Scottish Parliament
In November 1997 the then Secretary of State for Scotland appointed a Consultative Steering Group (CSG) to develop proposals for the practical operation of the new Parliament. Its membership was representative of the major political parties in Scotland, and of other civic groups and interests. After a period of detailed examination and consultation, the CSG produced a report in January 1999, Shaping Scotland's Parliament. This Report included comprehensive proposals for the working of the new Parliament. Four key principles were identified:
- Sharing the power: the Scottish Parliament should embody and reflect the sharing of power between the people of Scotland, the legislators and the Scottish Executive;
- Accountability: The Scottish Executive should be accountable to the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament and Executive should be accountable to the people of Scotland;
- Access and participation: the Scottish Parliament should be accessible, open, responsive and develop procedures which make possible a participative approach to the development, consideration and scrutiny of policy and legislation; and
- Equal opportunities: the Scottish Parliament in its operation and its appointments should recognise the need to promote equal opportunities for all.
These four key principles were adopted for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament is structurally different from the UK Parliament in a number of key ways. For example:
- in the absence of a revising chamber;
- greater use of pre-legislative scrutiny; and
- in the scheduling of voting time and the use of electronic voting.
A comprehensive Committee System lies at the heart of the Parliament.There are 18 Committees (8 mandatory Committees and 8 subject Committess). The Committees have power to introduce Bills of their own as well as to scrutinise Executive Bills and conduct 'ad hoc' inquiries. 3 Committee Bill have been passed so far and others are in the pipeline. The Committees also have statutory power to require anyone including Scottish Ministers to give evidence before them and to produce documents in connection with their inquiries. Of the 129 members over 60 members sit on 2 Committess and 40 members on 1 Committee. Membership reflects the political balance in the Parliament.
Before devolution, the UK Parliament typically considered only one or two specifically Scottish Bills each session. In contrast, 6 Acts have been passed so far: important reforms, such as the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act, the Housing (Scotland) Act, and the National Parks (Scotland) Act, are real achievements – and might have been delayed had Scotland not had its own Parliament.
A further feature of the Parliament is that Bills introduced by back bench members have a greater chance of success than is the case at Westminster. A number of members bills have been introduced, 8 of which were passed during the first Parliamentary session, as well as 3 Committee bill and 1 private bill.
The Scottish Parliament manages an annual budget of around £30 billion (approximately €40.19 billion). The Scottish Parliament has the power to vary the basic rate of income tax (currently 22 pence in the pound) in Scotland by up to 3 pence in the pound, but the current administration is pledged not to use this power during the lifetime of the current Parliament. The Scottish Parliament also has control over local authority taxation in Scotland, and can raise revenue by charging fees for certain public services.
Please see www.scottish.parliament.uk for further information.