Scottish Government will make citizens' assembly 'action plan' within 90 days of receiving recommendations

The Scottish Government has promised to make an “action plan” within 90 days of receiving the recommendations of the citizens’ assembly on Scotland’s constitutional future, according to the assembly’s remit.

Recommendations from the assembly are to be included in a report which the government is bound to lay before parliament for scrutiny before the action plan is decided. 

The assembly’s recommendations are to be “relevant to the remit, based on evidence...and capable of being put into practice,” the remit states. 

The citizens’ assembly, announced in April, will see up to 130 members of public randomly selected to consider broad topics on Scotland’s future, including issues relating to Brexit and independence. 

The assembly is to be independent from government and will be overseen by two “impartial and respected” conveners.

They are former Labour MEP David Martin and third sector leader Kate Wimpress.

Within the remit, the assembly is free to choose which particular issues to focus on, as well as who to hear evidence from and how to structure its agenda. 

The assembly will sit over six weekends from 25/26 October 2019 to 24/26 April 2020 in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The plans to hold a citizens’ assembly have been supported by Labour and the Scottish Green party, but the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Conservatives have refused to take part with the Conservatives describing it as “a nationalist stunt to kickstart the conversation about independence.”

The Scottish Government’s response to the final recommendations of the assembly is set out in the remit, which says: “Where the Scottish Parliament agrees a recommendation for which the Scottish Government does not have responsibility, the report will set out the steps which the Scottish Government intends to take in relation to that recommendation.”

The remit does also state that “the Scottish Government may refer further matters to the assembly, or to a further citizens’ assembly, for consideration.”

Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell said: “This remit creates the framework within which the assembly will operate and provides a new way for Scotland’s future to be debated in an impartial, open way, free from political interference and vested interests. I hope that, in turn, sparks a wider national conversation.

“But it shouldn’t stop there. It is important that assembly members know the government and the parliament are listening and that the assembly’s recommendations also inform our policy decisions. The remit spells out how this will happen, ensuring a central role for Parliament and committing Government to action within 90 days of the assembly submitting its report.”