This 2009 publication was the first book about the new Scottish Parliament. It brought together a distinguished group of parliamentarians, commentators and academics to review the achievements, limits and challenges of the new Scottish Parliament after its first ten years.
The Scottish Parliament 1999-2009: The First Decade is a collection of essays by leading figures edited by Professors Charlie Jeffery and James Mitchell. In reviewing the first 10 years of the new Parliament's existence, across a wide range of topics, the book tackled key questions including:
To what extent have the founding principles for the Scottish Parliament set out by the Consultative Steering Group been delivered - access and participation, equal opportunities, accountability and power-sharing?
Has the Parliament changed how politics is done in Scotland?
Has the Parliament matured into an effective legislative body?
Have relationships between government, the Parliament and outside stakeholders in local government, interest groups and quangos been improved?
What’s the view from Westminster?
How does the Scottish Parliament fit into the UK’s changing constitutional architecture?
Foreword Alex Fergusson MSP, Presiding Officer, Scottish Parliament
Chapter 1 Introduction: The First Decade in Perspective Emma Megaughin and Charlie Jeffery
The Parliament in Practice
Chapter 2 A Dozen Differences of Devolution Lord Steel of Aikwood
Chapter 3 Committees in the Scottish Parliament Chris Carman and Mark Shephard
Chapter 4 The Legislative Process: The Parliament in Practice James Johnston
Chapter 5 The New Scottish Statute Book: The Scottish Parliament's Legislative Record since 1999 Michael Keating and Paul Cairney
The Founding Principles
Chapter 6 Access and Participation: Aiming High Bill Thomson
Chapter 7 Travelling the Distance? Equal Opportunities and the Scottish Parliament Fiona Mackay
Chapter 8 Parliamentary Accountability: Aspiration or Reality? Chris Himsworth
Chapter 9 The Principle of Power-Sharing, 10 Years On Joyce McMillan
Representative Process
Chapter 10 The Scottish Parliament Electoral System: Can Credibility be Restored? Nicola McEwen
Chapter 11 New Parliament, New Elections James Mitchell and Robert Johns
Chapter 12 Do Devolved Elections Work? John Curtice
Chapter 13 Conundrums and Contradictions: What Scotland Wants David McCrone
Stakeholders
Chapter 14 New Scottish Parliament, Same Old Interest Group Politics? Paul Cairney, Darren Halpin and Grant Jordan
Chapter 15 Civil Society and the Parliament Lindsay Paterson
Chapter 16 The Media and Parliament Brian McNair
Chapter 17 Centre and Locality in Scottish Politics: From Bi- to Tri-partite Relations Neil McGarvey
Chapter 18 Quangos, Agencies and the Scottish Parliament Richard Parry
The View from Elsewhere
Chapter 19 The Scottish Parliament as seen from London Peter Riddell
Chapter 20 Opening Doors: Devolution in Wales and the Scottish Parliament, 1999-2009 Alan Trench
Futures
Chapter 21 The Scottish Parliament, Constitutional Change and the UK's Haphazard Union Charlie Jeffery
The Rwanda Bill has made it over the parliamentary finishing line but not without some last-minute drama. We talk to the SNP’s Alison Thewliss MP about what went on in a small room, behind the Speaker’s Chair, away from the cameras!
To mark the Hansard Society’s 80th anniversary we are launching the Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture in honour of our first members, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The inaugural lecture will be given by former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Theresa May MP. This is a fundraising event for our 80th Anniversary Appeal. Date & location: Tuesday 14 May 2024, 7:00-8:15pm, Westminster (venue to be announced) Tickets: £25
With a general election on the horizon there has been a spate of new legislation and regulations to implement changes to the way the election will be run, with consequences for voters and electoral administrators. Parliament has not always had a role in approving these changes. This briefing sets out the core changes to the electoral process that have been implemented since the last general election in 2019, the role that Parliament has played in scrutinising and approving them, and the risks arising from these changes.
The Climate Change Act 2008 established a framework for setting carbon budgets every five years. But the role of Parliament in approving these budgets has been widely criticised, including by the Prime Minister. The Environmental Audit Committee has proposed improvements in the scrutiny process to ensure effective climate action, particularly in the context of the UK’s commitment to achieving 'Net Zero' emissions by 2050. These reforms will significantly alter the way Parliament handles the Seventh Carbon Budget in 2025.
The Government’s flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009. The genesis of the delegated powers in the Bill – dating back a decade - tells an important story about the way in which incomplete policy-making processes are used by Ministers to seek ‘holding’ powers in a Bill, only for that precedent to then be used to justify further, broader powers in subsequent Bills. This ‘creeping’ effect in the legislative process undermines parliamentary scrutiny of ministerial action.
