Smith Commission recommendations welcomed but concerns raised they don't go far enough

The Scottish independence referendum in September marked the first time that the vote had been extended to 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK.

Scottish Youth Parliament chair Louise Cameron said: "We believe that devolving the powers to lower the voting age is a logical and sensible next step which will make votes at 16 a reality in Scottish elections and continue the high levels of engagement with young people we experienced during the referendum."

National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland president Gordon Maloney said: "Young people across Scotland campaigned for, and then proved the worth of, lowering the voting age and it's a proud moment for students, NUS Scotland and young people to see this delivered for Scottish elections."

The union expressed concern that the new powers to be devolved "could have gone further" and called for a citizen-led constitutional convention.

Mr Maloney added: "The referendum produced a huge democratic renewal in Scotland and we can't let politicians lock the people out of what happens next."

The Scottish Trades Union congress (STUC) said the new powers were not enough to allow Holyrood to tackle inequality in Scotland.

General secretary Grahame Smith said: "Whilst there are certainly positive elements in these proposals, we are underwhelmed by the package as a whole which does not meet our aspirations.

"STUC continues to believe that control over employment law, equalities and minimum wages is a necessity if inequality is to be effectively challenged. We will continue to press for this.

"The no detriment clause and retention of the Barnett Formula is to be welcomed but the proposals for further fiscal devolution do not go far enough.

"Without the key powers over inheritance and capital gains taxes, meaningful tax and land reform will be more difficult.

"The power to create additional welfare provision is certainly to be welcomed as is the devolution of the work programme.

"However, in sum total, there is not enough to empower the Scottish Parliament to tackle inequality in Scotland."

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland hailed proposals for greater parliamentary scrutiny and welcomed the new tax powers and the recommendation for improved collaboration between the Scottish and UK governments.

Chief executive Anton Colella said: "We believe oversight of government and the way the Parliament works must now be transformed.

"Scotland needs a new era of accountability, scrutiny and transparency to go in hand with our new financial powers."

The institute's director of taxation Elspeth Orcharton said: "The devolution of income tax rates and bands delivers an intelligent political result, balancing the vow to deliver greater control and accountability to Scotland while remaining part of the United Kingdom."

Liz Cameron, director and chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said the new powers would help business reach its potential and hailed the decision to devolve air passenger duty.

She said: "We have long called for new ways of working in Scotland to maximise business growth and today's recommendations serve as a milestone in reaching our potential.

"The commission's recommendations address a number of our key asks in terms of further devolution, including air passenger duty, which must now be devolved and abolished immediately in order to deliver a much-needed boost to the Scottish aviation industry."

Professor Philip Booth, editorial and programme director at the London-based think-tank Institute of Economic Affairs, said: "The Smith proposals are a dangerous half-way house, failing to bring about the benefits that much fuller devolution would have brought to Scotland.

"Scotland should be given full responsibility for all forms of welfare spending and all significant aspects of tax policy.

"That way, there will be clear accountability and the Scottish Government will have the genuine freedom to experiment with welfare reform appropriate to the particular problems and opportunities it faces.

"Under the Smith proposals, different levels of government will be able to continue to blame each other for economic and social problems within Scotland."

On air passenger duty (APD), Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways' parent company IAG, said: "APD must be axed across the UK - not just in Scotland - to avoid a domino effect across the country."

Travel association Abta said: " Any inconsistencies between what a passenger pays flying from Scotland compared to elsewhere in the UK could create an uncompetitive and damaging situation for travel businesses."

Commenting on the recommendation for electoral devolution, an Electoral Commission spokeswoman said: "We will consider the recommendations of the Smith Commission carefully and will work with both the UK and Scottish Governments on any changes to the arrangements for elections in Scotland.

"It is important that any changes to the electoral arrangements in Scotland are made well in advance of any subsequently affected poll and the deadline by which voters will need to register to allow electoral administrators to properly plan for this."

The Free Church of Scotland also hailed the franchise proposals as well as the beginning of a process to devolve abortion.

James Fraser, chairman of the Free Church's board of trustees, said: "We are completely at a loss to think of any good reason for devolving health on the one hand, but reserving abortion policy on the other."

Scotland's major airports welcomed the recommendation for Air Passenger Duty to be devolved and called for it to be implemented as soon as possible.

John Cridland, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general, said: "Businesses on both sides of the border will welcome the Commission's support for maintaining the key tenets of a UK single market.

"And with the vast majority of Scotland's exports going to the rest of the UK, it is vital that businesses based in Scotland can operate without complexity across the UK regions and nations."

