Annex Eight: Assembly evidence: Expert speakers, presentations and supporting materials
Introduction
This annex details the full range of evidence provided to members across the course of the Assembly process. Part one lists the biographies of all expert speakers. Part Two provides links to the evidence presented during the sessions, the supporting papers provided to members in advance of the meetings and the weekend reports, which include summary accounts of the evidence. All evidence is published on the website, alongside the livestream recordings of evidence sessions.
Part One: Biographies of expert speakers and contributors
| Weekend (Topic) | Name | Role | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend 1 (Constitutional issues) | Professor Nicola McEwen | Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change | Nicola is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change. She specialises in devolution, territorial politics and multi-level government, especially on Scotland’s place in the UK. Nicola is also a member of the Assembly’s Stewarding Group. |
| Weekend 2 (Assessing evidence) | Phil Allan | Account Director, 3x1 | Phil Allan is an Account Director at 3x1, a public relations company which provides public relations services to the Assembly. He formerly worked as the editor of the Angus County Press and as a journalist on the Press and Journal. |
| Weekend 2 (Assessing evidence) | Kaela Scott | Head of Democratic Innovation, Involve | Kaela Scott is Head of Democratic Innovation at Involve, a public participation charity, and is an expert adviser to the Assembly Secretariat. She focuses on developing the theory and practice of public engagement and new forms of democratic participation. |
| Weekend 2 (What makes you happy?) | George Bangham | Policy analyst, Resolution Foundation | George Bangham works at the Resolution Foundation, a leading economic think-tank that works to improve the living standards of families on low and middle-incomes. His research looks at wealth inequality, labour markets, and wellbeing, and he has discussed these topics on BBC TV and radio. He previously worked as a policy and public affairs officer at ACEVO, the charity sector trade body, and studied history and economics at university. |
| Weekend 2 (Values) | Dr Elke Heins, | Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh | Elke is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh. Her research and teaching focuses on comparative welfare state policies, in particular labour market policy as well as the politics of welfare and wellbeing. |
| Weekend 3 (Sustainability | Sandy Begbie CBE | Chief Transformation Officer of Tesco Bank | Sandy is the Chief Transformation Officer of Tesco Bank. He was previously Director of Global people, organisation and culture integration at Standard Life Aberdeen PLC as well as being their lead executive for China and Hong Kong. Sandy has received a CBE for social mobility and inclusion leadership |
| Weekend 3 (Sustainability) | Dr Katherine Trebeck | Co-Founder, Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland | Katherine works with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll), both the global team and as a co-founder of WEAll Scotland. |
| Weekend 3 (Sustainability) | Dr Andy Kerr | (Director, EIT Climate-KIC) | Andy is the UK and Ireland Director for EIT Climate-KIC (European Institute of Innovation and Technology Climate – Knowledge and Innovation Community), Europe’s largest innovation agency for climate solutions which works with cities, industry and regions to deliver transformational change. Previously, Andy founded and directed ECCI, the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, and the Scottish Centre of Expertise on Climate Change: ClimateXChange. He is a Non-Executive Director of Scottish Renewables. |
| Weekend 3 (Constitutional issues) | Dr Chris McCorkindale, | Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Strathclyde | Chris’s research interests include constitutional and administrative law, with a recent focus on the constitutional implications of Brexit as well empirical work on safeguards for legislative competence in the devolved parliaments and assemblies. |
| Weekend 3 (Constitutional issues) | Dr Alan Renwick | Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit, University College London | Alan’s expertise lies mainly in the areas of electoral systems, referendums, and other modes of engaging the public in decision-making processes, such as citizens’ assemblies. Alan is on the Assembly’s Stewarding Group and was previously the Director of the Citizens’ Assembly on Brexit. |
| Weekend 3 (Politicians Panel) | Angela Constance | MSP, Scottish National Party | Angela is an MSP for the Scottish National Party and has held a series of ministerial posts in the Scottish Government |
| Weekend 3 (Politicians Panel) | Richard Leonard | MSP, leader of Scottish Labour Party | Richard is the leader of the Scottish Labour Party |
| Weekend 3 (Politicians Panel) | Lorna Slater | Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party | Lorna is the Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party. |
