A01 did pass (C:14, NC:9, P:6) and thus has been applied to the bill

Scottish Welfare Devolution (Referendum) Bill

A

BILL

TO

Legislate for a referendum for the purposes of devolving power over welfare to the Scottish Parliament, and for connected purposes.

Section 1: Definitions

1. In this Act, unless specified otherwise;
2. The ‘1998 Act’ refers to the Scotland Act 1998

Section 2: Referendum

1. A referendum is to be held in Scotland over the question of whether or not powers relating to Welfare and Social Security should be devolved or not.
2. Electors shall be given a ballot with the following statement and responses and shall be asked to select one of the responses.

(a) “Should powers relating to Welfare and Social Security be devolved from the Parliament of the United Kingdom to the Scottish Parliament, or should they remain reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom?
(i) “Powers relating to Welfare and Social Security should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.”
(ii) “Powers relating to Welfare and Social Security should remain reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.”
(b) The Electoral Commission shall review the question prior to the referendum to ensure that it does not give either side an unfair advantage and is otherwise understandable by the electorate.

(3) The Secretary of State for Scotland may publish such regulations as necessary to clarify the conduct of the referendum.

(4) The referendum shall be held on the 24th of February 2022, or 45 days after this legislation’s passage, whichever is latest.

(a) The Secretary of State for Scotland may, by regulation using the affirmative procedure, delay this date by up to four weeks in the event of the referendum not being able to be held at the prescribed time.

(5) The Scottish Ministers must appoint a Chief Counting Officer for the referendum, who shall be charged with ensuring its efficient execution and encouraging participation.

(a) The Chief Counting Officer may only be replaced if convicted of a criminal offense or is otherwise impaired from performing their duties.
(b) The Chief Counting Officer may appoint deputies to assist in their duties.
(i) The Chief Counting Officer must also appoint a counting officer for each local government area, with standards for removal being the same as their own.

(6) In order for the provisions of this Act to come into force, 50% plus one votes must be in favour of devolving powers relating to Welfare and Social Security.

Section 3: Conduct of the Referendum

(1) Printed copies of the proposal to go into force shall be made available at all polling stations, as well as a limited number of audio versions, with the Electoral Commission being authorised to publish additional guidelines around accessibility.

(2) The Electoral Commission (M: the Quadrumvirate) shall be entrusted with full discretion to establish regulations establishing a formal campaign period, with the following non-binding recommendations:

(a) There shall be a “Should be devolved” and “Should remain reserved” camp, of which entities and individuals should be able to formally sign onto, with leadership formally designated by the Electoral Commission.
(i) Each camp shall be given permission to produce a one page pamphlet each to outline the case for their respective side, distributed to the voters in a way deemed fit by the Electoral Commission.
(b) There ought to be at least two debates during the campaign period between representatives of each camp, with each having different participants but with ultimate authority over approving participants to rest with the leadership of each side.
(c) A period of purdah must begin no later than 14 days before the designated date of the poll.

Section 4: Amendments to the 1998 Act

(1) The Secretary of State shall have the power to omit Head F in Part II in Schedule 5 of the 1998 Act.

(2) The Secretary of State must omit Head F in part II in Schedule 5 of the 1998 Act no later than 180 days after this section comes into force.

Section 5: Commencement, Extent, and Short Title

(1) This Act may be cited as the Scottish Welfare Devolution (Referendum) Act 2021

(2) This Act comes into force immediately upon Royal Assent

(a) Section 4 may only come into force once an affirmative vote in favour of devolving powers relating to Welfare and Social Security in the referendum has happened.

(3) This Act extends to Scotland

This Bill was written by the Rt Hon. Sir Frost_Walker2017, the Viscount Felixstowe, the Lord Leiston GCMG CT MVO MSP PC, as a Private Member’s Bill, with inspiration taken from the Wales Justice and Policing Referendum Act 2020.

Opening Speech:

Deputy Speaker,

Near the beginning of the 9th Scottish Parliament, the 14th Scottish Government passed a motion in favour of holding a referendum on devolving powers relating to Welfare and Social Security. We have gone an entire term, and it emerged midway through that there had been a drastic misunderstanding on the part of both the Westminster Government and the Scottish Government, and we have since been told that a bill is forthcoming.

Well, Deputy Speaker, I got bored, so I wrote this. I am no constitutional expert, and I accept that I may have made mistakes while drafting this. I welcome amendments to improve this or to bring it in line with constitutional conventions I may have otherwise missed.

I do not intend to argue for or against the devolution of welfare at this time. What I will argue in favour of is the will of the Scottish Parliament being respected, so I respectfully ask all members to respect that and implement this bill.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

Lords may Vote Content, Not Content, or Present

Vote ends on the 13th December at 10pm GMT