Official Report 1091KB pdf
21:01
The next item of business is consideration of Parliamentary Bureau motion S6M-21127, on approval of a Scottish statutory instrument. I ask Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, to move the motion.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament agrees that the Representation of the People Act 1983 Remedial (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/353) be approved.—[Graeme Dey]
21:01
When the Scottish National Party Government first allowed some prisoners to vote in Scottish Parliament and local elections in 2020, we warned that that would set a dangerous precedent, with an increasing number of offenders being allowed to vote over time. Sure enough, in the dying days of this parliamentary session, the Scottish Government is trying to sneak through a policy that would allow convicted criminals who are detained on mental health grounds to vote in the election in May.
The Scottish Government is incorrect in claiming that we need to expand prisoner voting in order to be compliant with the European convention on human rights. As I said when the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee met to debate the instrument a few weeks ago, the rest of the United Kingdom has not expanded prisoner voting to the same extent that the SNP has done in Scotland.
I want to make absolutely crystal clear what we are debating. We are considering enfranchising criminals who are considered to be so dangerous that they must be detained in a hospital for their own good rather than serve their sentence in prison. In some circumstances, they will have committed serious offences and, rightly, will be detained due to the risk that they present to society, yet the Scottish Government thinks that it is appropriate to give them the right to vote.
Is the answer not to consider compulsory voting, so that prisoners would have to vote along with the rest of the population?
No, Mr Mason, the Scottish Conservatives could not condone or endorse that—as I think you knew before you put it to me—because it is totally mad, to be frank. [Interruption.]
Let us hear one another.
I cannot possibly comment on why the minister is so keen to give mentally ill criminals the right to vote before the elections in May, but I will say—I am trying not to smile—that everyone outside the Holyrood bubble will think that it is ridiculous.
The SNP and Labour both supported the instrument at committee, and I dare say that other parts of the Holyrood consensus will support it again today. That just goes to show how woefully we can be out of touch with the priorities of people across Scotland. [Interruption.]
Let us hear one another.
Criminals forfeit their right to vote when they break the law. The SNP Government needs to focus on punishing criminals, not trying to win their support at the ballot box. I urge the Parliament not to approve the instrument.
21:04
The order responds to a European convention on human rights compliance issue that was identified in relation to voting rights for Scottish Parliament elections and which requires to be remedied ahead of the 2026 election.
Section 3A(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 includes a blanket ban, similar to the one that used to be in place for prisoners, to prohibit some people detained on mental health grounds relating to criminal justice from voting in elections in the UK. The order makes minor changes to legislation to maintain consistency with exceptions made to prisoner voting in the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020, which extended the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and Scottish local elections to prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less. That bill remains the only bill of this Parliament to have required a two-thirds supermajority in order to be passed and to have obtained that.
I gently point out to Sue Webber and the rest of the Tories, who are forever on about the accuracy of contributions that are made in the chamber, that it was this Parliament, not the SNP, that facilitated prisoner voting.
Yes, all of that is fine, but what about compulsory voting? [Laughter.]
Out of respect for my good friend John Mason, I will let that one slide.
On a serious point, the order will mean that, if a person who has been detained on a mental health ground has been sentenced to 12 months or less or has received a mental health detention rather than a prison sentence, they will be able to vote if the maximum sentence or sentences possible would have amounted to 12 months or less. That is in line with the law that is in place for prisoners, and we envisage that about 20 people—20 people—might be impacted.
One aspect relating to consistency with prisoner voting concerns people who are subject to temporary compulsion orders. They are in a similar position to a remand prisoner. They have been detained but not convicted, sentenced or found to have committed a criminal offence following an examination of the facts. Remand prisoners across the UK are able to vote, so the order provides for the voting rights for those who are subject to temporary compulsion orders to be the same as those for remand prisoners.
The order is also temporary. It applies only to elections between 7 May 2026 and 28 February 2030. That will allow the arrangements to be consulted on by the next Government and revisited by the next Parliament.
In the light of some recent ill-informed commentary, I must also stress that people are not excluded from participating in elections on the basis of mental capacity.
I invite members to approve the order.
The question on the motion will be put at decision time.
The next item of business is consideration of seven Parliamentary Bureau motions. I ask the minister, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, to move motions S6M-21128 to S6M-21131, on approval of SSIs, and motions S6M-21132, S6M-21134 and S6M-21135, on committee meeting times.
Motions moved,
That the Parliament agrees that the Scottish Landfill Tax (Standard Rate and Lower Rate) Order 2026 (SSI 2026/97) be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Scottish Aggregates Tax (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2026 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (Consequential Provision) Regulations 2026 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Tuesday 24 March 2026.
That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament between 9.30 am and 1.00 pm on Tuesday 24 March 2026.
That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament between 9.00 am and 12 noon on Tuesday 24 March 2026.—[Graeme Dey]
The question on the motions will be put at decision time.
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