Scotland's inclusion in the relevant elements of the Act ensures:
- Better independent scrutiny - by being part of improved independent UK-wide scrutiny through the UK Statistics Authority's assessment function;
- High standards - we can continue with a common set of standards for statistics across the UK, through the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics;
- An enhanced role for the Parliament - the UK Statistics Authority is accountable to the Scottish Parliament for its work on Scottish devolved statistics; and
- Improved data sharing - potential for data sharing between government departments to be improved, increasing the quality of Official Statistics.
Legislative Consent Motion
Under an agreement known as the "Sewel Convention", Westminster will not pass legislation that contain relevant provisions without first obtaining the consent of the Scottish Parliament. The consent itself is given through a motion (a Legislative Consent Motion (LCM)) which is taken in the Chamber - but the detailed scrutiny is done by a committee on the basis of a memorandum.
A LCM had to be agreed to for the Statistics and Registration Service Bill to be extended to Scotland.
On 5 December 2006, the then Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform lodged a draft LCM and memorandum in the Scottish Parliament.
On 12 December 2006, the then Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business and the Chief Statistician gave evidence on the LCM to the then Finance Committee.
On 24 January 2007, the Finance Committee published their report on the LCM, which was largely based on the oral evidence given on the 12 December 2006 and the written evidence that the Committee received from a number of people and organisations such as the Information Commissioner and the Royal Statistical Society. Within the report the Committee recommended that the Scottish Parliament should give consent to the LCM. The report also made some specific recommendations for further consideration.
On 1 February 2007, the LCM was taken in the Main Chamber at Holyrood following a short debate. The motion was passed on division; details of the proceedings can be found in the official report.
Parliamentary proceedings at Westminster
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 21 November 2006. It received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and thus became an Act of Parliament. The Act commenced on 1 April 2008. Links to the Bill, the Act and all the UK parliament debates can be found on the UK Parliament website.