Scottish Government

Devolved government of Scotland

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2025 Final measures of the Charities Act 2023 planned to come into force during the summer, completing the phased implementation of new charity regulatory framework.
2024 Scottish Parliament celebrated its 25th anniversary.
2024 The Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill was passed, introducing a ban on MSPs simultaneously serving as MPs or Peers in the House of Commons while being incumbent MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
October 1 2024 Second phase of the Charities Act 2023 implementation commences, bringing further regulatory changes for charities.
May 7 2024 John Swinney of the Scottish National Party becomes First Minister of Scotland, taking office and assuming leadership of the Scottish Government.
April 1 2024 First phase of the Charities Act 2023 implementation begins, introducing initial changes to charity regulation in Scotland.
2023 The Charities Act 2023 was passed, potentially introducing new regulations and provisions for the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the charitable sector in Scotland.
August 9 2023 The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill became an Act, amending the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and expanding OSCR's regulatory powers.
June 28 2023 The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament, marking a significant legislative milestone for charity regulation in Scotland.
January 2022 John-Paul Marks succeeded Leslie Evans as the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government, becoming the most senior civil servant leading the administration's strategic board and directly supporting the first minister and cabinet.
2021 The 'English votes for English laws' mechanism was abolished, ending the parliamentary process introduced to address the voting disparities created by the Scottish Parliament's establishment.
June 2021 Dorothy Bain KC was nominated by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to become the Lord Advocate of Scotland, serving as the principal legal adviser for the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland.
May 6 2021 The most recent general election to the Scottish Parliament was held, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality.
February 25 2021 Scottish Parliament passed the Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill, extending the parliamentary term.
January 1 2021 The Scottish Government mandated that all Scottish legislation must maintain regulatory alignment with future European Union law in devolved competences.
2020 The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 was passed, which aimed to constrain the powers of the devolved institutions.
2020 Scottish Parliament voted to extend voting rights to all foreign nationals with leave to remain in Scotland.
2020 Scottish Parliament voted to extend voting rights to all foreign nationals with leave to remain in the UK.
December 31 2020 The Brexit transition period ended, concluding the UK's formal relationship with the European Union.
April 9 2020 The Scottish Parliament held its first session of Leaders' Virtual Question Time (virtual First Minister's Questions) during the COVID-19 pandemic, marking a significant adaptation to remote parliamentary proceedings.
2019 During the 2019-2020 financial year, the Scottish Government and local government spent approximately 58% of total spending in Scotland, compared to 41% spent by UK government bodies.
2016 First Scottish Parliament election where 16 and 17-year-olds were legally eligible to vote, implemented following the 2015 Voting Age Bill.
March 30 2016 Scotland Act 2016 received Royal Assent, establishing new rules for franchise changes requiring a two-thirds majority.
March 30 2016 Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill received Royal Assent, setting the next election date as 6 May 2021.
February 25 2016 Scottish Parliament passed the Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill, proposing to extend the parliamentary term to five years.
2015 Following the Conservative election victory, standing orders of the House of Commons were changed to introduce 'English votes for English laws', addressing the West Lothian question by giving English constituency MPs a veto over legislation affecting only England.
2015 The Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Bill was passed, lowering the voting age to include 16 and 17-year-olds in Scottish elections.
November 2014 Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Alex Salmond as First Minister after his resignation.
September 2014 The Scottish Government held a referendum on Scottish independence.
2012 The Scotland Act 2012 was enacted, expanding the Parliament's powers, particularly in taxation and welfare.
2012 Reported that 16,000 civil servants were working in core Scottish Government directorates and agencies, highlighting the organizational structure of the Scottish Government's administrative workforce.
2012 The Edinburgh Agreement was signed, transferring powers to the Scottish Parliament to hold an independence referendum.
September 2012 The Scottish Parliament changed its Time for Reflection schedule, moving it from Wednesday afternoons to Tuesday afternoons and establishing a new practice where speakers from across Scotland address members for up to four minutes on issues of faith.
2011 The SNP formed a majority government for the first time in the history of the Scottish Government following the Scottish Parliament elections.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Parliament & Scottish Government, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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