Scotland Act 1998

The Scotland Act 1998 established the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive (now the Scottish Government), devolving significant legislative and executive powers from the UK Parliament to Scotland. The Act implemented the recommendations of the Scottish Constitutional Convention and followed the 1997 devolution referendum in which 74.3% of Scottish voters supported a Scottish Parliament and 63.5% supported tax-varying powers. The Act created a parliamentary system with 129 MSPs elected by the Additional Member System. It defined the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament by reserving specified matters to Westminster and devolving all other matters to Holyrood. Reserved matters include the constitution, defence, foreign affairs, fiscal and economic policy, and social security. Devolved matters include health, education, housing, local government, justice, policing, and the environment.

Legal area: Constitutional law establishes the framework of government and the fundamental principles by which a state is governed, including the relationship between different branches of government and the rights of citizens.

Citation: Scotland Act 1998 (1998 c 46)

Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46

Key Provisions

• Section 1: Scottish Parliament established as a permanent part of UK constitution
• Section 28: Power to make laws within legislative competence
• Section 29: Legislative competence defined by reference to reserved matters
• Section 44: Scottish Executive established
• Schedule 5: Reserved matters listed (defence, foreign affairs, fiscal policy, etc.)
• Part III: Financial provisions including power to vary income tax by up to 3p

Significance

The Scotland Act 1998 was the most significant constitutional reform since the Act of Union 1707. It re-established a Scottish Parliament after nearly 300 years. The Act was amended by the Scotland Act 2012 (Calman reforms) and Scotland Act 2016 (Smith Commission), which devolved further fiscal powers including significant income tax and social security powers. The Act has been tested by disputes over legislative competence, most notably in relation to the Scottish Parliament’s ability to legislate on referendum matters (the Section 30 order procedure). The permanence of the Scottish Parliament was affirmed in the Scotland Act 2016.