Official letter sent to Royal Household for Crown consent: FOI release

Information requested

Please for each of the following bills firstly: the official letter sent by Scottish ministers to the Royal Household notifying the monarch that these bills will, or are likely to, trigger the crown consent clauses of Scottish parliament standing orders, and which detail the parts of the bill which did so and why, and secondly: the Royal Household’s response to those letters, for each of the following bills:

1) Trusts and Succession (Scotland) bill – introduced 22 November 2022
2) Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) bill – introduced 21 March 2023
3) Visitor Levy (Scotland) bill – introduced 24 May 2023
4) Circular Economy (Scotland) bill – 13 June 2023
5) Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) bill – introduced on 28 Sept 2023

These documents have been released on a number of occasions by Scottish ministers in response to similar requests. This request is limited to the specific documents identified above. If, however, you have information which could improve or expedite this request, please let me know by email.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because the official, formal request for Crown consent, which is sent by letter by the First Minister's Principal Private Secretary, does not normally issue to the Royal Household until after Stage 2 of a Bill's passage has been concluded when amendments have normally been made (provided that Crown consent for a Bill is not required to be signified at Stage 1). The five Bills included in your request have not yet concluded Stage 2 and consent was not required to be signified at Stage 1, therefore the official letters requested have not yet been sent.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

There is, however, information available on why the Scottish Government has taken the view that Crown consent is required for each of these Bills. This can be viewed via the links below.

1) Trusts and Succession Bill Policy memorandum (paragraph 157)
2) Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill Policy Memorandum (paragraph 247)
3) Visitor Levy Bill Policy Memorandum (paragraph 124)
4) Circular Economy Bill Policy Memorandum (paragraph 155)
5) Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill Policy Memorandum (paragraph 166)

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