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Country level devolution: Scotland

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Stephens
  • Suzanne Fitzpatrick

Abstract

The Scottish Parliament has been in existence for nearly two decades. Its powers have been extended to cover a number of taxes and areas of social security in recent years. This paper examines the use of these powers and assesses 10 individual exemplar policies in distributional terms. These lie in the areas of taxation, social security and housing. It identifies that the values underpinning them are progressive, as are the individual policies themselves. They are also imbued with caution, with tax changes being designed to leave most people better or no worse off. Social security and housing policies are generally targeted at low income households or people who are otherwise vulnerable. Private rented tenancy reform is an exception, since it is designed to bring security to a broader range of the population. These policies do not tell the whole story, and a complete assessment would need to consider other areas notably education, as part of a wider assessment of where funding has been diverted from in order to finance priority areas. Many of the powers have been recently acquired and it is not possible to assess their outcomes. Looking to the future, there should be concern about the suitability of the funding base to finance spending ambitions. Meanwhile Scotland is developing new tax and social security institutions that may in time permit more strategic thinking about distributional policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Stephens & Suzanne Fitzpatrick, 2018. "Country level devolution: Scotland," CASE - Social Policies and Distributional Outcomes Research Papers 01, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
  • Handle: RePEc:cep:spdorp:01
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    File URL: https://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/spdo/spdorp01.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:cep:spccrp:03 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kitty Stewart & Kerris Cooper & Isabel Shutes, 2019. "What does Brexit mean for social policy in the UK? An exploration of the potential consequences of the 2016 referendum for public services, inequalities and social rights," CASE - Social Policies and Distributional Outcomes Research Papers 03, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    3. repec:cep:spccrp:08 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:cep:spccrr:spdorp03 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Stewart, Kitty & Cooper, Kerris & Shutes, Isabel, 2019. "What does Brexit mean for social policy in the UK? An exploration of the potential consequences of the 2016 referendum for public services, inequalities and social rights," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121548, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Kerris Cooper & John Hills, 2021. "The Conservative Governments’ Record on Social Security: Policies, Spending and Outcomes, May 2015 to pre-COVID 2020," CASE - Social Policies and Distributional Outcomes Research Papers 10, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    devolution; Scotland;

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