Calman Commission Briefing

Back to listing

Published: 23 Jun 2009
Author: Kenryck Lloyd-Jones, Policy Officer for Scotland

The Calman Commission: reviewing devolution in Scotland

Background to the Commission

The Commission on Scottish Devolution (or Calman Commission) was established following a resolution of the Scottish Parliament for 'the establishment of an independently chaired commission to review devolution in Scotland'. The Scottish National Party, which is the party of minority government in Scotland, did not support this motion.

However a majority in the Scottish Parliament supported a review of the working of devolution in Scotland, while opting not to support the Scottish Government's 'National Conversation', because of the latter's open ended approach to Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

Consequently, the Commission on Scottish Devolution sought to review arrangements for improving the working of devolution within the context of the UK constitution and the devolved settlement.

The remit of the Commission was outlined as:

To review the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 in the light of experience and to recommend any changes to the present constitutional arrangements that would enable the Scottish Parliament to serve the people of Scotland better, improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament, and continue to secure the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

Sir Kenneth Calman was appointed Chair of the commission in April 2008.

More information can be found on the commission website.

Broad areas for review

Much of the focus of the review carried out by the Calman Commission has been the existing powers of the Scottish Parliament, its financial accountability and the relative working of reserved and devolved areas of public life that are the responsibility of the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments.

It has sought to recommend where powers for the Scottish Parliament should be extended (ie further devolved from Westminster) and areas where there might be a need for UK responsibility). This has included numerous areas of public life, including taxation, borrowing, social rights, broadcasting, health etc. It has been concerned not only with formal legislative powers but also with procedures and the formal recognition of the working of devolution in both Parliaments.

Relevance to Physiotherapy

For the physiotherapy profession, the central relevance to the work of the Calman Commission has been related to the regulation of health professionals.

The three main aspects of health that remain reserved powers upon which the Scottish parliament cannot legislate are:
  • The regulation of medicines
  • Abortion and embryo research
  • Health Professional Regulation

Any changes to the regulation of physiotherapists (and other allied health professionals, doctors dentists, nurses etc) has been a reserved matter for the Westminster UK Parliament. However, this is not extended to new professions in health that were unregulated at the time of devolution.

CSP Scotland made submission to the Calman Commission on this basis, pointing out that there were considerable benefits to the system of UK-wide regulation of health professionals, and that this principle ought to be extended to the regulation of new health professions. Concern was also expressed that consideration by both Parliaments and communication between both administrations at Holyrood and Westminster should be improved.

The full CSP Scotland submission (PDF download) can be viewed on the commission website.

The Report

The Commission began work in April 2008 and published its Final Report, Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century, on 15 June 2009. With specific reference to the regulation of the health professions, the report states:

The Commission agrees that there should be a common framework for the regulation of the health professions and has considered whether this is most effectively achieved through cooperation and the existence of UK-wide regulatory bodies or through ensuring that the regulation of all new health professions is the responsibility of the UK Parliament. The Commission has concluded that it is in the public interest and in the best interest of the people of Scotland for responsibility for legislation to regulate all health professions to return to the UK Parliament. The Commission therefore recommends that regulation of the health professions is reserved without exception and that the drafting method by which the reservation of health professions in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act is achieved should therefore be changed.

This would mean that in future, health professions that require to be regulated in the UK would be legislated on a UK basis, avoiding the need for a dual register or a duplication or deviation of procedures in different parts of the UK. An extract from the final Report follows.

While collaboration between governments, and a dual legislative process to allow for UK-wide legislation would have been an alternative approach to achieve this end, a return of powers to Westminster was viewed by the Commission as the simplest option.

Extract from Calman Commission Final Report

Regulation of the health professions

  • 5.143  The Scotland Act reserves the regulation of health professions. These are defined in the interpretation paragraph as those regulated by various (listed) enactments. These include doctors, dentists, dental auxiliaries, opticians, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, chiropodists and veterinary surgeons amongst others. Consequently, legislative and executive competence for regulation of any new profession in the health area is automatically devolved.
  • 5.144  This means that the professions which have emerged and been subject to regulation subsequent to the Scotland Act are not reserved in a manner consistent with similar, previously recognised professions but, in fact, devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
    According to the UK Department of Health this means that currently the regulation of operating department practitioners, dental nurses, dental technicians, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists is devolved, and this could be expected to increase as regulation is extended to further professions.
  • 5.147  The Commission believes that it is important that there should be a common approach to regulation of the health professions to ensure that there is clarity for patients as well as an assurance of common standards irrespective of the location in which they find themselves in need of care or advice. Similarly, for practitioners, a consistent approach to regulation helps to ensure that mobility within Great Britain is straightforward and that relevant continuing professional development is recognised.
  • 5.148  The Commission agrees that there should be a common framework for the regulation of the health professions and has considered whether this is most effectively achieved through cooperation and the existence of UK-wide regulatory bodies or through ensuring that the regulation of all new health professions is the responsibility of the UK Parliament. The Commission has concluded that it is in the public interest and in the best interest of the people of Scotland for responsibility for legislation to regulate all health professions to return to the UK Parliament. The Commission therefore recommends that regulation of the health professions is reserved without exception and that the drafting method by which the reservation of health professions in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act is achieved should therefore be changed.

Recommendation 5.12:  The regulation of all health professions, not just those specified by the Scotland Act, should be reserved. Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century - Final Report of the Commission on Scottish Devolution June 2009

What Next?

The Calman Commission was established by the Scottish Parliament as a public independent review, and the Commission has now made its recommendations to MSPs.

It is likely that the recommendations will now become a matter of political discourse, with the political parties choosing to either adopt or oppose the various recommendations in the report. This will be true at a UK level also, where both the Scotland Office of government and the UK political parties have had engagement with the Calman Commission. In essence the report both establishes a framework and defines the parameters of debate around the future of devolution within the existing constitutional arrangements of the UK.

Much of debate is likely to focus on the large-scale questions of future taxation and revenue in Scotland, and the budget settlement that emerges for the future working of devolution.

In this context the issue of health professional regulation is far less controversial. There is not a great deal of opposition to the Commission's Recommendation that the health professions require a single regulatory framework across the UK. There are signs that even although the Scottish National Party and the SNP administration have not engaged with the Calman Commission, there is broad recognition of the need for health professional regulation on a UK basis, regardless of whether this is through the mechanism of reserved powers at Westminster or through inter government collaboration.

Further information

See the commission website for a full copy of the report.



Login or register