This consultation sought views on how the referendum would be run.
Read the full consultation paper
It set out the Scottish Government’s proposals for the question to be asked and the rules governing the campaign and the vote. A draft Referendum Bill is set out as an appendix to the document.
The consultation sought views on a number of issues, including what the ballot paper should say, what spending limits should be set on campaign groups and how the referendum...More
Forestry Commission woodlands are independently certified as sustainably managed under the UK Woodland Assurance Standard. Keeping people informed of management proposals affecting The National Forest Estate is an important part of maintaining this certification.
The strategic directions document lays out in broad terms the story of, nature of, and vision for the NFE.
The document does not propose any major shift in the direction or balance of delivery from the NFE. However, we...More
The consultation sets out proposals for the potential elements of the Better Regulation Bill.
The consultation seeks views and evidence on a number of issues, including;
Defining and implementing nationalstandards and systems
Duty to promote economic and business growth in regulatory activity
Reviews and sunsetting
Prompt payment
Common commencement dates
Mobile food businesses, and a transferable certificate of compliance
Linking planning application...More
The Scottish Government announced in July 2012 its decision to introduce same sex marriage and the religious registration of civil partnership.
This consultation seeks views on the detail of the legislation that will introduce these changes. It covers not only the introduction of same sex marriage but the detail of important protections in relation to religious bodies and celebrants, freedom of speech and education. It also seeks views on other changes to marriage law.
Read...More
The Scottish Government announced in July 2012 its decision to introduce same sex marriage and the religious registration of civil partnership.
This consultation seeks views on the detail of the legislation that will introduce these changes. It covers not only the introduction of same sex marriage but the detail of important protections in relation to religious bodies and celebrants, freedom of speech and education. It also seeks views on...More
Deer Management on the National Forest Estate – Current Practice and Future Directions’
This consultation seeks your views on the current practices and future directions for deer management on the National Forest Estate (NFE), and your views on our contribution to the delivery of the national deer strategies.
This document lays out in broad terms the importance of deer on the NFE, our reasons for managing deer, our current deer management practices and future directions. It...More
Scotland’s people are its greatest asset, and best placed to make decisions about their future. The proposed Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill aims to make the most of the talents that exist in our communities, deliver high quality and improving public services, and support strong local democracy and local decision-making.
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We undertook a broad consultation on the principles for the 2014 to 2020 SRDP in May 2013. This second consultation builds on our initial proposals and takes account of the analysis and feedback we received. It also takes account of the relevant aspects of the European Structural Funds 2014 - 2020 Programmes Consultation, latest information on regulations from Europe and on-going discussions with stakeholders. The consultation document sets out our proposals on how we expect to use the...More
Recent agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Europe means that direct payments in Scotland will need to change from 1 st January 2015. The new requirements will cover the period up to 31 st December 2020.
From 2015, instead of just one main direct payment for farmers, the Single Farm Payment (SFP), several new types of direct payment to eligible farmers will be possible. Some of these payments will be mandatory whilst others are optional. Further infomation can be found in...More
This consultation invites views on the Statutory Guidance on the General Purpose for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and its contribution towards sustainable development. The draft Statutory Guidance has been developed by the Scottish Government as a result of the new general purpose inserted into the Environment Act 1995 by the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.
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Audio version:
Almost all of us will use a care service at some point in our lives. Everyone in Scotland should receive safe, high quality care that reflects their needs and protects their rights. The National Care Standards were created in 2002 to help people understand what to expect from care services and help services understand the standards they should deliver.
A great deal has changed in the way that care services are planned, delivered and scrutinised...More
Professor Iram Siraj is chair of an Independent Review commissioned by the Scottish Government on Early Learning and Childcare Workforce and Out of school Care Workforce from March 2014 to April 2015.
Professor Siraj will engage with a wide range of stakeholders from across Scotland to gather views, perspectives and data for the Review. In addition to these consultations, evidence will be gathered from a core reference group of experts, from focus groups, interviews and visits to early...More
This is the second of two consultations:
This second consultation is for individuals and settings and consists of two questionnaires: a) Early Learning and Childcare; and, b) Out of School Care. They will be online and available until the end of September 2014.
The first consultation is for organisations and institutions and will also be available until the end of September 2014 at https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/early-years/first-call-for-evidence-for-the-independent-review .
...More
This consultation on a new Environmental Enforcement Framework for Scotland has been developed as part of the joint Scottish Government SEPA Better Environmental Regulation (BER) programme. The Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) with a broader range of enforcement tools to allow SEPA to more effectively tackle those who disregard their environmental obligations and to allow the Criminal Courts to have more options for dealing with...More
The Scottish Independence Bill sets out the interim constitutional platform which would serve as the basis for the government of Scotland from Independence Day. The Scottish Independence Bill would be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in the event of a vote for independence in the referendum.
