HOLYROOD has become a copycat parliament, short on vision and still in the grip of Westminster and Whitehall, according to a leading political analyst.

In a hard-hitting critique of where the parliament stands as MSPs gear up for the final months of its first full term, Gerry Hassan claims that wholesale adoption of Westminster bills through the Sewel convention and ''tartanised Whitehall policy thinking'' is hampering the new institution.

''What Sewel motions and Scottish Executive copycat policy promote is a limited conservative version of devolution, whereby the democratisation of Scottish policy debates is restricted,'' he writes in The Herald today.

''It also tells us something about who has power and influence, aiding as it does the existing civil service mandarins and networks at the expense of politicians and public debate in Scotland.''

Three first ministers and a constant instability that has seen fully half of Labour's 56 MSPs serve as ministers has strengthened the hand of civil service mandarins. In short, while formal powers were transferred from Westminster to Holyrood on July 1, 1999, real powers have yet to shift northwards, he writes.

''The Scottish Parliament has to become the primary political institution of the country, and for this to happen it has to stop acting like a part-time legislature, passing the buck back to Westminster whenever it can.''

But Wendy Alexander, a former minister and a special adviser to the late Donald Dewar when the parliament was being established, denied that Sewel motions were a problem, claiming their adoption freed up valuable time to push ahead with modernising Scotland after 300 years.

''Has the Scottish Parliament chosen the right priorities on areas that are really different such as housing, land reform, and adult incapacity. I think we have got this right,'' she said.

''People a decade ago anticipated endless constitutional disputes and battles between Edinburgh and Westminster, and these have been virtually non-existent.''

Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's shadow minister for parliament, agreed with much of Mr Hassan's claims, but said the blame lay not with the parliament but with the executive.

She said: ''It's not a copycat parliament, it's a copycat government, because 90% of parliament time is government time and they use Sewel options as a first option, not a last option.''