The Commission on Scottish Devolution, also referred to as the Calman Commission, Scottish Parliament Commission[1] or Review[2], held its first full meeting at the Scottish Parliament on 28 April 2008[3].
The Commission was established by a motion passed by the Scottish Parliament on 6 December2007[4]. Its terms of reference are: "To review the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 in the light of experience and to recommend any changes to the present constitutional arrangements that would enable the Scottish Parliament to better serve the people of Scotland, that would improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament and that would continue to secure the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom."[5]
The Commission is meeting at roughly monthly intervals.[6] It plans to issue a first report before the end of 2008, and a final report in 2009. It will report both to the Scottish Parliament and to the UK Government.
The Commission has 15 members[7][8], including nominees of the 3 Unionist parties, representatives of business, trade unions, academia and community organisations.
Sir Kenneth Calman (convener) - Chancellor of the University of Glasgow (Chairman)
Colin Boyd- former Lord Advocate, member of the House of Lords (Labour)
Rani Dhir MBE - Director Drumchapel Housing Co-operative
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (James Selkirk) - former Scottish Office Minister, member of the House of Lords (Conservative)
Professor Sir David Edward - retired Judge of the European Court
Lord Elder (Murray Elder) - member of the House of Lords (Labour)
Audrey Findlay - former Leader of Aberdeenshire Council, now Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Jamie Lindsay - former Scottish Office Minister, member of the House of Lords (Conservative), Chairman of the Scottish Agricultural College
John Loughton - Chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament
Jim Wallace - former Deputy First Minister and former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, member of the House of Lords (Liberal Democrat)
Task Groups
The Commission has established five task groups to assist it in its work. These meet in between meetings of the full Commission. The task groups and their chairs are as follows:
Principles - Sir Kenneth Calman
Functions - Professor Sir David Edward
Engagement - Murdoch MacLennan
Financial Accountability - Shonaig Macpherson
Inter-Governmental Relations - Jim Wallace
Independent Expert Group
There is also an independent expert group established to advise the Commission on financial accountability. This is chaired by Professor Anton Muscatelli, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Heriot Watt University, and includes academics from Scotland, the rest of the UK and overseas.
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