You are living through one of the most interesting and exciting times in Scotland’s history – you have the chance to help determine the future of Scotland.
At the moment Scotland is part of the UK (along with Wales, England and Northern Ireland) with each of the countries having varying degrees of control over their own affairs.
Scotland has had its own Parliament since 1999 when more powers were devolved from the UK Parliament in Westminster (“devolution”). This means while the Scottish Parliament has control over many things like Health, Education, and Housing, the UK Parliament is still responsible for Defence, Benefits, Foreign policy and other matters.
Last year the SNP (Scottish National Party) won the largest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament. Part of their commitment to the voters at the time was to hold a referendum (a vote) on Scotland’s future. This is what is currently being discussed. As usual, however, there are many different points of view about how and when this should be done.
Key terms
Here, we explain some of the terms used, the options for the people of Scotland and how you can get involved and have your say:
- Referendum – A referendum is a vote in which everybody in the country who is legally allowed to vote is asked to either decide ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a particular idea. In this instance the idea, or proposal, is that Scotland should become an independent country.
- Devolution – In political terms, devolution is when certain powers or responsibilities are given by a central government or administration to a local or regional administrator. In 1999 the UK Parliament transferred some of its powers to the Scottish Parliament and Scotland became responsible for things like Sport, the Arts & Tourism. The UK Parliament is still responsible for Employment, Money and Financial & Economic matters.
- Independence – As an independent country the Scottish Parliament would be completely responsible for decision making in Scotland. The Scottish Government has also stated that they would want to keep the Queen as the Head of State and continue being a member of the European Union.
What’s happening now?
The Scottish Government and the UK Government both launched consultations to gather people’s thoughts and opinions on what the referendum question should be, how the referendum should be managed and other issues. both of these consultations have now closed and the responses will be being examined.
The Scottish Government has published the following timeline of key dates for the referendum:
- Analysis of responses - Summer 2012
- Practical preparations, ballot paper testing - Autumn/Winter 2012
- Scottish Government Legislative Programme - Autumn 2012
- Finalisation of Referendum Bill & implementation plan - Autumn/Winter 2012
- Introduction of Referendum Bill - Early 2013
- Parliamentary consideration of Bill Stages 1 & 2 - Early to Mid 2013
- Summer recess - July to August 2013
- Referendum Bill passed after stage 3 - October 2013
- Royal Assent to Referendum Bill - November 2013
- Publication of white paper - November 2013
- European elections - June 2014
- Start of regulation period - Summer 2014
- Pre-referendum period (no government publications to be published) - 28 days before referendum;
- Referendum - Autumn 2014
BIG TALKING POINT
Would you like to have a vote in the referendum? The Scottish Government consultation has proposed that 16 and 17 year olds should be allowed to vote in the referendum and the UK Government consultation also includes a question over who should be allowed to vote. You can make sure your opinion counts by responding to the consultations and letting them know what you think.
The Scottish Government have also produced a blog on whether or not 16 or 17 year olds should be allowed to vote in the Referendum. You can either leave a comment or have your say by responding to the consultation.
How to find out more...
To find out more about the issues you can read both the Scottish Government and UK Government consultations. You can also brush up on political terms and phrases using a political glossary:
Scottish Parliament Glossary
UK Parliament Glossary
You can also find out more by visiting the Future of Scotland website. The Future of Scotland are a group of organisations who want to start a discussion on some of the issues around independence or further powers for Scotland.
Click on the button to visit their website:
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