ABSTRACT
The nature of local autonomy in the UK has become increasingly complex in recent years. The UK has no written constitution and local government has no particular constitutional protection or special constitutional status. An orthodox interpretation of the UK constitution reveals that the UK Parliament retains unfettered power to remove, reorganise or restructure any part of local government throughout the UK. However, it is clear that devolution of power to regional governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales has a significant practical impact on the potential to exercise such power. Under the Scotland Act 1998, the power to organise and amend the structure of local government in Scotland is not a reserved matter under Schedule 5 of the Act, so the power is thus treated as being devolved. Similarly, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 devolves the power to the regional government to deal with the structure and powers of local government within the sphere of its competence. Most recently, the Government of Wales Act 2006 created the potential for the Welsh Government to obtain powers to legislate on issues of local government (with certain limitations and exceptions) within its sphere of competence. 1 The Welsh Government is the only devolved government that has yet taken steps to legislate on local government in a way that makes significant changes to the framework for local government within its jurisdiction. 2
