First Calman Commission Report

The Commission on Scottish Devolution chaired by Sir Kenneth Calman issued its first report on 2 December 2008, ruling out full fiscal devolution as incompatible with remaining in the United Kingdom.    

The conclusion is not altogether startling, given the origins of the Commission; and its remit precluded it from looking at the possibility of Scottish independence and the fiscal models that might apply in that situation.  No such constraints hampered an independent report by The David Hume Institute of Edinburgh, entitled Options for Scotland’s Future: The Economic Dimension and published a few days before Calman, in which this question is discussed in a full and non-partisan way. 

The Calman Commission finds that devolution has public support in Scotland, but thinks there is a need to develop more formal mechanisms by means of which inter-governmental relations within the United Kingdom might be enabled to work more effectively.

The final report and the Commission’s final recommendations are expected in 2009.