{"id":802,"date":"2014-03-20T08:51:32","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T08:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk\/referendum\/?p=802"},"modified":"2018-07-06T14:37:22","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T14:37:22","slug":"labours-devolution-proposals-more-questions-than-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk\/referendum\/labours-devolution-proposals-more-questions-than-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour’s Devolution Proposals: More questions than answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing at the Future of the UK and Scotland<\/a> site, Nicola McEwen examines the proposals put forth by the Labour Party’s Devolution Commission.<\/em><\/p>\n

The future of the welfare state has been a key feature of the referendum campaign. Against the backdrop of the UK government\u2019s controversial welfare reforms, the Scottish government and Yes Scotland have argued that an independent Scotland would oversee a more progressive, fairer welfare system. The Labour Party\u2019s Devolution Commission proposals, published yesterday, are likely to reinforce the centrality of the welfare issue. But Labour\u2019s welfare state is unmistakably British.<\/p>\n

The spectrum of proposals – on tax as well as benefits – rests on a characterisation of the UK as a \u2018sharing Union\u2019, where solidarity, risks and rewards are spread across the UK\u2019s nations and regions. The report affirms the Devolution Commission\u2019s belief that the majority of cash benefits \u2013 \u201cthe core of the Welfare State\u201d \u2013 should remain a responsibility of the UK parliament and government. But it proposes the devolution of two key areas of social security \u2013 Housing Benefit and Attendance Allowance.<\/p>\n

The justification given is that these benefits are closely linked to devolved responsibilities in housing, health and social care. The same could be said for many more areas of social security, from child benefit to pensions, but these are considered central to the pooling of risks and resources within the UK \u2018social union\u2019. Housing Benefit and Attendance Allowance also carry symbolic significance for Scotland. Housing Benefit invokes the bedroom tax, which has been used by Labour, the SNP and the Greens to symbolise the iniquities of the UK government\u2019s reforms. Attendance Allowance is closely linked to that most symbolic of policy milestones of the Scottish parliament, free personal care.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the debate, then, are competing visions of communities of belonging. For Labour, the boundaries of solidarity and community are British. For the SNP and the broader Yes Scotland movement, \u2018sharing and belonging\u2019 \u2013 solidarity and welfare \u2013 go together more easily within Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/p>\n

However, the report – or at least the Executive Summary which was published yesterday – is surprisingly lacking in detail about how these policy competences would be transferred, and with what implications.<\/p>\n