The power to make laws in certain policy areas has been transferred from the UK Parliament to legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through devolution. These legislatures were established around the end of the 20th century, but there have been different forms of devolution in the UK since the late 19th century.

Devolved and reserved powers

The current devolution settlements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are based on the ‘reserved powers’ model. This means that UK primary legislation sets out which matters the UK Parliament reserves responsibility for. If a policy area is not listed as reserved, it usually means it has been devolved.

Different policy areas are devolved for different parts of the UK.

Which policy areas are devolved?

Finding out if a policy area is reserved or devolved can be complicated. The relevant schedules of the Scotland Act 1998 (schedule 5), the Government of Wales Act 2006 (schedule 7A) and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (schedules 2 and 3) only say what the devolved legislatures cannot do, not what they can do.

The boundary between what is reserved and what is devolved is often unclear. Elements of one policy area can be reserved while others are devolved, or a policy area may be reserved but aspects of how it is delivered are devolved. For example, trade and foreign affairs are reserved matters, yet in Scotland and Wales the devolved governments often carry out policies within these areas, promoting trade on overseas trips and maintaining offices in other countries.

The UK Parliament can also, by convention, legislate on devolved matters if a devolved legislature requests this or consents to it. This is known as the Sewel Convention. For example, the Northern Ireland Executive asked for the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill to be extended to that part of the UK, even though criminal justice was a devolved (or ‘transferred’) matter.

Can devolution settlements change?

The devolution settlements are not fixed.

For example, since 1999 the Scottish Parliament has taken over policy areas which were originally reserved to the UK Parliament, such as aspects of welfare and income tax.

In rare cases, previously devolved matters have become reserved, such as regulation of activity in Antarctica and state aid.

Powers can also be devolved temporarily


In 2013, the UK Parliament temporarily devolved the power to hold an independence referendum to the Scottish Parliament by amending schedule 5 of the Scotland Act.


After the 2014 referendum, the Scottish Government argued that it could introduce legislation to hold a second ballot. But in November 2022 the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over devolution cases, ruled that the Scottish Parliament did not have that power.

Can the UK Parliament veto devolved legislation?

Section 35 of the Scotland Act (and equivalent provisions in the other devolution statutes) enables the UK Government and Parliament to ‘veto’ legislation in an area that is devolved if it modifies the law as it applies to reserved matters.

This power was used for the first time in January 2023 when the UK Government prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from being submitted for Royal Assent. Although gender recognition was devolved, the Secretary of State argued that it affected the operation of the reserved Equality Act 2010. This was upheld in the Scottish courts.

Further information

Author: Dr David Torrance

Photo Credit: Senedd Cymru, photo by Brynteg on stock.adobe.com

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