Chamber and committees

In accordance with the Scotland Act 1998, as amended, the UK Parliament does not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. This covers legislation for devolved purposes (that is matters within the legislative competence of the Parliament), and changes to the competence of the Parliament or the Scottish Ministers (in line with the statutory procedural safeguards to competence under the Scotland Act).

In accordance with Chapter 9B of Standing Orders, the formal consent of the Scottish Parliament is required in relation to all proposals for Westminster primary legislation with regard to devolved matters, including alterations to devolved competence.

The principle of legislative consent, in all its elements, is crucial to the devolution settlement, acknowledging the constitutional position of the Scottish Parliament and the democratic mandate conferred on it by the people of Scotland. In the view of the Scottish Government, legislative consent will remain an essential part of the constitution of the UK for as long as the Westminster Parliament retains its current powers and functions in relation to Scotland.

In the normal course of business, legislation for devolved purposes should be scrutinised and determined in the Scottish Parliament. There may however be situations in which it is helpful and appropriate for legislation for devolved purposes to be taken forward at Westminster.

Within the legislative programme announced today by the UK Government, we have identified possible options to legislate for the benefit of Scotland on matters that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, or which alter legislative or executive competence. The Scottish Government will consider the content of all Bills before deciding its recommendation to the Parliament on legislative consent. It will then be for the Scottish Parliament to determine whether to give or withhold consent.

One particular consideration when determining if consent should be recommended to the Parliament will be in relation to provisions related to withdrawal from the European Union, for which there is no mandate in Scotland.

We expect the UK Government and Parliament to respect the Sewel convention and decisions taken by this Parliament. While we regret the UK Government’s decision to withdraw Scotland, and the UK, from the EU, we remain committed to working with the UK Government to develop and improve legislation related to EU withdrawal, and to ensure that such legislation respects the devolution settlement.

We will consider each UK Bill containing EU exit-related provision on its own merits, and while assurances on respecting the Sewel convention are still awaited from the UK Government, we will continue to consider whether exceptional circumstances exist when taking a view on recommending consent, as we have previously done.

However, regardless of any decision Scottish Ministers make regarding whether or not to support consent, it remains important that the Scottish Parliament can scrutinise any Brexit-related provision. The Scottish Government will continue to lodge legislative consent memorandums setting out its views on the substance of any such provision. It remains open to the UK Government to commit to respecting the Scottish Parliament’s views as regards EU exit-related provision.

The UK Government Bills which appear to give rise to the requirement for the legislative consent of the Scottish Parliament are:

• Agriculture Bill
• Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill
• Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill
• Broadband legislation
• Building Safety Bill
• Counter Terrorism (Sentencing and Release) Bill
• Domestic Abuse Bill
• Environment Bill
• European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill
• Fisheries Bill
• Immigration and Social Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill
• Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Bill
• Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Bill
• Trade Bill

It is possible that further opportunities to legislate for Scotland by means of Legislative Consent Motion may occur in connection with other UK Bills, including Private Members’ Bills. Any additional proposals of this kind, together with any relevant amendments to the UK Government Bills listed above, will be drawn to the attention of the Parliament as they arise, in line with the requirements of Standing Orders.

Fair Start Scotland (FSS), Scotland’s devolved employability support service is helping people, including those who are further removed from the labour market, to find work and stay in work.

Today we have published the first Fair Start Scotland Annual Report. It gives an overview of the first year of operation, highlighting the difference that the service is making to employers and communities, and more importantly, the people choosing to take advantage of the support Fair Start Scotland offers. The report sets out what is working well and also identifies improvements which the Scottish Government and its partners are working towards to further develop the support Fair Start Scotland offers.

We are also publishing Fair Start Scotland Evaluation Report 2: Overview of year 1. This is the second FSS evaluation report, and details the research that supports the first year of service delivery up to 31 March 2019.

In addition, we continue to publish statistical data relating to Fair Start Scotland on a quarterly basis. These publications are available on the Scottish Government website.

I am pleased to announce that I have laid a report in Parliament today that provides an update on the actions that the Scottish Government is taking to reach our renewable heat target. The report is now available on the Scottish Government website (at https://www.gov.scot/9781839602726 )

An estimated 6.3% of non-electrical heat demand was met by renewable sources in 2018, an increase of 14% from 2017 figures. Renewable heat capacity also increased by 4%.

Since 2013, the Scottish Government has invested around £40 million in renewable heat schemes through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and the District Heating Loan Fund, helping to reduce emissions and tackle fuel poverty. It is encouraging to see that a number of projects have recently come on line and there are a number in the pipeline, which will contribute to an increasing proportion of our heat coming from renewable sources in the next few years. However, investment in renewable heat in Scotland slowed down as a result of UK Government changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which have caused uncertainty within the sector.

The Scottish Government recognises that we must go further to support and encourage the uptake of renewable heat. We recently launched the £30 million Scottish Low Carbon Heat Funding Invitation for local and industrial heat projects and are committed to working with stakeholders to develop regulations to ensure that new homes consented from 2024 use renewable or low carbon heat. We are now almost three quarters of the way towards our ambition to connect 40,000 homes to heat networks by 2020. Next year we will bring forward legislation for a Heat Networks Bill which will stimulate the market for heat networks, de-risking investment and increasing consumer awareness and acceptance.

In addition, next Summer we will publish a Heat Decarbonisation Policy Statement setting out a new pathway for reducing emissions associated with heating our buildings, in line with our climate change targets.

In addition to the report I laid today, the Energy Savings Trust have published the report Renewable Heat in Scotland 2018 , which provides further insight into these figures. The Energy Savings Trust report is now available at ww.energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-heat-scotland-2018 .