A potential policy flashpoint was developing between Holyrood and Westminster last night after the UK Government was accused of preparing the ground for the imposition of new nuclear power stations on Scotland.

The row broke after the publication of a submission by the UK Government to the Calman Commission, which is examining whether more powers should be transferred from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament. In the paper, the UK Government draws attention to what it says are areas of policy where “the inevitable overlap between devolved and reserved matters has the potential to cause difficulty”.

Some of these, it says, relate to the devolution of land use planning powers, and powers under the Electricity Acts, which are exercised by ministers at Holyrood, even though the Scottish Parliament does not have legislative competence over them.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which is fiercely anti-nuclear energy, seized on the written comments and claimed: “This is a veiled threat to claw powers back to Westminster - potentially paving the way for unnecessary and unwanted new nuclear power stations being imposed on Scotland.” The Nationalists added: “It seems UK ministers think it OK for nuclear power stations to be foisted on Scotland by London's say so.”

However, the Scotland Office in Whitehall described the SNP claim as “utterly ridiculous”. A spokesman said that the Calman Commission had been asked by both the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the UK Government to look at the interaction of planning policy.

The submission, as The Times reported yesterday, rejects the transfer of more legislative powers to Edinburgh but leaves the door open to Holyrood being given more financial accountability and wants the commission to point the way forward.

The comments on financial accountability come from the Scotland Office, which said: “The devolved funding arrangements provide the Scottish Parliament with not only a rising budget but also continuity and a stable, transparent and predictable way of funding public services in Scotland.

“The Government are keen to consider with the commission, in accordance with its terms of reference, how the financial accountability of the Parliament may be improved.”

In September Gordon Brown told the CBI Scotland dinner in Glasgow that financial accountability for Holyrood - which at present receives its annual funding in the form of a £30billion block grant from the Treasury - was a problem.

The Prime Minister added: “We do not seek here to provide detailed evidence on the options that might be available. The Government stands ready to engage with the commission in improving the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament.”

There has been speculation that when the commission reports next year, it will recommend, in terms of more financial accountability, a system of “assigned revenues” under which revenue from taxes, such as VAT and stamp duty, raised in Scotland, would stay in Scotland. However, Holyrood would continue to have no control over the levels at which these taxes were levied, with that power remaining at Westminster.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and SNP leader, has dismissed such a scheme, saying that this would be worse than the present system because, he claimed, Scotland would lose “certainty and control” over its revenues.

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, said last night that the fact that there had been so few “spats” between London and Edinburgh since devolution in 1999 was testament to the strength of the system and the work of both Governments in ensuring that devolution was fully integrated into policy-making.

“However,” he added, “ten years on since the Scotland Act is the logical time to take stock of the experience of devolution and to consider ways in which we might make sure that it remains relevant and continues to be the best form of governance for Scotland and the UK.”

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