Citizens' Assembly of Scotland
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Citizens' Assembly of Scotland Seanadh Saoranaich na h-Alba | |
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| Citizens' assembly | |
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| History | |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Leadership | |
Convener | Kate Wimpress |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 100+ |
| Salary | £200 per weekend |
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
| Politics of Scotland |
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The Citizens' Assembly of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Seanadh Saoranaich na h-Alba) is a citizens' assembly that was established in 2019 by the Scottish Government to deliberate on three broad issues of Scottish society:[1]
- What kind of country are we seeking to build?
- How can we best overcome the challenges we face, including those arising from Brexit?
- What further work should be carried out to give people the detail they need to make informed choices about the future of the country?
Devolution
Independence referendum
Brexit
Constitutional reform
Establishment
The Citizens’ Assembly is one strand of the Scottish Government's three-pronged approach to determine constitutional and governance change for Scotland. The others are the establishment of a legal framework providing the option for a referendum through the 'Referendums (Scotland) Bill' and cross-party talks to identify areas of agreement on constitutional change.[2]
Principles
The Assembly will be conducted according to the following principles:[3]
Independence from government: including through the appointment of an impartial and respected convener or co-conveners, an arms-length secretariat, and expert advisory groups.
Transparency: at all levels of the operation of the Assembly, from the framing of the questions, to the selection of members and expert witnesses, through to proactive publication and live-streaming of deliberative sessions and clarity about what the outputs will be used for.
Inclusion: extending not just to those invited to take part as members, but also to the operations of the Assembly itself.
Access: the wider public must be able to see and comment upon the work of the Assembly, and stakeholders must feel that they and their interests have a route into the Assembly.
Balance: the information used to build members’ (and the wider public's) learning must be balanced, credible and easily understood.
Cumulative learning: embedded into the design of the Assembly, to ensure members develop a rich understanding of the issues considered and have time to do so.
Open-mindedness: the Assembly will be a forum for open-minded deliberation between participants, ensuring the public see it as a genuine process of enquiry, and to help ensure that it receives an open-minded response from the parliament and government.