Scotland Act 1978

This article is about the unimplemented Act. For the Act subsequently implemented, see Scotland Act 1998.

Scotland Act 1978
Dates
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for changes in the government of Scotland and in the procedure of Parliament and in the constitution and functions of certain public bodies.
Citation	1978 c. 51
Introduced by	Michael Foot
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Royal Assent	31 July 1978
Other legislation
Repealed by	Scotland Act 1978 (Repeal) Order 1979 [SI 1979/928]
Relates to	Scotland Act 1978 (Referendum) Order 1978; Scotland Act 1998
Status: Repealed

The Scotland Act 1978 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to establish a Scottish Assembly as a devolved legislature for Scotland. At a referendum held in the following year, the Act failed to gain the necessary level of approval required by an amendment, and was never put into effect.

Background

Following Winnie Ewing's groundbreaking win for the Scottish National Party in the Hamilton by-election, 1967, the United Kingdom government responded to the growing support for Scottish independence by setting up the Royal Commission on the Constitution, better known as the Kilbrandon Commission (1969–1973).

In response to the Royal Commission's report, James Callaghan's Labour government brought forward proposals to establish a Scottish Assembly. In November 1977 a Scotland Bill providing for the establishment of a Scottish Assembly was introduced; it received the Royal Assent on 31 July 1978.

The proposed Scottish Assembly

Had the Scotland Act 1978 entered force, it would have created a Scottish Assembly with very limited legislative powers. There would have been a Scottish Executive headed by a "First Secretary", taking over some of the functions of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Two possible contenders for the post of First Secretary were the Reverend Geoff Shaw, leader of Strathclyde Regional Council, and Professor John P Mackintosh MP - but both died in 1978.

Assembly members would have been elected by the "first past the post" system. The Scottish Assembly would have had the power to introduce primary legislation, to be known as "Measures" (rather than Acts) within defined areas of competence.

Meetings of the Scottish Assembly would have been held at the Old Royal High School in Regent Road, Edinburgh; the former school hall was adapted for use by the Scottish Assembly, including the installation of microphones and new olive green leather seating.

Some other new offices would also have been created, such as a Comptroller and Auditor General for Scotland.

Referendum and repeal

The Scotland Act included a requirement for a "post-legislative" referendum to be held in Scotland to approve the Act's coming into force. During its passage through Parliament, an amendment introduced by George Cunningham (a Scot who represented an English seat) added a further requirement that the approval at the referendum be by 40% of Scotland's total registered electorate, rather than by a simple majority.

The referendum was held on 1 March 1979. A total of 1,230,937 (51.6%) voted at the referendum in favour of an Assembly, a narrow majority of about 77,400 over those voting against. However, this total represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate as a whole. The Labour government accepted that the Act's requirements had not been met, and that devolution would therefore not be introduced for Scotland.

Under the terms of the Act, it could then be repealed by a Statutory Instrument to be approved by Parliament. However, the government's decision to abandon devolution for Scotland led the Scottish National Party to withdraw its support for the government. A subsequent vote of no confidence led to the resignation of the Callaghan government, and an election was called. The vote to repeal the Act did not happen until 26 July 1979, by which time a Conservative government had come to power under Margaret Thatcher.

Postscript

Main article: Scotland Act 1998

In 1998 a new Scotland Act was passed, leading to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament. A key difference between the two Acts is that under the 1978 legislation a very limited number of specific powers would have been devolved to Scotland, whereas under the 1998 legislation it is the powers reserved to Westminster which are specifically limited; everything not mentioned in the 1998 Act is automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.

References

External links

Chapter 1, Events Prior to 1 May 1997, The 1979 Referendum, The Holyrood Inquiry

United Kingdom legislation

Pre-Parliamentary legislation	List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta

Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain	Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701–1800

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain	1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Halsbury's Statutes UK Statute Law Database Short titles

Church of England measures	List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Legislation of devolved institutions	Acts of the Scottish Parliament Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders in Council for Northern Ireland

Orders-in-Council	Order in Council

Secondary legislation	United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Act of Sederunt, Act of Adjournal

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