The Scotland Act (1998) was never intended to be a finite expression of Scottish devolution, it was written to encompass its evolution and contains measures to allow the original settlement to be changed through legislation.  Provisions within the settlement would see powers transferred to the Scottish Parliament (and Government), after consultation between the UK Government and Scottish ministers and approval from both Holyrood and Westminster.

It is likely that given enough time the settlement would always have evolved without any specific legislative measures.  Subjects such as climate change, which have arisen since the original Act and therefore are not reserved to the UK Government, would  fall within the remit of the devolved administration.  In fact powers have already evolved so responsibilities such as the construction, extention or operation of electricity-generating stations and functions relating to food safety standards have passed to the Scottish Government.

It could be argued that although a majority of the Scottish population are not in favour of independence, most people and indeed political parties in Scotland would like to see more powers devolved to the Scottish Government.  There have been particularly high profile campaigns for this in specific areas such as dawn raids on asylum seekers and legislation on air rifles.

What some would claim has been the UK Government's "patchwork" approach to devolution with no overarching plan or compelling vision for the union, and no real concern given to intergovernment co-ordination have all brought Scotland to a situation where there is little if any support for the current status quo being maintained.

18 September 2007

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