New inquiry looking at the Scotland Bill

The Scotland Bill was published on 30 November 2010. The Government also published a White Paper, Strengthening Scotland’s Future, on the same day. The Bill is based on the recommendations of the Commission on Scottish Devolution (the Calman Commission), and will develop the arrangements set out in the Scotland Act 1998. The Commission published its final report in June 2009, and the previous Scottish Affairs Committee published its report on the Commission on Scottish Devolution in March 2010.

Terms of reference

This inquiry will examine the provisions and proposals set out in the Scotland Bill and the White Paper, and will particularly focus on the following questions:

• Which of the recommendations of the Calman Commission on Scottish Devolution are not implemented by the Bill, and why?

• What provisions are made in the Bill, which were not recommended or considered by the Commission on Scottish Devolution?

• What are the fiscal and financial implications of the provisions in the Bill for Scotland?

• What further provisions could/should be included in the Bill in order to further amend and develop the Scotland Act 1998?

The Committee welcomes written evidence from interested parties on any, or all, aspects of the inquiry by Monday 31 January 2011. The Committee will be arranging public oral evidence sessions, and details of these will be announced in due course.
Submissions should be in Word or rich text format and sent by e-mail to scotaffcom@parliament.uk. Do not send in PDF format. The body of the e-mail must include a contact name, telephone number and postal address.  The e-mail should also make clear who the submission is from.
Submissions must address the terms of the inquiry and should not, as a rule, exceed 2,000 words.  Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document should include an executive summary.