The UK parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Members of the Commons are elected using the First Past the Post voting system. Members of the Lords are unelected.
The powers of the Scottish Parliament have been devolved from the UK Parliament. These were listed in the Scotland Act (1998). The Scottish Government is given an annual budget of around £30 billion and has the power to make laws on a range of ‘devolved’ issues. However, the UK Parliament still takes decisions for Scotland in some areas.
Powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament
Health - the NHS in Scotland (hospitals, GP services etc)
Education – Nurseries, schools, colleges and universities
Local Government – responsibility for 32 local councils to deliver services such as cleansing, roads and social care
Law and Home Affairs – criminal law, civil law, the police, court and prison services, the fire service
Sports and the Arts – promotion of sports, museums, historic buildings etc
Social security – some power to top-up welfare benefits
Taxation – control over some forms of tax in Scotland, including a portion of income tax
Powers reserved to the UK Parliament
Constitutional Affairs – decisions on devolution for Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland
Defence – the army, navy and air force
Foreign Affairs – relations with other countries eg the EU or the USA
Central Economic Policy – some taxes including business taxes
Social Security – control of reserved benefits: universal credit, tax credit and child benefit
Other – immigration, and drug control
Scotland Acts 2012 and 2016
In recent years there has been an expansion of the Scottish Parliament's power in response to the independence referendum. The Scottish Parliament has been given new powers to set income tax rates, to borrow up to £5 billion and to control welfare and social security benefits.