| Weekend 3 (Politicians Panel) | Jamie Halcrow-Johnson | MSP, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party | Jamie is an MSP for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | Fraser McKinlay | Director of Performance and Best Value and Controller of Audit, at Audit Scotland | Fraser is the Director of Performance and Best Value and Controller of Audit at Audit Scotland, which is the national body responsible for providing assurance to the public about the use of resources by public authorities. Fraser was previously a management consultant at KPMG. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | Professor David Bell CBE | Professor of Economics, University of Stirling University of Stirling | David is a Professor of Economics at University of Stirling. David is co-investigator in the Centre On Constitutional Change at the University of Edinburgh and the Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton. From 2007 to 2014, David was the Budget Adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee and he has also been adviser to the House of Lords. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | David Phillips | Senior economist and Associate Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies | David Phillips is associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), and works on taxation and devolution. The Institute for Fiscal Studies is a leading UK think-tank and independent research centre on tax, government spending and related policy issues. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | Charlotte Barbour | Director of Taxation, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland | Charlotte Barbour MA CA CTA (Fellow) is the Director of Taxation at the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Scotland (ICAS) and is also on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. ICAS is a professional and representative body for its members. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | Russell Gunson | Director, Institute of Public Policy Research Scotland | Russell is the Director of the Institute for Public Policy Scotland (IPPR). IPPR is one of the UK’s leading think-tanks which provides research and commentary across a wide range of areas of social and economic policy. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); | Laurie MacFarlane, | Senior Research Fellow, University College of London | Laurie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College of London (UCL) and a Fellow of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Prior to this Laurie was Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation. |
| Weekend 4 (Taxation); Weekend 5 (Impacts of COVID) | Ewan MacDonald-Russell | Head of Policy and External Affairs, Scottish Retail Consortium | Ewan is the Head of Policy and External Affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium, which is a representative body for retail companies in Scotland. |
| Weekend 5 (Ideas to respond to COVID) | Sarah Davidson | Chief Executive Officer, The Carnegie UK Trust | Sarah is the Chief Executive Officer at the Carnegie UK Trust. Sarah was previous a Director-General at the Scottish Government. |
| Weekend 5 (Ideas to respond to COVID) | Peter Kelly | Director, Poverty Alliance | Peter is the Director of the Poverty Alliance Poverty Alliance is Scotland’s anti-poverty network which brings together campaigners and communities to rebalance the distribution of power and resources. |
| Weekend 5 (Ideas to respond to COVID) | Matthew Taylor | Chief Executive of the RSA | Matthew has been the Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)since 2006. Matthew was previously Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the Prime Minister. Matthew blogs on topics ranging from policy, politics, public service reform and cultural theory to the RSA itself. |
| Weekend 5 (Ideas to respond to COVID) | Rachel Statham | Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Public Policy Research Scotland | Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow at IPPR Scotland, specialising in economic and social policy, gender and devolution. Rachel is an experienced quantitative and qualitative researcher, and has worked on social security, inclusive growth, and the economic impacts of automation and technological change. |
| Weekend 5 (Ideas to respond to COVID) | Benny Higgins | Strategic Adviser to the First Minister and Chair of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery | Benny is the Chair of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery. He was appointed as Strategic Adviser to the First Minister on the development of the Scottish National Investment Bank. He is Executive Chairman of the Buccleuch Estates, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland. Mr Higgins previously was the Chief Executive of Tesco Bank for 10 years. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. |
Part Two: List of all Assembly presentations and supporting materials provided to members
Weekend 1 Evidence on Scotland and constitutional issues
Presentations
- How did we get here? Powers of the Scottish Parliament Professor Nicola McEwen, Edinburgh University
- The Scotland we know, the Scotland we don’t know (and slides) The Assembly conveners
Supporting papers
Constitution Fact Sheets prepared by Professor Nicola McEwen to address the majority of questions raised by Assembly members during the Question and Answer session on constitutional considerations:
- Constitution Series 1.1: What Powers does the Scottish Parliament have?
- Constitution Series 1.2: How are Decisions made for and about Scotland?
- Constitution Series 1.3: What are the Main Options for Constitutional Change for Scotland?
- Constitution Series 1.4: How are Decisions over Scotland’s Constitutional Status Taken?
- Explanation of terms relating to the constitution
Weekend 1 report
The weekend 1 report is available here.
Weekend 2 Developing the Assembly Vision
Presentations
Phil Allan, 3x1: Trusted sources: A brief guide to the press & modern media
Kaela Scott, Involve: Evidence: How do we ensure we have informed conversations?
George Bangham, Resolution Foundation: What makes a good life?
Dr Elke Heins, University of Edinburgh: Values – What makes a good country?
