devolution

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Delegation of authority and duties; in the later 20th century, the movement to decentralize governmental power.

Scotland and Wales
In the UK a bill for the creation of Scottish and Welsh assemblies was introduced in 1976 and rejected by referendums in Scotland and Wales in 1979. The Labour government which took office in May 1997 introduced legislation to establish a Scottish Parliament and a National Assembly for Wales, commonly called the Welsh Assembly. Devolution referendums were approved by Scottish and Welsh voters in September 1997 and elections to the new Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly were held on 6 May 1999. On 1 July 1999, powers were transferred and the Scottish Parliament, located in Edinburgh, and the Welsh Assembly, located in Cardiff, were officially opened. The Scottish Parliament has restricted tax-varying authority and law-making powers in all areas except defence, foreign affairs, the constitution, social security, company regulation, economic management, and taxation. In contrast, the Welsh Assembly does not have primary law-making powers, but may pass secondary legislation, and has taken over most of the administrative functions previously exercised by the Welsh secretary.

Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, the devolution of a range of executive and legislative powers was negotiated in the Good Friday peace agreement (10 April 1998), and approved in a referendum held on 22 May 1998. The powers involved include areas such as agriculture, economic development, education, the environment, finance, health, and social security. The UK government retains power over taxation and security, and can veto any legislation passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Elections to the Assembly were held on 25 June 1998.

The Assembly, comprising 108 members elected by the single transferable vote method of proportional representation, met for the first time on 1 July 1998, and David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, was elected first minister (the equivalent of prime minister). Powers were not formally devolved by the UK government to the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive until 1 December 1999. Following the breakdown of Nationalist and Unionist talks, the Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Mandelson, suspended the Assembly in February 2000. This caused a reversion to direct rule from London until May 2000, when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) offered to open its arms dumps to independent inspection and to put its guns out of use. Upon this concession, the Unionists agreed to return to the power-sharing executive, which they headed. However, in July 2001 the Northern Ireland first minister David Trimble resigned after the IRA failed to decommission. Devolution was briefly suspended 10–11 August, when the Ulster Unionists rejected an IRA scheme to put its weapons completely and verifiably beyond use, but without specifying timing. However, in October it was verified that the IRA had put some arms beyond use, heading off a further possible suspension of devolution; shortly afterwards Trimble announced that he would stand for re-election as first minister.

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