Scotland hasn’t been short of historic — or, perhaps, acknowledging that Scotland isn’t the centre of everyone’s world, significant events this year.

The latest is the report of the Smith Commission this week outlining new powers for the Scottish Parliament. 

This was the result of a promise made by those parties backing a No vote in September’s referendum that greater powers would be given to the Parliament in Edinburgh. This clearly has been kept. 

However, we should be under no illusions — constitutional change is not social change. 

Devolving powers isn’t radical, it’s using them to transform lives that matters. 

Real, lasting and beneficial change for working people will occur not when new tax or welfare powers are devolved but when the political will exists to use all of the powers, existing as well as new, that the Scottish Parliament has at its disposal.

The Smith Commission’s report has not pleased everyone. Indeed there are areas within it that I could quibble over. For example, I would have liked to have seen more reference to public ownership and advancing that agenda.

But in this circumstance, as in others in life, it’s what you do with what you’ve got that matters. 

I intend, using the powers we’ll have, to deliver a radical policy programme focused on making Scotland a fairer and more just place.

Labour’s priority has to be addressing the deep-seated poverty and persistent inequalities of health and wealth that scar Scotland.

Smith has given us powers to help us achieve some of these objectives. But as always it depends on the priorities set by, and political willingness of, those in power. 

Income tax is a case in point. What tax we yield is dependent on whether tax is raised or reduced.
Tax provides and pays for the public services that are the civilising forces in our society. 

I believe in progressive taxation, that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden. 

You can be rest assured that I will make the case to the Scottish people that tax is important and a vital component in building a better society.

The increased borrowing powers are vitally important. These new powers offer the Scottish Parliament scope to raise money that can be invested in capital projects. 

For example, it can assist in building more homes, thus meeting a pressing social need while also creating demand in our economy and in turn increasing our tax yield. 

We can also use that borrowing power to build schools and hospitals and other public assets without the need to rely on the costly and unaccountable private finance initiative and non-profit distributing methods.

Making work fairer and safer is an absolute priority for me — after 10 years on a building site, I’m aware that this can be a matter of life and death. 

As such, I was pleased to hear that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is to be devolved to Scotland.

Since the Tories and their Lib Dem associates unleashed their unprecedented attack on working people, they have seriously weakened the scope and power of the HSE. The Tories regard making work safe as a “burden on businesses.” I am also pleased to see the 

employment tribunal system come to Scotland. 

The Tories have also diminished the tribunal system for working people, charging fees for those workers who challenge unscrupulous employers at a tribunal. 

Having a Scottish system will allow the Scottish Parliament to abolish fees and make it far fairer and easier for workers to get justice in the workplace.

Devolving various tranches of welfare is another seismic change and again is an area where, given the political will, the Scottish Parliament can develop policies in tune with the needs and demands of the Scottish people. 

We will now have the power to set a policy that can humanise parts of the welfare system. Welfare is, and always has been, a social insurance system that helps people when they fall on hard times.

But for all the Smith Commission delivers new opportunities, we should be mindful of those that already exist. 

Within existing powers we could do much more to enforce a living wage in public services. 

We could have a corporate killing law to concentrate the minds of bosses who would put profit ahead the lives of their workforces. 

Scotland, like much of the rest of Britain, has a housing crisis with massive waiting lists for socially rented housing. 

To put Scotland’s problems in context, it’s the same number of people as the population of Dundee. 

I’ve outlined how we could build 50,000 socially rented houses over the lifetime of a Scottish Labour government. 

We could do this by directing public-sector pension funds and other innovative methods of financing. 

Needless to say there would be a knock-on effect on the economy in stimulating demand and creating jobs.

Without further powers we could — and I fully intend to — begin to reverse the 138,000 college places cut by the Scottish National Party in recent years. Give power back to local government. 

Labour will only succeed if it is prepared to enact policies which are as ambitious as the scale of the problems we face. I am prepared for that challenge. That is why I want to lead Labour, and Scotland. 

Neil Findlay is MSP for Lothian.