Joint letter to Smith Commission

Joint letter to Smith Commission

Dear Lord Smith

As representatives of some of the major interests in civil society in Scotland, we are well aware of the challenges facing your Commission. We appreciate the opportunity to make submissions and the extension of the timetable which will enable us to engage with our constituents. However, we are concerned that there is a vital component missing from the process.

The inspirational energy evident across Scotland during the referendum – including but also well beyond the membership of civil society organisations like our own, and reflected in the very high turnout – deserves and expects to be fully engaged in what happens next. This is not possible within the timetable you have been given.

We have agreed, therefore, to ask all of the political parties involved in your Commission to commit now to a widest possible citizen-led process which would test the outcome of your discussions against the values and expectations which have been raised by the people of Scotland. A citizen-led process would allow the Commission to undertake its work as planned, and would allow the proposed timetable to be met. Such an initiaitive would also ensure that the next steps for Scotland are led by the people not within parameters set by our politicians, allowing a truly citizen-led process to take place before any final consideration of legislation.

Such a process would operate within the parameter of accepting the referendum result, including the commitment to further powers but with nothing ruled out.

We believe that there is an important opportunity here to do something innovative and participative, whilst honouring the vow and timetable made during the campaign. The future of devolution cannot be decided behind closed doors by party politicians alone, or with limited reference to community leaders, however well intentioned.

We have distributed this letter to all of the political parties involved in your Commission and would be pleased to discuss, either in the round or bilaterally, ways in which a citizen-led engagements can be organised and delivered.

We hope that a degree of consensus can emerge on this vital component of citizen participation which has the potential to deliver a significant boost to the prospects of an inclusive approach to the development of devolution.

Yours sincerely

Sally Foster-Fulton

Church of Scotland

Willie Sullivan

Electoral Reform Society

Gordon Maloney

NUS Scotland

Grahame Smith

STUC

Martin Sime

SCVO