By Jamie Black

DUNDEE EAST MSP Shona Robison has welcomed a study by experts at Dundee University that claims Scotland’s devolved parliament has been ‘ineffectual’ and has ‘missed opportunities’ in tackling inequality, but adds that the government needs more power to bring about change.

Dr Carlo Morelli, along with colleague Dr Paul Seaman, of the university’s economics department have recently conducted a study using government statistics to gauge the success of the Scottish Parliament’s efforts to combat inequality.

Their study found inequality, both in income and the ability of individuals to make a tangible impact in their own government, has not improved since the parliament was set up in 1999.

Dr Morelli said, “The results of the study show that despite a rise in social involvement around the time devolution came into effect there has been no change in the levels of inequality in Scotland.

“The reasons for this lack of change are that the devolved parliament has not used its ability to make significant policy divergences with regard to inequality.

“Inequality is not just the imbalance in income but also the inequality of what is called social exclusion—that is, the ability of an individual to participate in and impact upon, his or her social environment.

“The parliament seems to have been reluctant to use its powers such as those for raising tax, to diverge from the Westminster government on these issues.”

Dr Morelli also said these findings pose significant questions about the role of the Scottish Parliament and how it justifies itself, given that there is no difference in policy between central and devolved governments on these central issues.

He said, “One of the key selling points of having a devolved parliament was that it is better placed to deal with problems such as economic inequality and social exclusion.

“Having showed that there has been no progress in this area since devolution it seems that the Scottish Parliament is a failure.

“If we cannot gauge the effectiveness of the Scottish government through results like this then how are we to measure its impact?

“It seems that without taking the opportunities it has to implement divergent policies from central government, then the parliament is nothing more than a bureaucratic entity, and ultimately pointless.”

Ms Robison welcomed the study but disagreed with the overall conclusion made by Dr Morelli.

She said, “This study is very interesting and makes a very useful contribution to the debate about the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

“I would disagree that this is an issue about failing to use existing powers, although it is true that the Executive can do more.

“In order to successfully tackle these issues the Scottish Parliament needs more powers such as the ability to change policies on welfare and pensions.

“I am sympathetic to the results of this study but I do not think that devolution is a waste of time, but that we need more powers to bring about any real change in inequality.”