A legislative consent motion (LCM, also known as a Sewel motion in Scotland) is a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

passed by either the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, or Northern Ireland Assembly, in which it consents that the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

may (or may not) pass

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

on a devolved issue over which the devolved government has regular legislative authority. , the three devolved governments have refused or partially refused legislative consent motions on 20 occasions. However, even if consent is refused, the Parliament of the United Kingdom may still pass legislation on the devolved issue in question under the doctrine of

parliamentary sovereignty Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...

and the understanding that the United Kingdom is a

unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only ...

Background

The

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

devolved many issues relating to legislation for Scotland to the Scottish Parliament. The

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

maintains

and may legislate on any issue, with or without the permission of the devolved assemblies and parliaments. The motions were named after Lord Sewel, then Parliamentary

Under-Secretary of State for Scotland The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also kno ...

who announced the policy in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

during the passage of the Scotland Act 1998. Noting that the Act recognised the Parliamentary sovereignty of the British Parliament, he said that HM Government "would expect a convention to be established that Westminster would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament". The devolved governments have no formal say in how the British Parliament legislates on

reserved matters In the United Kingdom, devolved matters are the areas of public policy where the Parliament of the United Kingdom has Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved its legislative power to the national assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern I ...

Use and application

There are two uses for a legislative consent motion, taking Scotland as the example: # When the UK Parliament is considering legislation extending only (or having provisions extending only) to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, 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. # 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. Guidance on the use of legislative consent motions for

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

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.

Legal status

The convention under which the UK government uses legislative consent motions is not legally binding. It was originally contained in a "memorandum of understanding" between the UK government and the devolved administrations. That document states in an explanatory note that it is not intended to be legally binding, and the paragraph dealing with the convention makes clear that the UK Parliament retains authority to legislate on any issue, whether devolved or not. Since then, however, the convention has been incorporated into law in both Scotland and Wales. However, despite this inclusion, the statements are not legally binding on the

Scotland Act 2016

In 2016 the UK Parliament passed the

Scotland Act 2016 The Scotland Act 2016 (c. 11) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sets out amendments to the Scotland Act 1998 and devolves further powers to Scotland. The legislation is based on recommendations given by the report of the Smi ...

which amended the

to contain an explicit and specific legal reference to the so-called Sewel convention. Section 2 of the 2016 Act reads as follows:

Wales Act 2017

In 2017 the UK Parliament passed the

Wales Act 2017 The Wales Act 2017 (c. 7) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sets out amendments to the Government of Wales Act 2006 and devolves further powers to Wales. The legislation is based on the proposals of the St David's Day Comman ...

which amended the

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system o ...

to contain an explicit and specific legal reference to Westminster legislation on matters that are devolved to the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

. Section 2 of the 2017 Act reads as follows:

Current situation and review

In 2005 the Procedures Committee undertook an inquiry into the use of Sewel motions, and heard evidence from Lord Sewel, Henry McLeish (the former First Minister of Scotland), and

Anne McGuire Dame Anne Catherine McGuire (' Long; born 26 May 1949) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling from 1997 to 2015. She was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 2002 ...

, MP (the Parliamentary

). Following the review, the motions were retitled legislative consent motions and the procedures enshrined in the parliament's standing orders. , 131 legislative consent motions had been passed by the Scottish Parliament, 39 in the first session (1999–2003), 38 in the second (2003–2007), 30 in the third (2007–11) and 24 so far in the fourth (2011–16).

List of refused legislative consent motions

{, class="wikitable" , + !Date !Devolved body !Legislation !Votes for !Votes against !Subsequent actions , - , 8 February 2011 ,

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

, Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 , , , Membership of police and crime panels in Wales was changed to be upon the appointment of the Home Secretary. , - , 22 December 2011 , Scottish Parliament ,

Welfare Reform Act 2012 The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

, , , Scottish ministers were given competency in administering the new

Universal Credit Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker' ...

and Personal Independence Payment benefits. , - , 29 January 2013 , National Assembly for Wales ,

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (c 24), also known as ERRA, is a major Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed at reforming the regulatory environment faced by small and medium-sized business. It establishes a UK Green In ...

, , , The Welsh Assembly subsequently passed its own legislation, the Agriculture Sector (Wales) Act 2013, which was referred to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, who found that the Acts dealt with devolved competencies. , - , 26 November 2013 , National Assembly for Wales , Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 , , , The UK Government maintained that the change in devolved competencies due to the abolition and replacement of

anti-social behaviour order An anti-social behaviour order (ASBO ) is a civil order made in Great Britain against a person who had been shown, on the balance of evidence, to have engaged in anti-social behaviour. The orders were introduced by Prime Minister Tony Blair ...

s was consequential and did not require consent, but in light of the refusal of legislative competence, the exception for the replacement orders was to be "interpreted narrowly". , - , 12 November 2013 , National Assembly for Wales ,

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 is a United Kingdom act of parliament. Its main provisions: *abolish the Audit Commission and repeal the Audit Commission Act 1998 (section 1) *establish new arrangements for the audit and accountabi ...

, , , Cross-border

internal drainage board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management with ...

s, which almost entirely operated in Wales, were exempted from the auditing scheme in England. , - , 3 February 2015 , National Assembly for Wales , Medical Innovations Bill 2014–2015 , , , Bill did not pass the House of Commons due to Parliament being prorogued ahead of the 2015 general election. , - , 7 December 2015 , Northern Ireland Assembly , Enterprise Act 2016 , , , Cap on public sector exit payments was not applied to Northern Ireland. , - , 26 January 2016 , National Assembly for Wales , Trade Union Act 2016 , , , The Welsh Assembly subsequently passed its own legislation, the

Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 The Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 is an Act of the National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) governing trade union activity in the public sector in Wales. Chiefly it prevents the use of agency workers during strike action in services that belo ...

, to disapply the provisions to which the Assembly disagreed. The UK government did not refer it to the Supreme Court. The Trade Union (Wales) act 2017 was subsequently repealed by the UK government due to Industrial Relations being a reserved matter. The Scottish Government had likewise tried to introduce a legislative consent motion, but the Presiding Officer ruled the bill related only to reserved matters. , - , 15 March 2016 , National Assembly for Wales ,

Housing and Planning Act 2016 The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (c. 22) is Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that makes widespread changes to housing policy and the planning system. It introduces legislation to allow the sale of higher value local authority homes, intro ...

, , , Changes to

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

s were removed from the bill. , - , 15 May 2018 , Scottish Parliament , European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 , , , Enacted by UK Parliament without change. , - , 7 October 2020 , Scottish Parliament ,

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in December 2020. It is concerned with trade within the UK, as the UK is no longer subject to EU law. The act seeks to prevent internal trade b ...

, , , Enacted by UK Parliament without change. , - , 30 December 2020 , Scottish Parliament , European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 , , {{Composition bar, 92, 129, hex=red , Enacted by UK Parliament without change.

References

External links

Devolution Guidance Note 10 (pdf).

Chapter 9b of the Scottish Parliament's standing orders

Scottish Government information on Sewel convention.

* ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2009/11/devolution_tensions_exposed.html BBC Open Secrets blog – Devolution tensions exposedbr>Cowie, Graham. 2018. Brexit: Devolution and legislative consent. House of Commons Library.
Government of Scotland Scottish Parliament Constitutional conventions of the United Kingdom