UK Government has ‘fundamental lack of respect’ for devolution, says Fabiani

EXCLUSIVE 

The UK Government showed a “fundamental lack of respect” in its decision to extend Work Programme contracts while the Smith Commission discussed further devolution, according to SNP MSP Linda Fabiani.

The Smith Commission recommended devolving the UK Government’s Work Programme to Holyrood from March 2016, only to learn that the UK Government had already extended its contracts for another year. 

But Alistair Carmichael, Secretary of State for Scotland, said the decision to extend the contract was made in August.

Asked whether she was optimistic that Smith’s recommendations would be passed by Westminster, Fabiani, one of the SNP representatives on the Commission, said: “I will reserve judgment, but I will give you an example – the Smith Commission says the Work Programme is to be devolved. Then we discover, after it has reported, that while it was going on the UK Government signed an extension of a year to the private companies that run the Work Programme in the UK. 

“So we are stuck with that, though it is not our policy, or the policy of the main opposition. So there is a fundamental lack of respect even at the very start as to what devolution is and that is about inter-governmental relations. And I have now heard that they are extending it for another two years to 2019 – though I can’t verify that.

“I would like to say that we got a couple of concessions, though I would not go further than a couple. But at the end of the day, we do not have a coherent set of powers, we do not have extensive powers and we have nothing near Home Rule. We do not yet have these powers; they still need to go through Westminster.”

Meanwhile, Carnegie UK Trust chief executive Martyn Evans questioned the decision to devolve the Work Programme without also transferring the power over sanctions to the Scottish Parliament. 

‘The future of welfare’ breakfast briefing was the second event in a series of four organised by Holyrood, aimed at exploring aspects of the Smith Commission. To register for the two January events, ‘The future of party politics’ and ‘The future of political engagement’, see briefings.holyrood.com