Scotland Act 2016

Lord Steel of Aikwood Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Steel of Aikwood]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to co-ordinate the implementation of the Scotland Act 2016 with the Scottish Government.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scotland Office (Lord Dunlop) (Con)]

The joint ministerial working group on welfare and the Joint Exchequer Committee will oversee the implementation of welfare and tax powers, and a cross-Whitehall programme board has been established to oversee implementation of the Scotland Act. Senior officials from the Scottish and UK Governments meet regularly to identify and resolve issues and, building on the successful implementation of the 2012 Act, I am confident that both Governments will work constructively together to implement these historic new powers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Steel of Aikwood (LD)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister. However, is he aware that in last week’s debate on HS2 only one Peer—my noble friend Lord Glasgow—spoke of the need to extend that line as far as Scotland, and that the same week the First Minister of Scotland announced a feasibility study to extend the successful Borders Railway further south? What, then, are the chances of the two Governments working together to make sure that Scotland gets a modern railway system?

[Lord Dunlop]

In all issues the two Governments will seek to work constructively. There was a specific review to see how passengers who travelled to Scotland could get the benefits of HS2—that is an example of how the two Governments have been working together.