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), said: "The retail industry is the country's largest private sector employer, and the SRC will work to ensure those powers being devolved which affect the industry are implemented in a sensible and cost-effective manner, in order to minimise administrative complexity and cost.

"Devolving more powers shouldn't be seen as an end in itself.

"Scotland is a good place to do business, but it could be better, and business needs to remain fully engaged in the debate about how these new powers ought to be used positively to boost the economy.

"It is far too important to simply leave to politicians."

Alistair Morris, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "We are particularly pleased to see that reserved tribunals, such as employment tribunals, are to be devolved.

"This will undoubtedly benefit those seeking recourse through the administrative justice system.

"We also welcome the proposals for improving the cooperation between the UK and Scottish governments in relation to EU matters and that Scottish ministers are to be fully involved in agreeing the UK position in EU negotiations relating to devolved policy matters."

Bill Scott, Inclusion Scotland's policy director, said: "We are disappointed that the Smith Commission failed to devolve all welfare and more fiscal powers to Scotland.

"We consulted with hundreds of disabled people and their near unanimous view was that we needed Devo Max including the devolution of all welfare benefits.

"However, we are pleased that the Scottish Government should get more control over employability schemes."

The Institute of Directors (IoD) welcomed the devolution of APD and the call for closer working between government and officials, but urged caution over income tax "which could have some difficult economic implications".

David Watt, executive director of IoD in Scotland, said: "Overall it will be judged as a balanced set of proposals which the business community will hope is given time to bed in before any further calls for constitutional change."

Dan Macdonald, the founder of business organisation, N-56, also welcomed the devolution of APD.

"Scotland's location means that this punitive tax is having a major impact on our competitiveness as a nation, affecting our tourism sector," he said.

"Handing control of this levy to the Scottish Parliament means we can ensure airlines operating in Scotland are not put at a disadvantage and our tourism potential as a nation is fully realised."

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) described the Smith proposals as "tame".

Lynn Henderson, PCS Scottish secretary, said: "The tax and fiscal opportunities in the Agreement are partial, making the reality of meaningful tax redistribution limited. We welcome the additional welfare and employability provision devolved, but capping benefits to UK levels in effect retain existing poverty and inequality traps for the most vulnerable in Scotland."

John Downie, director of public affairs at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said it is disappointed that the proposals "fall far short" of the wholesale devolution of welfare.

"Lack of control over Universal Credit will continue to impede our efforts to help the poorest people in our communities," he said.

"The proposed powers do however offer significant possibilities to improve support for unemployed people and are a welcome step towards taking a new and improved approach to helping people find work but, without the associated benefits, the overall impact will be limited.

"We will also have ability to design and deliver a different approach to benefits for carers, and disabled and ill people."

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) said the Smith proposals do not go far enough, but represent some progress on housing, energy and benefits.

Mary Taylor, chief executive of the SFHA, said: "The new powers on varying the housing cost elements of Universal Credit do not mean the abolition of the 'bedroom tax,' but they could lead to it.

"The power to allow for rent to be paid directly to social landlords would be significant in tackling the financial difficulties that the Universal Credit system has already been creating in its pilot areas in Scotland."

Holyrood's role in regulating Ofgem and controlling energy company obligations and the warm home discount "could make significant inroads into fuel poverty", she added.

But she called for the rollout of Universal Credit to be suspended in Scotland to avoid "a messy bureaucracy of rolling back whichever aspects of Universal Credit that may be devolved".

"A rushed approach puts at risk the incomes of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, especially if changes subsequently have to be unpicked," she said.

David Melhuish, Director of the Scottish Property Federation, said the new powers "must be used wisely to encourage economic development and investment".

"Social aims and public services can only be supported ultimately by a strong private sector that can deliver the revenue required to meet the government's objectives," he said.

David Ogilvie, head of policy and public affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland, said the power to vary or top up housing benefit "will be able to give more support to people affected by the bedroom tax for example and help people out with the increasing cost of housing".

"Carer's allowance and attendance allowance can affect the level of housing benefit people receive, so we will wait to see what impact the devolution of those two benefits will have," he said.

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said it is right that Scotland should have a formal role in energy market regulation and renewables.

"Ofgem should be increasingly accountable to the Scottish Parliament, as well as Westminster, to ensure the issues that matter to the people and economy of Scotland are reflected in the organisation's work.

"We now need to work together on the detail of how the devolution of the Crown Estate will work in practice to ensure that we continue the development of wind, wave and tidal power around our coasts - home to some of the best natural resources in Europe."

