A Section 30 order transfers a reserved power from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament temporarily. The most significant use is to give Holyrood the power to legislate for a legally binding independence referendum.

Why did the UK Government refuse a Section 30 order in 2026?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in April 2026 that the Labour government will not grant a Section 30 order even if the SNP wins a Holyrood majority, maintaining that the matter was settled in the 2014 referendum.Source: Lowdown uk-elections-2026

What is a Section 30 order and why does Scotland need one for independence?

A Section 30 order is a mechanism under the Scotland Act 1998 that temporarily transfers a reserved power from Westminster to Holyrood. Scotland needs one for a legally binding independence referendum because constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster.Source: Scotland Act 1998

Background

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. Since then, 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, confirming that there is no alternative legal route.

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 in April that this was not the government's position, a pre-emptive refusal before any vote was cast. Swinney was sworn in on 14 May 2026 and formally requested a Section 30 order from Downing Street the same day, despite the SNP finishing seven seats below his publicly stated 65-seat trigger. The two sides produced contradictory readouts of the Starmer-Swinney phone call: Bute House said Starmer had agreed to meet to discuss a referendum; Downing Street said a referendum would not be on the agenda. The SNP intends to bring a formal Holyrood vote on the Section 30 request within a week of Swinney's swearing-in and publish a draft referendum bill within his first 100 days, but Westminster consent remains absent and the legal route is blocked.

Andy Burnham, the Labour leadership frontrunner set to succeed Keir Starmer, told Scottish Labour MPs on 7 July 2026 that he would not grant a Section 30 order, hardening the line Starmer's Downing Street had already taken and offering enhanced devolution instead. Swinney has continued to frame the SNP-Green Holyrood majority as an independence mandate despite the missed 65-seat trigger, but Burnham's refusal confirms that no UK Government, Labour or otherwise, has moved from the post-2014 position that a binding referendum requires Westminster consent it will not give.