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Scotland - Government

Independence would make the Scottish Parliament and Government responsible for the full range of economic powers. Decisions on taxation and other economic levers, as well as employment law and all aspects of economic regulation, would be taken in Scotland and tailored to Scotland’s needs.

Scotland’s existing institutions and structures of government will continue, but independence will extend their powers and responsibilities. The Scottish Parliament will become the Parliament of an independent Scotland. It will continue to have 129 members, representing constituencies and regions across Scotland, and will be located in the existing Parliament building at Holyrood. The Scottish Parliament will take over responsibilities currently exercised at Westminster.

Scotland already has an independent legal system. The Inner House of the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal will collectively be Scotland’s Supreme Court. On independence, the structure of local government in Scotland will remain the same, with local councils continuing to deliver the full range of services they do today. This will include schools, leisure and social services.

Scotland’s current governmental arrangements are based on the Scotland Act 1998, which is an Act of the Westminster Parliament. With independence, Scotland’s government will not be based on the authority of Westminster but on the sovereignty of the people of Scotland. To prepare for this new status a number of steps will need to be taken to provide a constitutional platform for Scotland to make a seamless transition to independence and to provide a secure underpinning to the legal and governmental system.

Independence provides an opportunity to modernise Scottish democracy on the basis of a written constitution setting out the way the country is governed and the rights of its citizens. The Scottish Government believes a constitutional convention will ensure a participative and inclusive process by which the people of Scotland, as well as politicians, civic society organisations, business interests, trade unions, local authorities and others, can have a direct role in shaping the constitution.

The Scottish Government will be just one of many voices contributing to the debate and helping to shape Scotland’s written constitution. However, there are certain provisions that the Government believes should be considered by the constitutional convention, such as equality of opportunity and the right to live free of discrimination and prejudice, a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons being based in Scotland, and certain social and economic rights, such as the right to education, the right to healthcare and protections for children.

The approach proposed by the Government is to structure the Scottish Government into nine portfolios, each of which will comprise at least one Cabinet Secretary and supporting Ministers. This structure is designed to continue the current Scottish Government’s approach of more flexible and more efficient government, allowing us to take full advantage of some of the key benefits of independence: agility, accessibility and short lines of decision-making. The nine portfolios planned are:

• Office of the First Minister
• Finance and Economy
• Health, Wellbeing and Social Protection
• Education, Skills and Employment
• International Relations and Defence
• Justice, Security and Home Affairs
• Environment, Rural Scotland, Energy and Resources
• Culture, Communications and Digital
• Law Officers

The First Minister will have overall responsibility for the Scottish Government, transition agreements and the constitution, and will be supported by a Minister for Parliamentary Business who will attend Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary for International Relations will have responsibility for relations with the rest of the UK and Ireland, the EU, and the wider international community, and will be supported by a Minister for International Development. The Cabinet Secretary for Defence will have responsibility for defence policy and will be supported by a Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans. Scotland’s Military HQ will be at Faslane and there will be delivery functions in East Kilbride, at Kentigern House in Glasgow, and in international embassies and missions.

On independence Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy, continuing the Union of the Crowns that dates back to 1603, pre-dating the Union of the Parliaments by over one hundred years. On independence in 2016, Her Majesty The Queen will be head of state. Earlier in 2013, the rules on succession to the Crown (as they affect Scotland and elsewhere) were amended to remove outdated gender discrimination. The Government intends to support, and promote amongst the other Commonwealth States with the Queen as head of state, a similar measure to remove religious discrimination from the succession rules.

Independence will see the Scottish Government develop new functions as it takes on the responsibilities of serving an independent country. Scotland already has a civil service that is politically impartial, appointed on merit and supports the elected government of the day. If the present Scottish Government is re-elected we plan to spread government jobs and decisionmaking, delivering the direct economic benefits of independent government to more parts of Scotland.

The Westminster Government employs nearly 30,000 civil servants in Scotland at present. On independence many will transfer to the employment of the Scottish Government and its agencies. We will work with the Westminster Government to preserve continuity of employment for all staff, either by transfer to the Scottish Government or through continued employment by the Westminster Government where it still requires their skills.

With independence the Scottish Parliament will make decisions about all aspects of taxation. Independence will provide an opportunity to design a Scottish tax system based on specific Scottish circumstances, preferences and principles. Tax rates and allowances will be set by future governments in an independent Scotland. As Scotland’s public finances are healthier than those of the UK as a whole, there will no requirement for an independent Scotland to raise the general rate of taxation to fund existing levels of spending.

Under independence, the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government would take over all Westminster’s remaining powers and responsibilities for Scotland. Decisions on economic policy, international relations, defense spending and priorities, social security benefits, taxation and other public spending would be made in Scotland by governments accountable to the Scottish people and not by Westminster.