Devolution

Cabinet Office guidance for civil servants explains that devolution 'fundamentally changed the constitutional arrangements of the UK and gave powers and responsibilities to the devolved legislatures and the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.' Following referendums in 1997 (Scotland and Wales) and 1998 (Northern Ireland, as part of the Good Friday Agreement), 'the UK Parliament passed three devolution Acts: the Scotland Act 1998; the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and the Government of Wales Act 1998,' which 'established the three devolved legislatures' — the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament), the Scottish Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Members of these legislatures in turn form an executive, the devolved governments, whose civil servants 'do not serve the same ministers that form the UK Government ... but ... their own ministers with their own political priorities and mandates.'

Devolution does not remove Westminster's legal authority. The same guidance states that 'The UK Parliament retains authority to legislate on any issue, whether devolved or not,' while noting that 'the UK Government has made clear it will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters except with the agreement of the relevant devolved legislature' — a convention applying to devolved matters in Scotland and Wales and to transferred matters in Northern Ireland. The guidance also notes that 'the word devolution is also now regularly used to refer to the restructuring of powers within England,' distinct from devolution to the three nations.