Constitutional and Administrative Law

The governance arrangements of the UK, and even its borders, have developed over many centuries and will continue to be subject to change. For a long period after its creation the UK maintained highly centralised governance arrangements based upon the sovereign Parliament in Westminster. Over the twentieth century these arrangements enabled central government to introduce far-reaching measures, from state pension provision to the National Health Service and comprehensive education. Nonetheless, because Westminster is dominated by MPs representing English constituencies, its legislative output was not always constrained by the wishes of MPs representing seats in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This chapter traces how discontent at the degree of centralisation in the UK has been answered by the devolution of law-making power to institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of these sets of devolved institutions has different powers and functions, which will be explored in turn (including an evaluation of how these arrangements have changed since devolution was introduced in 1998). Only then can we consider whether devolution has provided a solution to the challenges inherent in governing a country as complicated as the UK.