new powers for the scottish parliament

There are some key powers the Scottish parliament needs immediately to make a radical breakthrough. To achieve democratic control over our economy, the Scottish Parliament should have power over the following areas:

Employment Law 

Employment law needs to be devolved to enable an enhancement of rights above the UK floor, as set out in ongoing Westminster legislation, “Make Work Pay”. This would give the power to enhance but never detract from these minimum standards. So that, for example, the Scottish parliament could legislate for sectoral bargaining beyond social care and school support staff, which is set out in the current legislation and include the food production and agriculture sector, the warehousing sector, the parcel and food delivery sector and the hospitality sector and others as considered necessary. And it could also legislate to remove the restrictions on industrial action imposed in the 1980s and promote greater worker participation and control.

Powers over personal and corporate taxation

These powers would bring capital gains and dividends within the Scottish income tax system, and enable the Scottish government to introduce new taxes on large international companies that pay little at present.

Power over Exploration & Production Licenses in waters within Scottish Jurisdiction would give the Scottish government an important economic lever to insist that oil and gas developments produce Scottish jobs, but also greater investment in R&D in moving to a just green transition.

New and Increased Borrowing Powers

The Scottish Government has limited borrowing powers. We believe that the Scottish Parliament’s borrowing powers must be increased to allow the Scottish Government to borrow and issue bonds. This could be used for both resource and capital spending, for example, providing the Scottish Parliament the power to borrow to make public investment in renewables or in a green stimulus package. The STUC calculate that 150,000 jobs would be created with £13bn of investment in green industries. This approach would also give the Scottish people ownership of vital industries and help build a new economy where the public has a stake.

Migration

The Scottish parliament should have increased powers to issue visas that would let migrants live and work in Scotland. This measure already has a lot of support in Scotland, including the STUC.

In their words: “Bespoke visa schemes for Scotland, combined with expanding international outreach activities in relation to immigration to advertise these new arrangements, would be an effective way of ensuring that immigration policy meets Scotland’s needs.” Scotland has a separate tax registration, so this could be managed.