Scottish independence: Benefits should be UK-led AN expert group has recommended that an independent Scotland's benefits system should be administered on a UK-wide basis in the years after a "yes" vote, prompting fresh questions over whether the country would be able to run its own welfare policy. The report, commissioned by the SNP Government, declared that Scotland and the rest of the UK should continue to share responsibility for delivering pensions and pensions in the years following a vote for independence. The current benefits system - which is administered in both England and Scotland - would be "complex" to unravel and to do so immediately after next year's referendum would "create a significant risk" for both Scotland and the whole of the UK. It would be in both countries" interests to have a transitional period up to around 2020 to allow a gradual split. However, in key passage, the report warns that a "downside" to this deal "might be that an independent Scottish Government finds itself unable to implement some of its early priorities for change to the benefit system." Such constraints were immediately rejected by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as she welcomed the report this morning, who said that a shared deal would only be in Scotland's interests if it allowed Ministers in Edinburgh to change policy "from day one of independence." She said: "Given that many people in Scotland are concerned about the welfare policies of the UK government, I am very clear that a transitional period of shared administration would only be in Scotland's interests if it allows us from day one of independence, to address the inequities of the current system and work towards a system that better reflects Scotland's needs and circumstances." However, Dr Nicola McEwen, University of Edinburgh academic and ESRC Senior Scotland Fellow, added: "Shared arrangements for delivering benefits might be sensible in the short term to make sure those in need are provided for. But sharing service delivery would act as a significant constraint on the policies that could be pursued under independence.