LABOUR, the Conservatives and LibDems have all now produced blueprints for further devolution which will be put to voters at next year's 2015 Westminster election.
Here are the key points:
Labour
l Holyrood to raise most of the income tax paid in Scotland, with additional powers to vary higher rates up but not down in relation to the basic rate. Part of tax package that would make MSPs responsible for raising 40 per cent of the money they spend.
l Housing benefit to be devolved to Holyrood; DWP work programmes to be devolved to councils.
l Scottish Parliament made constitutionally permanent.
l Responsibility for health and safety at work and employment tribunals transferred to Holyrood.
Conservatives
l Holyrood responsible for setting rates and bands of income tax. Part of tax package making MSPs responsible for raising just over half of the money they spend.
l Scottish versions of HMRC's personal tax statements to be issued to highlight impact of Holyrood's tax decisions.
l Housing benefit and attendance allowance to be devolved if possible.
l Key Holyrood committees to be chaired by opposition MSPs to improve scrutiny of the Scottish government.
LibDems
l Holyrood to set income tax rates and bands, plus take control of inheritance tax, capital gains tax and air passenger duty. Part of package to make MSPs responsible for raising about two thirds of what they spend.
l Local authorities to be guaranteed powers to set council tax and business rates.
l Create a federal UK.
l Control over Holyrood elections to be handed to Scottish Parliament.
l Replace Barnett Formula with new needs-based system run independently of government.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article