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...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...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...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...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...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...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...More
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 -...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...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...More
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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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)....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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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
...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. ...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...More