Section 30 order

A Section 30 order is an instrument under the Scotland Act 1998 that temporarily transfers a matter normally reserved to the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament. The most significant use of this mechanism is to grant Holyrood the legislative competence to hold a legally binding Scottish independence referendum — which is otherwise beyond its powers because constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster.

The UK Government granted a Section 30 order for the 2014 independence referendum under the Edinburgh Agreement between David Cameron and Alex Salmond. The SNP has consistently argued that a second Section 30 order should be granted if the Scottish Parliament votes to hold a referendum; the UK Government under both Conservative and Labour administrations has refused subsequent requests, stating the matter was settled in 2014. In 2023 the UK Supreme Court ruled that Holyrood cannot legislate for a binding referendum without a Section 30 order.

During the 2026 Holyrood election campaign, SNP First Minister John Swinney publicly called on the UK Government to commit to granting a Section 30 order for a post-2028 referendum. Health Secretary Wes Streeting replied that this was not the government's position — effectively a pre-emptive refusal. The exchange confirms that even a confirmed SNP majority on 7 May creates a constitutional mandate, not a legal PATH: the SNP would need either Westminster consent or a court-confirmed alternative route to deliver a legally binding second referendum.