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said the devolution of powers to design how home energy efficiency measures will allow ministers to design measures more suited to Scotland's housing and tackle fuel poverty.

"Air Passenger Duty will now be devolved and given this is currently the only tax on the air transport industry, any subsequent changes must reflect the significant amount of our emissions that come from flying," he added.

"Given the huge contribution renewables in Scotland make to the UK's energy supply, it is also right that the Scottish Government gets a role in overseeing the energy regulator, Ofgem.

"The report also confirms that the Scottish Parliament will now have the full powers to stop fracking and other unconventional gas developments in Scotland."

The Campaign for Scottish Home Rule said more work needs to be done to align responsibilities closer to what could be described as home rule.

The campaign's steering group chairman Ben Thomson said: "A wide range of competences beyond those announced today would be better held at Holyrood than Westminster.

"Our submission called on the Smith Commission, at the very least, to devolve to Holyrood those reserved powers linked to current devolved responsibilities, in particular relating to welfare. While we welcome progress made, it has still fallen short of the package needed to tackle poverty and for job creation.

"Today these proposals would give the Scottish Parliament control over taxes which would raise less than 40% of what it spends.

"We believe that to achieve proper accountability, Holyrood needs to raise all of what it spends.

"We will also continue to make the case that assigned tax revenues are a mirage of accountability - to create a genuine culture of responsibility, tax raising should be devolved and accountability will be improved as a result."

Michael Keating, director of the Centre on Constitutional Change, said the Smith Commission "is not, by any definition, devo-max nor what Gordon Brown described as being close to federalism".

"The Smith commission report provides the minimum amount of extra devolution required to meet the expectations raised by the famous 'vow' from the three UK party leaders in the last week of the referendum campaign," he said.

"Most of the spending of the Scottish Parliament will henceforth be raised in Scotland, but does this really allow Scotland to design its own economic and social policies and to diverge significantly from what is happening in England? Not very much."

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, welcomed the devolution of income tax and aspects of welfare.

He said: "It is critical that the new powers for the Scottish Parliament are used to tackle poverty and inequality generally and poor housing and homelessness specifically.

"There is a long way to go before these proposals become a reality for people across Scotland and our priority remains helping Scotland's most vulnerable tackle bad housing and homelessness."

Friends of the Earth Scotland director Dr Richard Dixon hailed proposals to devolve onshore oil and gas licensing powers.

He said: While we are clear that the Scottish Government could stop the roll out of unconventional gas and fracking with existing powers, these changes would leave them with absolutely no excuse not to take tough action against this dirty industry.

"Ministers must resist calls from the business lobby to cut Air Passenger Duty and instead use this levy to maintain its commitment to reduce emissions from aviation."

John Park, assistant general secretary of trade union Community, said: "These are radical proposals, which rightly respect the outcome of the referendum and the desire of all parties to see more decisions taken directly in Scotland.

"Importantly, the report has also avoided firing the starting gun in a race to the bottom that would hurt working people. Essential safeguards for workers, such as the minimum wage, have been protected."

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities president, councillor David O'Neill, said: "Devolving powers beyond Holyrood directly to local Government will ensure communities in Scotland can more fully benefit from the important decisions affecting their lives being made closer to where they live.

"His findings chime wholeheartedly to the commission I chaired on strengthening local democracy, which proposed that both empowered communities & subsidiarity works best in a framework of vibrant local democracy."

John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said: "Whilst the vast bulk of benefit support for families both in and out of work looks set to remain reserved, powers over disability benefits and the ability to create and top up wider benefits create real opportunities to ensure financial support for families keeps pace with the actual cost of living.

"Nevertheless key levers for tackling poverty, including the national minimum wage, child benefit and wider economic and fiscal powers, remain at Westminster.

"It is vital that as anti-poverty campaigners we continue to focus attention on the fundamental changes needed in the approach of UK politicians to social security, low pay and job insecurity."

Jackie Brock, Children in Scotland chief executive, said: "Our submission to the commission warned about the risks of piecemeal transfers of powers, particularly around welfare, and highlighted that it is essential that powers transferred will enable us to match more closely Scottish policies with resource requirements. I do not believe that the commission's recommendations have achieved these aims.

"For example, the welfare powers to be transferred do not include tax credit and other measures which would have enabled us to align our policies for childcare with funding of this vital support for children and families.

"Given the focus in the Programme for Government on the Living Wage, transfer of powers over the legal minimum wage would have been a valuable addition to our Parliament's powers to raise living standards and ambitions for Scottish families."

"I am concerned that vulnerable families in Scotland may face even more complexity around welfare payments as a result of these transfers."