Holyrood must overhaul way of working in post-Brexit landscape

A major overhaul of the way Holyrood operates is needed in response to the post-Brexit constitutional landscape, a new report has found.

An independent review should be established into Holyrood’s committee structure ahead of the election of the next Parliament at the May election, according to a panel of economic and constitutional experts.

The repatriation of powers from Brussels as a result of the UK's departure from the EU, which came into effect last month, means the devolution set-up is now more "complex and challenging", the panel found.

A Saltire and a European Union flag fly outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh

Many powers are now effectively shared in areas where before there was clearer distinction between what was Holyrood's responsibility and the "reserved" authority of Westminster.

Today’s report warns the Scottish Parliament must change its approach to scrutiny after the election.

Professor James Mitchell from the University of Edinburgh, who sat on the panel, said MSPs must be more attuned to policy developments at Westminster in future.

“Devolution is now much more complex and challenging to understand, with the powers of Scottish ministers shared with UK ministers in many significant policy areas," he said.

"For example, [this is] in relation to income tax and in many policy areas previously within the competence of the EU. This means that the Parliament will need to be much more aware of how UK legislation impacts on devolved areas, including the extent to which it constrains the powers of Scottish ministers.

“At the same time the Parliament will need to continue to scrutinise policy developments at an EU level, both in terms of the ongoing impact of the UK-EU trade agreement on devolved areas and the extent to which the keeping pace power is used.”

The focus of the review should be on committee remits in the next Parliament and should include consideration of fiscal and Brexit-related issues, along with the legacy reports of other committees.

Holyrood’s finance and constitution committee, which commissioned the expert panel’s analysis, will consider the findings next week.

Another panel member, Charlotte Barbour, director of taxation at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, said: “The Parliament cannot merely continue with the existing approach to its scrutiny function.

"The future scrutiny burden arising from Brexit is so great that if it is carried out in an ad-hoc manner, it is unlikely that it will be done effectively.

“Instead, a more systematic and carefully planned approach is required."

There is also likely to be an increased demand for parliamentary time to consider tax legislation, the panel finds, and the ongoing work of the Devolved Taxes Legislative Working Group should be an early priority.

The impact that Covid-19 has had on the taxation system should also be looked at by the successor to the finance and constitution committee, including the prospect of restructuring taxes which are devolved, including a human-rights based approach.

Other committee members included Professor Michael Keating, from the Centre on Constitutional Change, Christine O’Neill QC of law firm Brodies, and Mairi Spowage, deputy director of the Fraser of Allander Institute.

Finance and constitution committee convener Bruce Crawford said: “There is much for our committee and the rest of the Parliament to consider. I am sure it will be influential on the establishment of committees in the new Parliament.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.