Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2026
I agree with the member on that. Clearly, a long time has elapsed, and there have been considerable conversations as well as consideration by both Governments about what would be a legally robust way forward. I look forward to hearing the cabinet secretary’s comments later in the debate, but I think that we have enough time to process the bill efficiently towards a reconsideration phase.
In May 2022, John Swinney gave a statement to Parliament with an update on next steps following the judgment. He said that, although the Euro charter bill was a member’s bill, the Scottish Government remained committed to supporting it. Since then, my approach as the designated member has been to respect the will of the Parliament that was expressed in session 5 and to allow the Scottish and UK Governments the opportunity to resolve the issues at the heart of the Supreme Court judgment.
During session 6, I have kept the opportunity to fix the bill open, and I have liaised with both the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities throughout.
In October 2024, the Scottish Government confirmed that it would lodge and speak to the necessary amendments, given its experience with the 2023 bill reconsideration stage.
Under standing orders, only the member in charge of a bill may propose that the Parliament reconsider a bill following a reference to the Supreme Court. I have lodged the motion to do so, which we will consider today. I urge members to vote for the motion so that we can allow amendments to be made and so that the bill can, I hope, be agreed to again and move towards royal assent.
I thank the cabinet secretary for engaging with me on the bill. As I said, it has taken a long time to get to this point. I am aware that there are many bills up for debate at this late stage of the parliamentary session, but I hope that it will be a relatively easy and efficient process to get the bill back over the line to the satisfaction of all who are concerned and that there will be no further delay.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees to reconsider the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill.