The Scottish Parliament and law making

2.1 Accompanying documentation to Bills

Through Activities 1 - 4 you will become familiar with the documents which accompany Bills.

Activity 1 fPromoters' memorandum to the National Galleries of Scotland Bill

Allow about 15 minutes

Read through the promoter’s memorandum (The Scottish Parliament, 2015b) then answer the following questions.

  1. Who were the promoters of the Bill?
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Comment

The promoters of the Bill were the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Scotland. This information could be found in paragraph one.

  1. When was the Bill introduced?
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Comment

The Bill was introduced into the Scottish Parliament on 28 October 2002. This information was in paragraph one.

  1. What were the objectives of the promoters?
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Comment

The objectives of the promoters were in relation to a piece of land onto which new facilities for the National Gallery of Scotland would be built. These included new facilities and access. The proposed building works and improvements were prevented by a statutory restriction and the Trustees were seeking permission by legislation to carry out those works. They were seeking to have the land removed from the gardens over which there was a restriction and the restriction on that piece of land removed. This information could be found in paragraph three.

  1. Who has been consulted?
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Comment

Paragraph 34 contained a list of 19 organisations that had been consulted and explained why they had been chosen.

Figure 2 National Gallery of Scotland showing the extension
Figure 3 National Gallery of Scotland showing its location in the Mound, Princess Street gardens

Having read the promoters' memorandum Activity 2 asks you to think about legislative competence and how Bills are advertised as part of the open and transparent law making process.

Activity 2 Explanatory note

Allow about 10 minutes

Read through the explanatory note (The Scottish Parliament, 2015a) and answer the following questions.

  1. Who gave the statement on legislative competence?
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Comment

The statement on legislative competence was given by the Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel) in paragraph 34.

  1. Where had advertisements giving notice of the Bill been placed?
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Comment

Advertisements giving notice of the Bill had been placed both in newspapers (the Scotsman and Evening News on two separate occasions) and local libraries (based in six Edinburgh constituencies).

OpenLearn - The Scottish Parliament and law making
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