Supporting Scotland's vibrant voluntary sector
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Quick guide to Smith Commission Report
27 November 2014
Posted in
Welfare - excluding pensions
VAT relief for charities
Crown Estate
Energy
Asylum support
Remaining powers over transport
Charity regulation
Employability
Equality law
Consumer protection
Employment law
Misuse of Drugs Act
Scottish elections and democracy
Tax
Welfare – excluding pensions
- Benefits for carers, disabled people and those who are ill: Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Industrial Injuries Disablement Allowance and Severe Disablement Allowance.
- Benefits which currently comprise the Regulated Social Fund: Cold Weather Payment, Funeral Payment, Sure Start Maternity Grant and Winter Fuel Payment.
- Discretionary Housing Payments.
- The Scottish Parliament will have new powers to create new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility.
- Any new benefits or discretionary payments introduced by the Scottish Parliament must provide additional income for a recipient and not result in an automatic offsetting reduction in their entitlement to other benefits or post-tax earnings if in employment.
Employability
- The Scottish Parliament will have all powers over support for unemployed people through the employment programmes currently contracted by DWP.
- The Scottish Parliament will have the power to decide how it operates these core employment support services.
Equality law
- The powers of the Scottish Parliament will include, but not be limited to, the introduction of gender quotas in respect of public bodies in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament can legislate in relation to socio-economic rights in devolved areas.
The Crown Estate
- Responsibility for the management of the Crown Estate’s economic assets in Scotland, and the revenue generated from these assets, will be transferred to the Scottish Parliament.
- Following this transfer, responsibility for the management of those assets will be further devolved to local authority areas such as Orkney, Shetland, Na h-Eilean Siar or other areas who seek such responsibilities.
Energy
- Powers to determine how supplier obligations in relation to energy efficiency and fuel poverty, such as the Energy Company Obligation and Warm Home Discount, are designed and implemented in Scotland will be devolved.
- The licensing of onshore oil and gas extraction underlying Scotland will be devolved.
- Responsibility for mineral access rights for underground onshore extraction of oil and gas in Scotland will be devolved to the Scottish Parliament to the Scottish Parliament.
Those aspects of employment law that directly affect devolved powers such as social care and childcare
- All powers over the management and operation of all reserved tribunals (which includes administrative, judicial and legislative powers) will be devolved to the Scottish Parliament other than the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission.
The operation of asylum support should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament
explore, with respect to asylum seekers, the possibility of:- different powers being in place in Scotland for asylum seekers to access accommodation and financial support and advice.
- being able to lodge from within Scotland an asylum claim to the Home Office.
- MSPs being able to represent directly to UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement their concerns with respect to devolved matters affecting their constituents.
Remaining powers over transport which are not currently devolved
- The power will be devolved to the Scottish Government to allow public sector operators to bid for rail franchises funded and specified by Scottish Ministers.
- Remaining powers to change speed limits will be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
- Powers over all road traffic signs in Scotland will also be devolved.
- The functions of the British Transport Police in Scotland will be a devolved matter.
Powers over Scottish elections and democracy
- UK legislation will state that the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government are permanent institutions.
- The Sewel Convention will be put on a statutory footing.
- The Scottish Parliament will have all powers in relation to elections to the Scottish Parliament and local government elections in Scotland.
- The parties call on the UK Parliament to devolve the relevant powers in sufficient time to allow the Scottish Parliament to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds for the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections, should the Scottish Parliament wish to do so.
A portfolio of taxes so not place a disproportionate burden on one tax and taxpayer base to generate income
- Within this framework, the Scottish Parliament will have the power to set the rates of Income Tax and the thresholds at which these are paid for the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers (as defined by the Scotland Acts).
- The receipts raised in Scotland by the first 10 percentage points of the standard rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) will be assigned to the Scottish Government’s budget.
Last modified on 22 January 2018
