Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue statutory guidance on the assessment of capacity for the purposes of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is still to go through a further amending stage (Stage 3), before MSPs are asked to vote on whether or not to pass the Bill. The guidance that will constitute statutory guidance will depend on the final text of the Bill, should it be passed.
The Scottish Government continues to maintain a neutral position on the Bill. The Government will of course comply with the law and therefore if the Bill is passed and the resulting Act requires statutory guidance to be issued on a matter the Government will do so. Decisions around the content of any statutory guidance which the resulting Act permits or requires to be issued will only be made as part of implementation if the Bill passes, as it will need to be in accordance with the final text of the Act and informed by stakeholders’ views.