EXCLUSIVE: Devolution Holyrood powers pledge 'honoured'

It's one of the most bitterly contested questions in Scottish politics.

Does the Scotland Bill, which has just completed its passage through the House of Commons, deliver on the Smith Commission proposals?

Now the man who chaired the all-party group that came up with the blueprint to give substantial new powers to Holyrood, Lord Smith of Kelvin himself, has given his verdict.

In an exclusive interview for Representing Border, I asked the cross-bench Peer if the Bill has delivered on what the recommendations of the commission which bears his name?

He told me:

Lord Smith was given the job of hammering out a package of more powers by Prime Minister David Cameron the day after Scotland voted 'No' to independence.

The three main Unionist parties - the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - all promised that if Scots voted down independence they would give Holyrood new powers.

Bringing together these three, plus the Scottish National Party and the Greens, Lord Smith brokered a deal in a relatively short period of time which all five gave their blessing to.

Job done then? Well, no. Even on the day of the publication of the Smith Commission the SNP's, Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who signed up to it, said it did not meet promises made Scottish voters before the referendum.

That has been the SNP's position, and that of the Scottish government which they control, ever since.

However, that is not the view of Lord Smith, whose verdict has been keenly awaited by all the political parties.

The Peer is adamant that his commission's proposals to give Holyrood powers over income tax rates and bands, and to supplement or create new benefits are reflected in the legislation, which is on its way to the House of Lords.

I asked Lord Smith if, having looked at it in some detail at the Bill, there was something missing?

He told me:

There was one other area he highlighted and that is what is known as the 'fiscal framework', if you like the financial 'plumbing' that allows the Scottish and UK governments to work together.

That involves a deal on the level of the block grant coming to Scotland - it will decrease if Scotland can raise its own taxes - and other issues like administration of the taxes, Holyrood's power to borrow and the like.

The Scottish Government has said that unless the fiscal framework delivers a satisfactory deal for Scotland, they will not sign up to it.

Lord Smith told me:

Tonight I asked the Scottish government for a response to what Lord Smith had said in his Representing Border interview and they was told that Mr Swinney was unavailable.

However, today a cross-party committee of the Scottish Parliament accused the UK Government of "a clear breach" of the devolution agreement.Holyrood's Devolution Committee wrote to Scottish Secretary David Mundell complaining that the Scotland Bill falls short of the Smith agreement.

The committee's chair is the Nationalist MSP Bruce Crawford who told me in an interview that the criticism of the Bill had been backed by his party, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, though not the Tory on the committee.Mr Crawford says that this judgement on the Scotland Bill reflects the view of the committee as a whole, but it not the view of the SNP.

However, I understand that even though the Scottish government was unable to provide a response to Lord Smith the committee's view is shared by SNP ministers in the Scottish government.

For the UK government Lord Smith's verdict will be seen a vindicating their position, that the Bill does fulfill in full the promises made the the Scottish people.

Watch out for the Tories repeating their line that it is now time for the SNP to 'stop complaining' about constitutional process and get on with explaining what they will do with the new powers coming Holyrood's way.

You can watch tonights edition of Representing Border here: