Further Devolution for Scotland: The Draft Clauses

Two months after the Smith Commission reported with recommendations for further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament, the UK Government published a Command Paper - “Scotland in the United Kingdom: An Enduring Settlement” containing 44 draft clauses intended to form the basis of a Scotland Bill to give effect to these recommendations. The three main UK political parties have agreed that this Bill will be introduced in the first Queen’s Speech of the next parliament following the General Election in May this year.

The draft clauses propose devolving to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government a range of new powers, including new tax raising powers, welfare powers and powers over Scottish Parliament and local government elections in Scotland.
This briefing provides background to the draft clauses and discusses some of the issues arising from them, including commentary on the clauses by academics and other commentators.