Supporting papers
To help inform thinking on a vision for Scotland, members were invited to read a report on children’s views about the future of the country:
Weekend 2 report
The weekend 2 report is available here
Weekend 3 Sustainability, constitutional issues and the political panel
Presentations
Convener introductory remarks (Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland) on sustainability The following evidence sessions are all available on the livestream:
- Constitutional sessions with Dr Chris McCorkingdale and Dr Alan Renwick
- The politicians panel
- Sustainability speakers
Supporting papers
- Three experts discussed sustainability. Presentations can be viewed in the livestream on the website. In advance of the meeting, members were provided with a summary of their positions in the Overview Paper on Sustainability while a more detailed account was provided in their position papers:
- Employment/Employability is the core of what drives a true inclusive economy (Sandy Begbie CBE)
- Building a Wellbeing Economy that Serves social and environmental goals (Dr Katherine Trebeck)
- Delivering Scotland’s climate change targets (Dr Andy Kerr)
- Factsheets produced for the Assembly by the Scottish Government and the Carnegie UK Trust are noted below:
- National Performance Framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SG)
- Societal Wellbeing (the Carnegie UK Trust)
Weekend 3 report
The weekend 3 report is available here
Weekend 4 Finances and Tax
Presentations
Presentations can be viewed in livestream while the presentation slides are outlined below:
Overview of Scotland’s Finances:
- Scotland’s Finances – where the money comes from, & where it goes (Fraser McKinlay, Audit Scotland)
- Taxation and Government spending in Scotland (Professor David Bell CBE, University of Stirling)
Overview on Taxation:
- Tax: a primer (David Phillips, Institute for Fiscal Studies)
- Scotland’s Tax System (Charlotte Barbour, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland)
Tax Choices:
- Delivering environmental, economic and social impacts through tax? (Russell Gunson, Institute of Public Policy Research Scotland)
- Taxes to change behaviour and support public policy objectives (Laurie MacFarlane, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College of London)
- The Goldilocks Principle: A principled approach to tax by business (Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Scottish Retail Consortium)
Supporting papers
- Introductory Note for weekend 4 – summarising the topic, the evidence to be presented and member comments on the topic across previous sessions
- Scotland’s Finances: Explanation of Terms and useful materials explains key finances and taxation terms
- Factsheet on the Tax Education Gap, drawing on survey data, has been prepared to explain the gap in the public’s knowledge about tax and the importance of tax education
Weekend 4 report
The weekend 4 report is available here
Weekend 5 Impacts and ideas to respond to Covid-19
Presentations
Videos played during the Assembly:
- Journey so far member video
- Reflections on the impact of Covid-19
- Responding to COVID-19: ideas about the future
Supporting papers
The ‘Journey so far’ materials, produced by the Secretariat, summarising work in weekend 1 – 4, comprising:
- Interim report
- Vision paper
- Challenges paper
- Constitution paper
The ‘Journey to come materials’, produced by the Secretariat, summarising horizon scanning work on the impacts of and big ideas to respond to the pandemic, comprising:
- A horizon scanning overview paper and video and more detailed summary papers and videos of the three strands of this work:
- Covid-19 – Economy, public finances and social impact paper and video
- Covid-19 – Environmental sustainability paper and video
- Covid-19 – How decision are taken paper and video
- Speaker catch ups – videos of previous speakers reflecting on the impacts of the pandemic
Weekend 5 report
The weekend 5 report is available here
Weekend 6 Vision
Supporting papers
In advance of weekend 6, members were sent a link to a Citizen Participation presentation by Anthony Zacharzewski (from The Democratic Society and the Assembly design and facilitation team) who discussed a range of citizen participation approaches.
Weekend 6 report
The weekend 6 report is available here.
Weekend 7 Drafting Recommendations
Supporting papers To prepare members for drafting recommendations, they were provided with guidance on drafting recommendations, a summary of all Assembly evidence, and information on the specific topic, including an explanatory note and jamboard highlighting the evidence heard on the topic, any earlier work on recommendations undertaken by the Assembly in weekends 3, 4 and 6, its constitutional implications and the action already in hand by the Scottish Government. This guidance can be found on the website.
Weekend 7 report
The weekend 7 report is available here
Weekend 8 Agreeing Recommendations
Supporting papers To prepare members for voting on recommendations, they were provided with a pack of materials, including guidance on the decision making process, and a set of all 60 draft recommendations and supporting material that they prepared in weekend 7, organised into 8 groups of recommendations on similar themes. This guidance can be found at Annex 12.
Weekend 8 report
The weekend 8 report can be viewed here