The Bill provides for Scotland to become an independent state; provides an interim constitution for Scotland which would apply from Independence Day; and provides for a permanent written...More
The Scottish Government has welcomed the overall message and direction of the Land Reform Review Group’s report, The Land of Scotland and the Common Good, published in May this year. As part of our on-going commitment to land reform and as part of our response to the report, we have taken forward commitments:
To improve the transparency of land ownership in Scotland Scottish Ministers have announced the target to complete the Land Register of Scotland within 10 years, and...More
Background
Scotland is going to have its first statutory national Inquiry into the historical abuse of children in care in Scotland.
The Scottish Government would like to seek your views on a number of important questions, including what the Inquiry’s terms of reference should cover, and what attributes we should look for in a Chair and Panel for the Inquiry.
You can do this either by completing this survey, attending an event or writing to us at ...More
The Historic Environment Scotland Act gained Royal Assent on the 9th December 2014. The Act establishes Historic Environment Scotland (HES) as a new Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which will take over the functions of Historic Scotland and RCAHMS. In addition to changes to legislation reflecting HES’ role and legal status, the Act changes processes for the designation of sites and buildings (by scheduling and listing) and for scheduled monuments, listed buildings and conservation areas...More
Introduction
(image by R. Van Pelt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License )
Scottish Ministers are seeking comments on proposals to transpose Article 38 of Directive 2013/30/EU [1] on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations (OSD). Article 38 has extended the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC) [2] into the marine environment in relation to marine waters. The Scottish Government has produced draft...More
This consultation paper considers a range of sensitive and emotive subjects. Some of the issues discussed take place at times of great distress and deal with difficult and harrowing experiences. The language of the consultation paper is necessarily legalistic and technical, and it is necessary to discuss the subject matter in an objective and dispassionate way. This approach is essential to ensuring that a legal framework is developed which ensures that appropriate dignity and respect is...More
(Photograph by Velela )
This consultation seeks views on:
increasing the minimum landing size (MLS) for velvet crab (Necora puber) landed into Orkney from 65 mm to 70 mm carapace width
increasing the MLS for lobster (Homarus gammarus) landed into Orkney from 87 mm to 90 mm carapace length over a three year period
introducing a MLS for green crab (Carcinus maenas) landed into Orkney of 70 mm carapace width
prohibiting the landing of berried...More
Photograph by Brian Turner .
Policy Position
The level of fees charged by the courts and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) are prescribed by Scottish Ministers under statutory powers. The general principle applied is that as civil actions are generally about resolving disputes between two parties then the parties rather than the state should bear the cost of civil actions.
The Scottish Government’s policy objective is that the fees set should recover the costs to...More
This consultation is important; as the specifics of climate change reporting will involve a range of personnel in each public sector organisation. The main reasons for using the powers in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) to introduce a statutory reporting requirement are to: support compliance with the public bodies duties; consolidate climate change information from public sector; introduce standard methodology to improve data consistency; encourage continuous...More
(photograph by Liz Moir)
The Inshore Fisheries Management and Conservation Group (IFMAC) established a short-life working group to discuss the issue of hobby/unlicensed fishermen and report back with possible actions to reduce the incidence of unlicensed fishing.
Fishing vessels that fish commercially and land their catch for profit in the UK must firstly hold a valid Certificate of Registry and be registered with the Register of Shipping and Seamen at Cardiff. In addition...More
This document is intended to set out good practice expectations for developers,
communities and other stakeholders, as well as providing guidance on how best to
deliver shared ownership projects.
The final document will sit as an annex to the Community Benefit Good Practice
Principles for Onshore Renewable Energy Developments, all principles in the original
document should be followed. The Community Benefit Good Practice Principles can be
found at ...More
Scotland's Adoption Register Regulations 2016
The Scottish Government has grant funded the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) to run the Adoption Register since it was established in 2011. The Register has a remit to facilitate family finding across Scotland and thereby increase the numbers of placements found for children who have been identified as suitable for adoption. From a technical perspective, the Register is a database which records and stores information that...More
The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 was passed by the Scottish Parliament with a view to securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language.
One key provision of the 2005 Act enabled Bòrd na Gàidhlig (the Scottish Government’s principal Gaelic development body) to require public authorities to prepare Gaelic Language Plans. This provision was designed to ensure that the public sector in Scotland plays its...More
Hopes Reservoir, East Lothian
This consultation seeks comments on the draft Reservoirs (Scotland) Amendment
Regulations 2015 (―the draft Regulations‖). The draft Regulations amend the
Reservoirs (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (―the 2015 Regulations‖) to make further
provision in relation to the risk designation of controlled reservoirs under Part 1 of the
Reservoir (Scotland) Act 2011 and to clarify various provisions of the 2015
Regulations
...More
Scottish Ministers have always planned to set out the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) in law, using the experience of running the Fund on an interim basis since April 2013. The Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015, passed on 3 March 2015 in the Scottish Parliament, is the first step in that process. The Act places a statutory duty on local authorities (LAs) to provide welfare funds, in line with regulations and statutory guidance. We plan to have the full legal framework for the SWF to be in...More
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 (as updated) provides for a range of buildings, technologies and other ‘developments’ to go ahead without the need for planning permission. Other permissions, such as a building warrant or listed building consent may still be required. The removal of the planning application step means there is no planning application fee to be paid and there would be no cost arising paid from the preparation of...More