The interim report of an official ('Calman') commission said that devolving full fiscal autonomy to Scotland would be inconsistent with the continuation of the United Kingdom.
Source: The Future of Scottish Devolution within the Union: A First Report, Commission on Scottish Devolution (0131 244 9073)
Links: Report | Evidence | Summary | Hansard | Scotland Office press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | FT report
Date: 2008-Dec
A think-tank paper examined how the Scottish public sector was funded, and the role of the 'Barnett formula'. It considered the options available for funding within the existing arrangements if the Barnett formula were to be scrapped.
Source: Andrew Hughes-Hallett, Jeremy Peat, Andrew Scott, Lesley Sutton and Fabian Zuleeg, Options for Scotland's Future: The Economic Dimension, Hume Occasional Paper 80, David Hume Institute (0131 667 9609)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Nov
A new book examined the connexion between nationalism and social policy, based on a study of three states featuring strong nationalist movements – the United Kingdom (Scotland), Canada (Quebec), and Belgium (Flanders).
Source: Daniel Béland and André Lecours, Nationalism and Social Policy: The politics of territorial solidarity, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Oct
The Scottish Government laid out its programme for the year 2008-09, comprising 15 Bills. The programme included proposals for the abolition of council tax, and its replacement by a 3 pence addition to income tax.
Source: Moving Scotland Forward: The government's programme for Scotland 2008-09, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Statement | SG press release | BMA press release | LTS press release | Telegraph report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | FT report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report explained the legal and administrative underpinnings of devolution and how they shaped the health policies pursued in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It identified various kinds of tension building up along administrative and physical borders, and the likelihood of major intergovernmental conflict.
Source: Scott Greer and Alan Trench, Health and Intergovernmental Relations in the Devolved United Kingdom, Nuffield Trust (020 631 8450)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
An article examined some of the impacts of devolution on the discipline of social policy. Devolution mattered for social policy as a field of research and study, and for the analysis and understanding of developments in social policy. It had a number of implications in terms of comparative and transnational social policy, new sites of analysis, the language of social policy, the production of knowledge, and the development of new policy communities. It also signalled new perspectives based on evolving welfare subjectivities and around questions of territorial justice.
Source: Charlotte Williams and Gerry Mooney, 'Decentring social policy? Devolution and the discipline of social policy: a commentary', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 37 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
The Scotland Office published its annual report for 2007-08.
Source: Annual Report 2008, Cm 7403, Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
An article examined the position of quangos in the context of devolution, and the constraints on a comprehensive redistribution of the functions of quangos in the three devolved administrations.
Source: Derek Birrell, 'Devolution and quangos in the United Kingdom: the implementation of principles and policies for rationalisation and democratisation', Policy Studies, Volume 29 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Mar
A report examined the local elections held in Scotland in May 2007. It said that the introduction of the 'single transferable vote' system had been a success – it had produced more representative councils, allowed voters to express their views on who they wanted to represent them in a more sophisticated way, and given most voters a councillor of their choice.
Source: Lewis Baston, Local Authority Elections in Scotland: Report and analysis, Electoral Reform Society (020 7928 1622)
Links: Report | ERS press release
Date: 2008-Feb
A new book examined inter-governmental relations in the devolved United Kingdom. It considered why devolution had enabled different approaches to government and policy-making to develop in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland since 1999, despite the fact that a close examination of the structure of devolution suggested that the UK government retained control over most key areas.
Source: Alan Trench (ed.), Devolution and Power in the United Kingdom, Manchester University Press (0161 275 2310)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Feb
