Chamber and committees

I totally appreciate that. It is the eternal challenge of trying to give legislative consent to a bill that is not entirely in your hands. The most recent information that we have is that the report stage for the bill is likely to be in January 2027. However, I think that we had an indication today that there might be further amendments, so that could change. Obviously, we will keep the committee up to speed.

It goes back to my point about trying to ensure that we are satisfied that, where this touches on devolved areas of responsibility, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament are being involved appropriately. The Scottish Parliament would expect us to do that.

It is an ongoing process. As soon as we feel that we are in a better position, we will communicate it to the committee. There is good dialogue between Scottish Government officials and UK Government officials. We also have the interministerial group for elections and registration. Unfortunately, that has not been able to meet yet. We hoped to have a meeting during the recess, but that was not possible, given others’ availability. However, we hope to meet soon, and at that meeting the UK Government, the Welsh Government and I will be able to consider these matters together.

We are a bit further forward on that.

There is a difference of opinion on digital imprints. The UK Government contends that it does not require the Scottish Parliament’s consent, and I offer the counterpoint that we have legislated in that area, so it falls into devolved competence. That remains a matter of ongoing dialogue.

The situation on unincorporated associations is similar. The UK Government contends that that does not require legislative consent, because regulation of unincorporated associations is a reserved matter. However, our view is that the bill is legislating for a purpose that relates to our responsibilities for legislating for elections. There remains a difference of opinion on that, and we will continue to pursue those matters.

We are certainly open to it, and if that is an area where the committee thinks that we should be either engaging in dialogue with the UK Government through this bill or using our own legislation-making powers, I am more than up for having that conversation.

Again, this probably falls into the same territory—that is, we are still trying to engage on it to ensure that we are satisfied. We are trying to press with the UK Government the point that, where this touches on devolved aspects of the guidance as prepared by the Electoral Commission, this Parliament should be involved. I do not think that we are quite at that stage, though.

It really falls into the territory that I have already discussed with the committee. It is an ongoing discussion, and if we are satisfied at the end of it, we will probably recommend consent.

I welcome the fact that the UK Government is following us in that area. I voted in favour of enfranchising 16 and 17-year-olds for Scottish Parliament and local government elections, and it is sensible to also enfranchise them for UK elections. That is obviously a decision for the UK Parliament to make, but it is heading in that direction.

We have been keen to offer the UK Government the benefit of our experience of having implemented the policy, and the Welsh Government has also done so. Slightly different approaches have been taken in different jurisdictions. For example, we adopted the approach of enabling 14 and 15-year-olds to register in preparation for being able to vote, whereas I think that I am right in saying that the Welsh legislation enables folk to register when they turn 16. The UK Government is able to learn from those different experiences, and we have been happy to work with it.

I have engaged with Samantha Dixon, who was previously my counterpart on elections policy in the UK Government. She was pleased that we were able to share our experience, and we facilitated an interaction with the University of Edinburgh, which undertook a study about the benefits of enfranchising 16 and 17-year-olds. It is an example of an area of legislation in which we have led and the UK Parliament is now following, which I welcome, and we have been happy to offer assistance.

On your point about messaging, we will be ahead of the game in that regard because we already have infrastructure in place. The Electoral Commission has the relevant experience and the electoral registration officers and the people who are involved in administering elections have experience of promoting to 16 and 17-year-olds the fact that they are able to vote. I do not see there being a great challenge with messaging.

If that arises, the situation will probably be as I have set out, but I hope that we can avoid that eventuality arising. As I say, we have the interministerial group on elections coming up, although it is not scheduled yet, and I will be able to raise those issues at that group. Representatives of the Welsh Government will be there and will give their perspective. Clearly, many of the provisions of the bill trigger the Welsh legislative consent process, too, so they will have a perspective as well.

I am afraid to say that that falls into the same territory: it is ongoing. When there is progress, we will inform Parliament as soon as possible. At this stage, we are not necessarily able to recommend consent, but I hope that there will be productive discussions and that we will reach a shared outcome.