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For More Information on the National Conversation Please YOUR SCOTLAND YOUR VOICE A NATIONAL CONVERSATION I ASK EVERY SCOT TO PAUSE AND REFLECT, NOT JUST ON WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY WE ARE, BUT ON THE KIND OF COUNTRY WE COULD BE, THE KIND OF COUNTRY WE SHOULD BE. I AM COMMITTED TO A NEW CHAPTER IN SCOTTISH POLITICS, ONE IN WHICH THE STORY AND THE SCRIPT IS WRITTEN BY THE PEOPLE AND NOT JUST BY THE POLITICIANS. ALEX SALMOND, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND, 14 AUGUST 2007 i A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE © Crown copyright 2009 ISBN 978-0-7559-8114-4 The Scottish Government St Andrew’s House Edinburgh EH1 3DG Produced for the Scottish Government by RR Donnelley B61368 11/09 Published by the Scottish Government, November 2009 For more information on the National Conversation please email [email protected] or visit the National Conversation website at www.anationalconversation.com The text pages of this document are printed on recycled paper and are 100% recyclable ii A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country, “Thus far shalt thou go and no further”. Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) iii A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE Scotland has a long and proud record of innovation and excellence in health and healthcare, with internationally recognised “medical schools alongside world-renowned clinical and scientific research. Our National Health Service is one of which we can similarly be proud. By wisely using already wide ranging devolved responsibilities for health and wellbeing on behalf of the people of Scotland we have changed the landscape of and potential for improving health and health inequalities. Huge strides have been made in reducing waiting times and our strategies to improve coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer services, among others, have brought with them significant improvements for patients. What has been done is testament to what can be achieved and I am certain that with full powers and responsibilities in an independent nation we can and will achieve much more.” Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing iv A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE v A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE For far too long we have been at the mercy of financial and economic decisions taken outside Scotland. Under the current “framework, key economic policy levers, including responsibility for supporting the economy during downturns and the operation of the tax system, are withheld from the Scottish Government. This cannot be in the best interests of the Scottish economy; not now and not for the long- term. Now is the time for change. In order for Scotland to achieve its full potential we must have greater responsibility for our own economy.” Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth vi A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE vii A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE The current constitutional settlement places limits on Scotland’s ability to fully capitalise on the economic benefits our education and skills system offers us. In “particular our employment and benefits system must be structured to help as many people as possible from all parts of Scotland into sustainable employment. This can be best achieved by placing the needs and expectations of the people of Scotland at the heart of its design and operation.” Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning viii A National Conversation – YOUR SCOTLAND, YOUR VOICE ix.
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