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The Smith Commission and Further Powers for the Scottish Parliament

Document Cited authorities 3 Cited in Related
Vincent
Pages234-239
AuthorAlan Page
Date01 May 2015
DOI10.3366/elr.2015.0273
Published date01 May 2015
<p>There was only one question on the ballot paper for the referendum on Scottish independence on 18 September 2014: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. As part of the negotiations over a referendum that was “legal, fair and decisive”,<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn1"><sup>1</sup> </xref><fn id="fn1"><label>1</label> <p>Scotland's Constitutional Future (Cm 8203:2012) 7.</p> </fn> the SNP government had sought a second question on further powers for the Scottish Parliament, but the UK government was adamant that only once the question of Scotland's future within the United Kingdom had been settled could there be any consideration of further devolution. With a UK general election set to take place in May 2015, the assumption was that work on the question of further powers in the event of a “No” vote would only begin after the UK general election, by which time the countdown to the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016 would already have begun. In the final days of the referendum campaign, however, with the polls suddenly narrowing, the leaders of the three main political parties at Westminster “vowed” to deliver “extensive new powers” for the Parliament “by the process and according to the timetable announced by our three parties, starting on 19 September”,<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn2"><sup>2</sup> </xref><fn id="fn2"><label>2</label> <p>Daily Record, 16 September 2014.</p> </fn> a vow that was widely regarded, rightly or wrongly, as having sealed victory for the No campaign.</p> THE SMITH COMMISSION

On the morning of 19 September, once the results of the referendum had become clear, the Prime Minister announced that Lord Smith of Kelvin had agreed to oversee a set of cross-party talks with the purpose of agreeing a package of new powers to be devolved to Holyrood. By its terms of reference, which were published on 23 September, the Commission was required to:3

Smith Commission website, available at https:// www.smith-commission.scot/about/ .

convene cross-party talks and facilitate an inclusive engagement process across Scotland to produce, by 30 November 2014, Heads of Agreement with recommendations for further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament. This process will be informed by a Command Paper to be published by 31 October and will result in the publication of draft clauses by 25 January. The recommendations will deliver more financial, welfare and taxation powers, strengthening the Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom.

 Over the course of the next five weeks, the Commission – in which all five political parties in the Scottish Parliament, including the SNP, took part – reached agreement on a package of new powers,4

Report of the Smith Commission for further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament (2014) (henceforth “Smith Commission Report”).

 confounding those who doubted whether any form of agreement could be reached in such a short space of time, but at the same time inviting the criticism that the question of further powers had not been properly thought through. Lord Smith, in his foreword to the agreement, described it as an “unprecedented achievement”, which showed that, “however difficult, our political leaders can come together, work together, and reach agreement with one another.”5

Smith Commission Report, 4.

The Smith Commission agreement is made up of three “pillars”. Pillar one – “providing a durable but responsive constitutional settlement for the governance of Scotland” – represents the elusive Holy Grail of the devolution settlement since the Scotland Act 1998. The Smith Commission agreed that the Scottish Parliament and Scottish government should be made permanent (“UK legislation will state that the Scottish Parliament and Scottish government are permanent institutions”6

Para 21.

), and that the Sewel convention, whereby the UK Parliament does not legislate with regard to devolved matters without the Scottish Parliament's consent, should be “put on a statutory footing”.7

Para 22.

 The Scottish Parliament should also have “all powers” in relation to elections to the Scottish Parliament and local government elections in Scotland (but not in relation to Westminster or European elections), together with control...

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