THE process of establishing a new Citizens’ Assembly to explore the major challenges facing Scotland has taken its first major step.
A contractor is now being sought to randomly select 120 member of the public to serve on the assembly. The aim is to have a group broadly representative of Scotland’s adult population in terms of age, gender, socio-economic class, ethnic group, geography and political attitudes.
Members will be identified by early September, with the assembly meeting on six weekends between the autumn and spring 2020. They will receive a gift of thanks of £200 per weekend to recognise their time and contribution. Travel, accommodation and other reasonable costs will also be covered.
The body will consider three broad issues: what kind of country should Scotland be? How can Scotland best overcome challenges, including those arising from Brexit? And what further work is required to enable people to make informed choices about the future of Scotland?
“This is the first time a Citizens’ Assembly has been used in Scotland and will bring together a wide range of ordinary people from across our country in a genuine attempt to reach consensus on the issues that we face. Similar models have been used successfully in countries including Ireland, Canada, Australia and Poland,” said Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell.
“It is a bold idea and one I hope everyone, whatever their political view, can embrace.
“I believe we all want the best for Scotland and if we have learnt anything from Brexit it is the need to make space for people to engage with information and to exchange different views.”
The Citizens’ Assembly is one strand of the Scottish Government’s three-pronged approach to chart a distinctive course for Scotland. The others are the establishment of a legal framework providing the option for a referendum and cross-party talks to identify areas of agreement on constitutional change.
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