What is Legislative Consent?
The UK Parliament has retained authority to legislate on any issue, whether devolved or not. However, by convention (known as the Sewell Convention) it is not normally the case that the UK government will legislate on devolved matters.
Under the Sewel Convention,
“It is ultimately for Parliament to decide what use to make of that power (to legislate on devolved matters). However, the UK Government will proceed in accordance with the convention that the UK Parliament would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters except with the agreement of the devolved legislature. The devolved administrations will be responsible for seeking such agreement as may be required for this purpose on an approach from the UK Government.”
