17 December 2014
Calum McCallum On Smith Commission Report
Although Transform Scotland did not take a particular view on the outcome
of the independence referendum, we nevertheless decided that it would be
worthwhile to try and provoke some discussion in the period after the
event. in the light of the setting up of the Smith
Commission we wanted to discuss how additional devolved powers could help
bring about moves towards a more sustainable transport system. The result
of this was the paper 'Devolving Transport', written by our board member
Calum McCallum.
This paper also formed the basis of Calum’s presentation to the post-AGM
discussion event on the 9th October. The core argument of the
paper is that the set-up of transport governance within Scotland is in
need of radical re-organisation. He argues that the current structure is
far too centralised with too little power and money given to regional and
local structures, and that both central and local bodies need to be scrutinised to ensure they are fit for purpose.
The paper begins by highlighting areas which are already partly devolved and where further devolution could make movement towards a sustainable transport system in Scotland more straightforward. This then formed the core of Transform Scotlands submission to the Smith Commission. Our recommendations for additional powers were (in brief):
- All powers over speed limits and signage on roads (also supported by Living Streets and the Responsible Parking Alliance)
- The legal framework for the railways including full devolution of the infrastructure provider
- Transfer of the Traffic Commissioner to the Scottish Government
- Extension of borrowing powers to finance revenue as well as capital spend
- The power to give income tax relief on the cost of public transport season tickets
The outcome of the Smith Commission resulted in the devolvement of powers over signage and speed limits. While the Commission recommends that the Scottish
Government has the power to allow public sector bids for the ScotRail
franchise, this falls a long way short of our calls for new powers over
the railway. The Commission failed to take on board any of our other recommendations.
Despite this let down, the issue of tax relief on public transport season
tickets has been discussed in reference to city region powers in the wider UK, and more powers over the railway remain an objective of the Scottish Government. This has been an experience with mixed results, but it is encouraging to see that things may be making move in the right direction.