Charging for Public Services in the UK's Devolved Polity

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the UK's post-1999 system of territorial devolution on charging policy for public services. It seeks to document emerging territorial differences in charging policy and practice and explain them with reference to differences in devolution settlements and to territorially variable political, cultural and social contexts. It concludes that devolution has already led to significant territorial variations in charging policy and practice and that the Celtic territories' policies seem increasingly differentiated from those of England.