Evaluate The View That Devolution Has Been A Success

Introduction

• Devolution refers to the distribution of power from the Westminster Parliament to different parts of the UK, including Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales

• Since 1997, devolution reforms have become increasingly important by giving locals more devolved powers to limit centralisation in Westminster and address issues on a more local level

Paragraph Focus

• Para 1 = Impact on Democracy

• Para 2 = Impact on Unity in the UK

• Para 3 = Impact on Governance

Para 1 = Weaker Argument - Hasn’t Been A Success

• eg. Oct 2025, the UK government ruled out free bus passes for under 22s

• this is in comparison to Scotland where, since 2022, everyone under 22 has been entitled to free bus travel

• this shows that reforms didn’t have a positive impact as the asymmetric nature of devolution means that different have different law or representation

• this can be seen as undermining equal citizenship in the UK as unequal rights and services creates inequality

Para 1 = Stronger Argument - Has Been A Success

• in Scotland, which the population is more left wing, this has led to the election of more left wing parties such as SNP who won 58 seats in the 2026 Parliament elections

• this shows that devolution has been a success as it has allowed for greater democracy and more effective local representation

• This can be seen as a significant impact as devolution reduced the sovereignty of Parliament over devolved nations

• this means that representative democracy (link to component 1) is more effective as reforms created governments closer to the people and more tailored to devolved nations

Para 2 = Weaker Argument - Hasn’t Been A Success

• eg. Feb 2026, Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sawar publicly called on the PM Keir Starmer to resign, saying he had made “too many mistakes”

• this shows devolution hasn’t been a success as leaders in devolved bodies publicly criticising the government shows tensions between them and Westminster

• this means that devolution is threatening the unity of the UK

Para 2 = Stronger Argument - Has Been A Success

• eg. 2014 Scottish independence referendum, where 55.3% of the Scottish electorate voted against independence from the UK

• this shows that New Labour’s aims to keep the UK together by giving local entities more control over their dominance has worked

• this has deterred people from independence and has given them grater freedom to govern their country as they see fit

• this means that representative devolution does not undermine unity but rather preserves it

Para 3 = Weaker Argument - Hasn’t Been A Success

• The Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended for nearly 2 years following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

• this shows that devolution may not always create stable governments, especially in very fragile political environments

• this leads to failure in governance and control having to be still exerted by the UK Parliament

• this means that devolved nations cannot be trusted

Para 3 = Stronger Argument - Has Been A Success

• It can be argued that devolution has been a success in terms of governance as in some areas better results can be seen as a consequence of devolution.

• A good example of devolution leading to better governance outcomes is in relation to transport, which is controlled by almost all devolved bodies, including those in England.

• In 2022, the Scottish government nationalised rail by bringing ScotRail under public ownership.

• The Scottish government also subsidises rail fares, which leads to far

  cheaper rail fares than in England.

• For example, an off peak return from Glasgow to Edinburgh is around £10, whereas a similar journey in England would likely be at least 3x the amount