Devolved, reserved and excepted matters


In the United Kingdom, devolved matters are the areas of public policy where the Parliament of the United Kingdom has devolved its legislative power to the national legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while reserved matters and excepted matters are the areas where the UK Parliament retains exclusive power to legislate.
Devolution in the United Kingdom is regarded as the decentralisation of power from the UK Government, with powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh Parliament and Welsh Government, in all areas except those which are reserved or excepted. Amongst the four countries of the United Kingdom, Scotland has the most extensive devolved powers controlled by the Scottish Parliament, with the Scottish Government being described as the "most powerful devolved government in the world".
In theory, reserved matters could be devolved at a later date, whereas excepted matters are not supposed to be considered for further devolution. In practice, the difference is minor as Westminster is responsible for all the powers on both lists and its consent is both necessary and sufficient to devolve them. Because Westminster acts with sovereign supremacy, it is still able to pass legislation for all parts of the United Kingdom, including in relation to devolved matters.

Devolution of powers

The devolution of powers are set out in three main acts legislated by the UK Parliament for each of the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The acts also include subsequent amendments, which devolved further powers to the administrations:
As a result of the historical and administrative differences between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, matters which are devolved and which are reserved, varies between each country.
In Northern Ireland, the powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly do not cover reserved matters or excepted matters.
In Scotland, a list of reserved matters is explicitly listed in the Scotland Act 1998. Any matter not explicitly listed in the Act is implicitly devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament controls around 60% of spending in Scotland. Any form of revenue raised within the Scottish economy will remain in Scotland, whilst the Scottish Government is permitted to retain the first ten percentage points of VAT collected in Scotland . Additionally, the Scottish Government has control over Air Passenger Duty, Aggregates Levy and has additional borrowing powers which permits the Scottish Government to borrow up to 10% of its budget annually. The Scottish Government can borrow up to £3.5 billion in additional funding to invest in public services, such as schools, transportation networks and healthcare, amongst other areas.
In Wales, a list of reserved matters is explicitly listed under the provisions of the Wales Act 2017. Any matter not explicitly listed in the Act is implicitly devolved to the Senedd. Before 2017, a list of matters was explicitly devolved to the then known National Assembly for Wales and any matter not listed in the Act was implicitly reserved to Westminster. In Wales, the Welsh Government became responsible for income tax only in 2019, meaning individuals with their permanent residence located in Wales and, as a result, pay Income Tax in Wales, will now pay Welsh rates of Income Tax which is set by the Welsh Government. Additionally, the Welsh Government has been granted powers over Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposals Tax.

Scotland and Wales

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.
The legal ability of the Scottish Parliament or Senedd to legislate on a matter is largely determined by whether it is reserved or not. 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 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:
Subsequently, the Scotland Acts of 2012 and 2016 transferred powers over:
The 1998 Act also provided for orders to be made allowing Scottish Ministers to exercise powers of UK Government ministers in areas that remain reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Equally the Act allows for the Scottish Ministers to transfer functions to the UK Government ministers, or for particular "agency arrangements". This executive devolution means that the powers of the Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament are not identical.
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.