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The Scottish Parliament and law making
The Scottish Parliament and law making

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2 The Scotland Act 2012

In 2007 the Scottish Parliament voted to establish the Commission on Scottish Devolution (known as the Calman Commission after the Chair of the Commission, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman) to review how devolution was working and whether any amendments were needed to make it effective. The Commission was to provide an independent review. Its terms of reference are in Box 2.

Box 2 Terms of reference of the Calman Commission

To review the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 in the light of experience and to recommend any changes to the present constitutional arrangements that would enable the Scottish Parliament to serve the people of Scotland better, that would improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament and that would continue to secure the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom (Holden, 2010)

Following wide-ranging consultations the Commission made a number of recommendations in its final report Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century (Commission on Scottish Devolution, 2009).

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Figure 2 Recommendations from Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century
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Figure 2 consists of five circles. One circle in the middle and 4 circles going around it. Each of those 4 circles has an arrow pointing inwards towards the middle circle. The central circle has the words Recommendations in it. The other circles contain the following text.

  1. Strengthening devolution. 24 specific recommendations were made. These included devolving powers for the administration of Scottish elections to the Scottish Government; simplifying the law relating to the regulation of charities, devolving the regulation of airguns, devolving power to set drink-driving limits and the level of the national speed limit.
  2. Strengthening cooperation. This included the developing of mutual respect between Parliaments and Governments – which should be the guiding principle in all their relations. Recommendations included, introducing a regular “state of Scotland” debate in the House of Commons, strengthening the existing mechanisms for both Parliaments to work together, and proposing new ones including a way for the Scottish Parliament to work with the UK Parliament on reserved matters
  3. Strengthening the Scottish Parliament including improvements to the Parliament’s committee system, to its scrutiny of legislation, and to various other procedural matters.
Figure 2 Recommendations from Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century

The Calman Commission provides an illustration of the difference between the roles of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government (Executive). The Calman Commission was established by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government (Executive) had voted against the establishment of the Commission when the proposal was made in Parliament, although it later cooperated with the Commission.