Ministers will produce an action plan within three months of receiving recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland, it has been announced.
The Assembly’s remit, published earlier this week, specifies that its report on Scotland’s future will be laid before the Scottish Parliament for scrutiny and debate. Ministers will then publish a plan setting out how the recommendations will be taken forward.
The report’s recommendations must be “relevant to the remit, based on evidence heard by the Assembly and capable of being put into practice”, the document states. It guarantees the Assembly’s independence from government through the appointment of impartial and respected conveners, an arms-length secretariat and expert advisory groups.
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.”
The Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland will comprise up to 130 citizens selected randomly to be broadly representative of the adult population.
The recruitment of members for the Citizens’ Assembly is one of the most crucial tasks in advance of the Assembly.
Recruiters will be out and about in communities across Scotland randomly selecting people, aiming to achieve a target profile that is broadly representative of the people of Scotland.
Participants will be selected to be a ‘mini public’ of the adult population of Scotland on a range of geographic, demographic and political attitudes criteria. The target profile of the Assembly and method of recruitment have been published on the website.
Recruitment will continue up until just before the Assembly begins in October.
The Citizens Assemby will meet over six weekends from 26/27 October 2019 to 24/26 April 2020 to consider:
- what kind of country are we seeking to build
- how best can we overcome the challenges Scotland and the world face in the 21st century, including those arising from Brexit, and
- what further work should be carried out to give us the information we need to make informed choices about the future of the country
The independent conveners are former Labour MEP David Martin and third sector leader Kate Wimpress.
The Conveners are responsible for the arrangements which will enable the Assembly to deliver its remit. They will host the meetings of the Assembly, convening them and contributing to them. Finally, they will represent the Assembly, speaking on its behalf in public and to the media.
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