Scottish devolution is under threat
Since Brexit, the UK Government have undermined devolution by repeatedly ignoring the Sewel Convention which states they will ‘not normally’ legislate in devolved policy areas. They simply claim that leaving the EU means these are not ‘normal’ times.
Devolution has actually been heading in reverse for almost a decade, with the advent of ‘City’ and ‘Growth Deals’ in 2014 handing Whitehall extensive powers to set local economic development plans, despite this being a devolved competence. In addition, the fact the Scottish Government contributes 50% or more of the funding, further limits its ability to pursue its own strategies for local and regional economic growth.
This loss of power has been further exacerbated by the centralised administration and exclusion of the devolved governments from influencing the allocation of the ‘Levelling Up’ and ‘Shared Prosperity’ funds which replace EU Regional funding post-Brexit. These funds provide significantly less than was allocated by the EU and divert local resources into creating bids to compete against other Local Authorities with no clear rationale for funding decisions.
The UK Internal Market Act 2020 (IMA) is, however, the legislation which literally drives a coach and horses through devolution. This was supposedly designed to manage regulatory divergence between the four nations after Brexit, despite the UK market having managed perfectly well for more than two decades of differing policies: the very essence of devolution! Apart from the implications for businesses and consumers, arguably, its greatest impact is on devolved policy making itself.
If a devolved government wishes to introduce a policy which differs from the UK Government, they must now apply for an exclusion from the IMA and UK Ministers have the power to delay or block legislation, even though it is within devolved competence and has been passed by the relevant devolved parliament.
The other effect of the IMA is that, if higher safety or quality standards are set by a devolved government, it now just puts additional burdens on local producers but no longer provides better protection for consumers, as goods from elsewhere in the UK and external imports, must be accepted for sale even if they don’t meet the same standard.
The IMA was first used to delay the ban on single-use plastics by the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and reduce the materials included, while the latest example is the obstruction of the Scottish Government’s planned Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The recommendation of Westminster’s Environmental Audit Committee was to include glass bottles and this was originally agreed by all four nations.
It was the UK Government which changed its mind in March 2022 and excluded glass and, as recently as January 2023, a paper published at Westminster appeared to support the devolved nations proceeding with their own wider schemes. As the Welsh Government still hopes to include glass in their scheme, it is the UK Government which is out of step with the other nations.
Of course, establishing a totally new process was challenging for government, businesses and consumers, but the principle of the Scottish DRS is already the norm in many successful European systems, such as Finland, which recycles 95% of its glass bottles. Scotland is only to be allowed to go ahead with a DRS for plastic bottles and cans, and only if it aligns with UK regulations; despite the fact that there are no UK regulations in place to align with. Hence the fact that, after all the effort and investment by government and businesses, the Scottish DRS is stuck in limbo.
Divergence during the first 20 years of devolution appeared to cause little disruption to business or consumers, rather it led to the introduction of several innovative policies, such as the carrier bag charge in Wales and the smoking ban and Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland, with Westminster sometimes following years later.
The whole point of devolution is to enable the four nations to develop policy to best suit their different demographics and challenges, particularly in relation to public health and environmental protection.
Post-Brexit attacks on devolution, and the recent petty attempts to prevent Scottish politicians from even talking about the impacts of Brexit, demonstrate the ‘muscular unionism’ which seems to be the core principle of Conservative devolution policy.
This may well backfire in the longer term as Scots are forced to choose between accepting a return to direct rule by the UK Government, which delivered so much economic and social damage in the ‘80s and ‘90s, or taking control of their own future through Scottish Independence.
Dr Philippa Whitford is the Scottish National Party MP for Central Ayrshire. She is the SNP's Scotland Westminster Spokesperson.
