer of competence through a section 30 order, agreed by the relevant UK and Scottish institutions. That did not grant permanent unilateral authority to hold another referendum. The Commons Library's current account explains the order's temporary effect and the approval process.

The contrast is therefore precise: Scotland can make major choices over everyday government while remaining part of the UK with legally limited powers. Political demands for independence show that autonomy has not eliminated constitutional disagreement; they do not prove that every exercise of Scottish devolved power is a step to independence.

Wales's powers and development

Welsh devolution has developed from a more limited starting point into a substantial legislative settlement.

The original Assembly in 1999 mainly exercised executive and subordinate legislative powers. The Government of Wales Act 2006 separated the legislature and government and enabled incremental primary legislation; the 2011 referendum activated fuller primary law-making powers in devolved fields. The Wales Act 2017 moved to a reserved-powers model. Senedd Research traces the stages.

The institution became Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament in 2020. From the May 2026 election, it has 96 members, elected through a closed proportional list system across 16 six-member constituencies. This replaced the previous 60-member AMS arrangement. The Senedd enacts devolved law, agrees relevant budgets and scrutinises the Welsh Government, led by the First Minister. The Senedd's current election guide explains the implemented system.

Health, education, housing, local government and many environmental and transport matters are devolved. Wales has land transaction and landfill taxes and powers over Welsh rates of income tax. It cannot vary income-tax bands in the same way as Scotland. Justice and policing remain largely reserved, unlike the Scottish and Northern Irish settlements, and England and Wales share a legal jurisdiction. The Welsh Government's February 2026 handbook explains the current settlement and its limits.

These differences support a joined comparison: Scotland and Wales both legislate over health, but Scotland's broader justice and income-tax powers give it autonomy on dimensions Wales lacks. That is more useful than listing their institutions separately. The explanation lies partly in their different initial settlements and subsequent extensions.