has passed through all legislative stages, it becomes an
Act of the Scottish Parliament. The
Scotland Act 1998, which was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under the
first Blair ministry and given
royal assent by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 November 1998, governs the functions and role of the Scottish Parliament and delimits its legislative competence. Since the establishment of the Parliament, there have been a number of changes to its legislative competence. The Parliament is able to debate any issue (including those reserved to Westminster) but is unable to make laws on issues that are outside its legislative competence. Bills can be introduced to Parliament in a number of ways; the Scottish Government can introduce new laws or amendments to existing laws as a bill; a committee of the Parliament can present a bill in one of the areas under its remit; a member of the Scottish Parliament can introduce a bill as a private member; or a
private bill can be submitted to Parliament by an outside proposer. The
Scotland Act 2012, passed under the
Cameron–Clegg coalition, devolved the powers to set income tax rates, introduce taxes on land transactions and waste disposal from landfill. Following the unsuccessful Scottish independence referendum in 2014, the UK and Scottish governments signed the
Smith Commission Agreement which led to the
Scotland Act 2016, passed under the
Second Cameron ministry. The Act extended the Parliament's devolved competencies, according to the Secretary of State for Scotland making it one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world. Areas devolved included taxation powers, welfare and elections. The
United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is intended to restrict the operation of devolved powers. The primary purpose of the act is to limit the autonomy of the devolved institutions in policy areas that could generate potential barriers to interior UK trade. but the Scottish and UK governments could not agree on how to deal with areas of where common frameworks could not be agreed. The act gives UK ministers extended powers to enforce mutual recognition of regulations across the UK, and the exemptions permitted for the devolved administrations are significantly less extensive than previous exemptions under the
EU Single Market rules. The legislation undermines the freedom of action, regulatory competence and authority of the Parliament, limiting its ability to make different economic or social choices from those by the UK Parliament. It also limits the Scottish Government's ability to focus and plan investment in infrastructure in Scotland. Although the UK Government stated on publication that the proposed bill sought to "protect the integrity of the UK's single market", the legislation has been criticised for its dealings with the devolved nations. The Secretary of State for Scotland
Alister Jack rejected Sturgeon's comments, saying the Bill "will strengthen the Scottish Parliament and create new opportunities for Scotland." Under the terms of the Scotland Acts, the Parliament of the United Kingdom agreed to devolve some of its responsibilities over Scottish domestic policy to the Scottish Parliament. The Scotland Act 1998 enabled the Scottish Parliament to pass
primary legislation on these issues, and to hold the Scottish Government to account. Although the Westminster Parliament retains the authority to legislate on devolved matters, under the
Sewell convention it is understood that it will not do so without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
Powers of the Scottish Parliament All matters that are not specifically stated in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act as
reserved matters are automatically devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament has powers over areas such as: •
agriculture,
fisheries,
animal welfare, and
forestry •
environment,
land registration and use •
food safety and food standards •
consumer advocacy and advice •
water and sanitation • the
Crown Estate •
economic development and
inward investment •
income tax on non-savings and non-dividend income • issue of
Scottish Government bonds to finance capital investment •
Council Tax,
Business rates,
Air Departure Tax,
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax,
Scottish Landfill Tax and Scottish Aggregates Tax •
education (
early,
primary,
secondary and
tertiary) and training •
Scots language and
Gaelic language •
health and
social care • abortion law •
legal system,
human rights and
legal aid •
civil and
criminal law •
courts and tribunals •
legal profession •
police and
fire and rescue services •
prisons and
parole •
air gun licensing •
alcohol licensing • hunting with dogs and dangerous dogs •
civil registration,
census,
demography,
statistics,
national archives •
planning permission •
local government •
culture,
sport,
the arts, heritage and
tourism • parking controls,
bus policy, concessionary fares, cycling, taxis and minicabs •
railway services, franchising, and construction of new railways •
road network,
trunk road management,
road signs and
speed limits • shipping, ports, inland waterways, harbours and
ferries •
housing,
homelessness and
building standards • charities •
onshore petroleum • heating and cooling •
bank holidays •
Sunday trading • welfare foods for pregnant women, mothers and children • devolved
social security benefits
Reserved powers Reserved matters are subjects that are outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and are reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. These include: •
the constitution •
foreign affairs •
broadcasting •
civil service •
defence •
treason • fiscal, economic and monetary policy, currency, government borrowing and lending, the
exchange rate and the
Bank of England •
inheritance tax,
value-added tax, excise duties,
motoring taxation,
corporation tax •
National Insurance,
capital gains tax, income tax on savings and dividend income •
pensions • financial services and markets •
drug policy • data protection •
firearms •
immigration and nationality • national security • betting, gaming and lotteries • competition, intellectual property, import and export control, consumer protection • product standards, weights and measures •
telecommunications •
post • common markets for UK goods and services •
electricity, coal, oil, gas, nuclear energy • employment and industrial relations, health and safety • most aspects of
transport safety and regulation •
Working Tax Credit,
Jobseeker's Allowance,
Income Support,
Child Benefit,
Child tax credit,
Housing Benefit,
Universal Credit. == Scrutiny of government ==