Regional and Devolved Government

The purpose is to allow decisions and services to be shaped closer to the people they affect. Different places can have different needs and political priorities, so devolved government allows different approaches within the same country. Devolution is not independence: the nations remain within the UK, and the UK Parliament retains authority to make laws.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have a devolved legislature and a devolved government. England has a different arrangement, with regional institutions in parts of the country rather than a separate parliament for England.

How the devolved institutions developed

In September 1997, voters in Scotland and Wales supported establishing devolved institutions in referendums. In Northern Ireland, devolution formed part of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, which voters supported in May 1998.

The UK Parliament then passed the Scotland Act 1998, Government of Wales Act 1998 and Northern Ireland Act 1998. The new institutions began exercising devolved responsibilities in 1999. These arrangements were not identical: each reflected the nation's history and existing structures.

A legislature and a government do different jobs

A legislature debates and makes laws and examines what the government is doing. Its elected representatives provide a way for citizens' views to be represented in decisions.

An executive, or government, directs policy and oversees its implementation. Ministers take responsibility for particular areas of government, supported by departments and civil servants. In the devolved nations, ministers are drawn from the elected legislature. Their civil servants serve those devolved ministers, not the UK Prime Minister.

This distinction matters: a parliament or assembly is not simply another name for the government. Representatives can question ministers and scrutinise their decisions, while ministers are responsible for running the devolved administration.

Scotland and Wales

Scotland's elected legislature is the Scottish Parliament. Its executive is the Scottish Government. The Parliament debates and makes laws within its devolved responsibilities and scrutinises the Government; ministers in the Scottish Government develop policy and oversee its delivery.

Wales has the Senedd Cymru, also called the Welsh Parliament. It was originally established as the National Assembly for Wales. The executive is the Welsh Government. Here too, the elected legislature and the government have distinct roles: the Senedd makes laws and examines government action, while Welsh ministers lead the administration.

Both nations therefore have their own democratic institutions alongside the UK Parliament and UK Government. Devolution allows their governments to pursue their own political priorities within their responsibilities.

Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangement

Northern Ireland's legislature is the Northern Ireland Assembly, with 90 elected representatives called Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. They debate and pass laws on devolved matters and examine the work of the executive.

The Northern Ireland Executive runs the devolved government. Unlike a government formed solely by one governing party, its organisation is based on power-sharing between parties represented in the Assembly. This reflects the Good Friday Agreement's approach to governing a society with different political traditions.

The First Minister and deputy First Minister jointly chair the Executive. Despite their different titles, this is a joint leadership arrangement, not simply a leader and an ordinary deputy. There are also eight other ministers responsible for government departments.

Seven of these ministerial posts are allocated to parties through a procedure called d’Hondt, which links a party's entitlement to posts to its representation in the Assembly. The Justice Minister is appointed through a cross-community vote in the Assembly. These arrangements help ensure that government is shared rather than controlled entirely by a single political tradition.

England's regional arrangements

England does not have a separate England-wide devolved parliament and government equivalent to those in Scotland or Wales. The UK Parliament and UK Government continue to make decisions for England, including on matters handled by devolved institutions elsewhere in the UK.

However, some powers and budgets have been devolved to regional bodies within England. Combined authorities bring together groups of local councils to make decisions across a wider area. Many are led by a directly elected regional mayor, also known as a metro mayor. These mayor-led bodies are also known as mayoral strategic authorities.

Examples include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Liverpool City Region. Their responsibilities typically include aspects of transport, skills, housing and infrastructure investment, although the precise powers vary between places. A regional approach makes sense where an issue crosses council boundaries: transport connections, for example, need to work across a whole city region rather than stop at each council's boundary.

The mayor provides visible regional leadership and chairs the authority. Direct election allows residents to choose who holds that leadership role and to hold the mayor accountable at elections. London also has a directly elected mayor, but its devolution model differs from that of combined authorities.

The essential contrast is therefore between devolved national legislatures and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and varied regional arrangements within England.