Commission on Scottish Devolution

rdf:langString Commission on Scottish Devolution

rdf:langString The Commission on Scottish Devolution (Scottish Gaelic: Coimisean Fèin-riaghlaidh na h-Alba, Scots: Commeessioun on Scots Devolutioun), also referred to as the Calman Commission or the Scottish Parliament Commission or Review, was established by an opposition Labour Party motion passed by the Scottish Parliament on 6 December 2007, with the support of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The governing Scottish National Party opposed the creation of the commission. Its terms of reference were: "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, improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament and continue to secure the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom." The Commission held its first full meeting at the Scottish Parliament on 28 April 2008 and met at roughly monthly intervals during its period of work. It issued a first report on 2 December 2008, and a final report on 15 June 2009. It was accountable to both the Scottish Parliament and the UK Government. The Commission on Scottish Devolution should not be confused with the Scottish Constitutional Commission, which is an independent think-tank. Calman Plus (also called devolution plus, Devo Plus or Devo 2.0) has been advocated by senior Scottish Liberal Democrat politicians, as the next step in deepening devolution. Calman Plus should not be confused with full fiscal autonomy, although neither concept has been definitively defined.