Government’s Legislative Programme: Scotland

Thursday 18th July 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Ian Murray)]

The UK Government’s legislative programme for the first session was outlined at the state opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17 July. This statement provides a summary of the programme and its application to Scotland. It does not include draft Bills, Law Commission Bills, or Finance Bills.

The UK Government are committed to delivering change for Scotland. This legislative programme delivers on our missions to enable the best outcomes for the people of our four nations. This includes kick-starting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and keeping people safe.

Meaningful collaboration built on mutual respect will be key to delivering this change. We will reset the relationship with the Scottish Government. Through effective joint working, we can deliver better results for people across the UK. Central to this is our commitment to strengthen the Sewel convention by setting out a new memorandum of understanding outlining how the nations will work together for the common good. Now is also the time to conduct a reset in our public life; a clean-up that ensures the highest standards of integrity and honesty. We will legislate to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Scotland will be at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Great British Energy, a new publicly owned energy company, will make Britain a world leader in energy technologies, create jobs, and build supply chains in every corner of the UK. Scotland will be the powerhouse of our mission, with Great British Energy headquartered there.

We are committed to supporting economic growth across Scotland and will continue to work in collaboration with the Scottish Government, local authorities and other partners to deliver this. Our new national wealth fund will have a remit to support our growth and clean energy missions, making transformative investments across every part of the country. We will also bring forward legislation to improve workers’ rights, to protect public funds and end the requirement to franchise rail services. This change will come ahead of a broader Bill to reform the railways and establish Great British Railways.

In this legislative Session, we will embed economic stability to create the conditions for long-term growth that will improve the lives and opportunities of people in Scotland and across the United Kingdom. We will invest in our infrastructure, deliver the public services that people need, secure our borders and restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. We are boosting our energy security to cut bills and ensuring that work pays with our new deal for working people. In addition, we will protect the health of people across the UK by introducing a generational ban on smoking, and imposing limits on the sale and marketing of vapes, taking a landmark step in creating a smoke-free UK.

The following Bills will extend and apply to Scotland (either in full or in part):

Armed Forces Commissioner Bill

Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

Budget Responsibility Bill

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill

Digital Information and Smart Data Bill

Cyber Security and Resilience Bill

Employment Rights Bill

Great British Energy Bill

Hillsborough Law

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill

National Wealth Fund Bill

Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

Pension Schemes Bill

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Product Safety and Metrology Bill

Railways Bill

Renters Rights Bill

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

The UK Government will work collaboratively with the Scottish Government to secure the legislative consent of the Scottish Parliament where appropriate.

[HCWS9]