At its meeting on Tuesday 22 September 2026, the Committee agreed to adopt the following guidance on framework legislation and Henry VIII powers.

Read the guidance on framework legislation and Henry VIII powers (110KB, pdf) posted 30 September 2026

The guidance is intended to assist the Committee's scrutiny of delegated powers in Bills, as well the Scottish Government in the development of legislation, as well as individual MSPs, committees, stakeholders and anyone with an involvement in the scrutiny of legislation at the Scottish Parliament.

Guidance was initially produced by the Session 6 DPLR Committee, following its significant inquiry into framework legislation and Henry VIII powers.

Find out more about the Session 6 inquiry into framework legislation and Henry VIII powers

The guidance sets out the Committee’s understanding of framework legislation as:

“Legislation that sets out the principles for a policy but does not include substantial detail on how that policy will be given practical effect. Instead, this type of legislation seeks to give broad powers to ministers or others to fill in this detail at a later stage.”