The Scottish government has published its remit for a Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland, set to convene for the first time later this year.
The planned Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland will consist of up to 130 Scottish citizens, selected to be broadly representative of social and political demographics; and will meet over the course of six weekends between 26 October 2019 and 26 April 2020. The remit emphasises that the Assembly should operate wholly independently from the government, with meetings to be overseen and guided by independent moderators. In order to promote transparency and clarity of the process, meetings will be livestreamed for public viewing.
The Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland will consider:
- The kind of country Scotland should aim to be in the future;
- Potential solutions to the challenges faced by Scotland and the world, including issues surrounding Brexit; and
- Recommending further ways of gathering the necessary information to make the best decisions for the future of Scotland.
Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations, 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 final report produced by the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland will be put toward the Scottish parliament for ‘scrutiny and debate’; the Assembly’s remit commits ministers to produce an action plan in response to the report’s recommendations within three months of its delivery.
