By Cera Murtagh

A new survey shows that the majority of people in Scotland believe key decisions about welfare benefits and taxation should be taken by the Scottish Parliament. 

According to the figures from the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey on Scotland’s constitutional future, 60 per cent of people believe Holyrood should take most of the important decisions for Scotland about welfare while 59 per cent would like to see the most important decisions about taxation taken in Edinburgh. 

The SNP welcomed the findings, saying it demonstrated that the majority of the Scottish public want more powers than those being offered by the Calman Commission proposals. 

The survey also found support for independence in 2009 was four points higher than it was in 2007.

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “These findings are positive, and going in the right direction for Scotland.  They show that after a decade of devolution, there is now a clear and consistent demand for further constitutional progress for Scotland and extending the powers of the Parliament.

“The debate in Scotland is no longer between change or no change – it is about the kind of change we seek, and the right of the people to choose their future in a free and fair referendum.

“The vast majority of people want to extend the responsibilities of the Parliament far beyond the Calman Commission recommendations, and the watered down version of Calman published by the Scotland Office, so that we have more powers to do more for Scotland.  The vast majority of people want Scotland’s Parliament to have the full economic and financial clout needed to fight recession, support recovery, and build a fair society.”

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Katie Mackintosh

Katie is Holyrood magazine's Health Correspondent and has been with the magazine since 2005. She has an MA in Sociology with Gender from Edinburgh University and a post graduate diploma in Journalism from Napier University. Katie has twice been named PPA Scotland Feature Writer of the Year, in 2008 and again in 2009, and was shortlisted for magazine writer of the year at the Scottish Press Awards in 2012. She is an Aberdonian by birth, a Glaswegian by nature, who now lives in Fife with her...

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