The Extent to Which the Calman Commission is to Change Scotland (Coursework Sample)

The Extent to Which the Calman Commission is to Change Scotland
Name
Institution
The Extent to Which the Calman Commission is to Change Scotland
Introduction
The Calman commission also known as Commission on Scottish Devolution, was established by an opposition Labor Party passed by parliament in 2007. It was established in order to review the provisions of the Scotland act of 1998 in the grace of experience and to recommend any changes to the current constitution arrangements. This would facilitate better performance by the Scottish parliament in order to serve the people better, improve the accountability of the Scottish government in terms of financial management and to secure a significant position of Scotland in the within the United Kingdom CITATION Der12 \l 1033 (Birrell, 2012).
Discussion
The sole purpose of the Calman Commission was to enable Scotland raise its own taxes so that it can be able to run its affairs in the in the interest of serving its people better. In addition, it also championed for the introduction of minor reforms in their constitution that would help better the lives of the Scottish people. This led to the establishment of a range of measures to help strengthen the devolution administration in Scotland. The Calman Commission shows determination to increasingly improve the lives of the lives of its citizens through constitution amendments and implementations of new laws CITATION Hel10 \l 1033 (Holden, 4 June 2010).
Among the recommendations of the Calman Commission was to the transfer of powers to help set the drink-drive limit. This would see a cut in the level of alcohol taken before driving. A cut would see the reduction of the current 80g of alcohol per 100g of blood to 50g of alcohol for the same amount of blood. This would mean reduced alcohol consumption for the Scottish citizens before and during driving. This aimed at reduced number of accident, because there is a pretty good relation between the drinking and the number of accidents related to alcohol intake. This will mean reduced drinking for the Scottish citizens in accordance with the new law. In addition to that, there is also the price standard to be set for the alcohol. This is argued out that there is a connection between cheap alcohol and criminal behavior CITATION Hel10 \l 1033 (Holden, 4 June 2010).
Additionally, it the commission recommendation was to set the national speed limit in Scotland. The Scottish government will have the powers to ensure that its Ministers have the power to determine the national speed limit in Scotland, along with their existing broad powers to determine speed limit. This will require all road users and drivers to comply with these road limits; especially they need to be clear with speed limit for their safety and for the safety of other road users as well. The Calman commission reviewed these limits in the aim to achieve this objective for the Scottish citizens CITATION Der12 \l 1033 (Birrell, 2012).
Another recommendation on the Calman commission was to introduce a complete ban of air weapons. The Calman commission championed for the complete ban of the air weapons to help cub the increased misuse of the weapons in the hands of the citizens. The weapons are in the hands of the citizens for various reasons such as self-protection, pest control and communal area protection. Those who are in possession of these air weapons will soon have to surrender them in accordance to the new law. This will affect the weapons owners as they will have to surrender them. This will bring the Scottish citizens to an equal CITATION Der12 \l 1033 (Birrell, 2012).
The Scottish citizens are well catered for in the commission's provisions. For instance, the Scottish government has excessively capitalized roads construction, health care improvements, education, the Scottish university students will pay less school fees than the English students and the old are cared for free. The Scottish government has no solely used the funds from the treasury in London to fund its projects. This will ensure major development is achieved despite the low tax rates for its citizens. This was is to make it lime with the Calman commission to avoid mismanagement of the taxpayers' money CITATION Pri09 \l 1033 (Edition, 2009).
The commission proposes the cut down of the income tax rates for the Scottish citizens to the extent of being lower than those of the British. The deficit in the budget would be fixed by the finance minister by imposing minor taxes to business enterprise. This would be a sigh of relief for the citizens due to the reduced income tax rates. This will help make Scotland independent and still the citizens will not have burden of paying high taxes CITATION Pri09 \l 1033 (Edition, 2009).
In contrast to the Calman commission merits, it fails to address the bigger problem how public spending is distributed around Britain. If this problem is analyzed and scrutinized, then taking into consideration some parameters, equitable allocation of funds and public spending across Britain may apply, and thus Scotland may experience reduced share from the national budget. This will affect Scotland directly CITATION Der12 \l 1033 (Birrell, 2012).
The commission's proposal extends from a preliminary assumption that devolution for the United Kingdom has been a success and i...