Success of devolution
Point 1: Allowed for greater democracy and more effective local representation, with devolved bodies
able to respond to the concerns of their electorates
- Scotland: the population is more left wing than in the rest of the UK --> led to the election of a left wing
SNP g...
UK Government essay plans 100%
PASSED
Success of devolution
Point 1: Allowed for greater democracy and more effective local representation, with devolved bodies
able to respond to the concerns of their electorates
- Scotland: the population is more left wing than in the rest of the UK --> led to the election of a left wing
SNP government that has introduced policies including free prescription charges, free tuition fees and a
higher top rate of income tax than in the rest of the UK
- Scotland Act 1998 granted the Scottish Parliament control over health and education policy, whilst the
Scotland Act 2016 granted it significant control over taxation
- COVID - Scotland, Wales, NI and England relaxed restrictions at different speeds
Point 2: It was believed that granting significant autonomy to Scotland within the United Kingdom in
particular would prevent them voting for independence
- As no nationalist movement has yet achieved independence and it could be argued that devolution has
therefore been a success in terms of the unity of the UK, as it has satisfied some demands for self
government and the UK hasn’t broken up
- Devolution has also played a key part in delivering a relatively stable peace in Northern Ireland and
provided a framework for long-term change
- Recent increases in support for independence are a consequence of the unpopularity and failure of
recent Conservative governments not devolution
Point 3: Devolution has been a success in terms of governance as in some areas better results can be
seen as a consequence of devolution.
- In Greater Manchester i.e. greater control over health policy has been correlated with modest
increases in life expectancy in some cases
- Policies which are successful in devolved bodies can be adopted in the rest of the UK, such as the ban
on smoking in public places which was first introduced in Scotland
Arguments that devolution hasn't been a success
Point 1: The asymmetric nature of devolution, with different powers and policies for different parts of
the UK, can be seen as undermining equal citizenship, as different citizens have different levels of
representation, are subjected to different laws and to different policies.
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