Legislative Consent Motion - Use and Application

Use and Application

There are two uses for a Legislative Consent motion:

1. When the UK Parliament is considering legislation extending only (or having provisions extending only) to England and Wales, and the Scottish Parliament, being in agreement with those provisions, wishes for the UK Parliament to extend them to Scotland. This saves the need for separate, similar legislation to be passed by the Scottish Parliament.
2. When Westminster is considering legislation applying to Scotland but which relates to both devolved and reserved matters, where it would otherwise be necessary for the Scottish Parliament to legislate to complete the jigsaw.

As well as legislation about devolved matters, the convention extends to cases where UK bills give executive powers to Scottish Ministers, including in reserved areas, or which seek to change the boundary between reserved and devolved matters.

The intention was for the motions to be used for non-controversial matters, for the purposes of legislative economy and for clarity. It has been used for more controversial matters, where the Scottish Government does not wish to have the Scottish Parliament consider the issue in detail, to avoid the political consequences, and to keep the legislative bickering to Westminster only.

Guidance on the use of Legislative Consent Motions for Whitehall Departments is set out in Devolution Guidance Note 10.

Chapter 9B of the Scottish Parliament's Standing Orders specify the procedure for considering Sewel motions.