As the Scottish Parliament celebrates its first 20 years, and looks to the next, there are important issues for MSPs to debate and decide from procedures at the Parliament itself to wider constitutional issues.
On procedures, the Independent Commission on Parliamentary Reform, was established in 2016 and published its report in 2017. Whilst some of the recommendations have been adopted, others are yet to be implemented. It is anticipated that this work will continue throughout 2019 and beyond.
Looking ahead, Brexit has the potential to shake up the devolution settlement. As the UK leaves the EU three central issues of importance to the Scottish Parliament are that:
former EU competences return to the UK;
the regulatory framework created by EU membership falls away;
the UK will need to negotiate new international agreements and trade deals.
All these factors will influence the future role of the Scottish Parliament (and the other devolved legislatures in the UK). The Scottish Parliament's Finance and Constitution Committee is leading work with other parliamentary committees to continue to develop the Parliament's role in response to the UK's departure from the EU. A SPICe briefing Developing the Scottish Parliament's Scrutiny Role after Brexit is available.
Finally, the issue of Scotland's constitutional future is again coming to the fore. A statement made by the First Minister on 24 April 2019, set out the Scottish Government's next steps on Scotland's future. These were:
an invitation for the parties at Holyrood to attend cross party talks to find areas of agreement on constitutional and procedural change
legislation “to set the rules for any referendum that is, now or in the future, within the competence of the Scottish Parliament”
a “citizens’ assembly” to consider the big issues around the future of Scotland
The Referendums (Scotland) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 28 May 2019. This Bill fulfilled the commitment made by the First Minister to introduce framework legislation for referendums. A SPICe briefing on the Bill is available.