Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026

Lord Falconer of Thoroton Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Lords Chamber

If this legislation proceeds but legislation does not proceed in England and Wales, what about the impact of the regulation of the medical profession in the United Kingdom in respect of this legislation extending only to Scotland? Has that impact not been considered? If so, what will it be? The regulation of the medical professions is expressly reserved to this Parliament, not the Scottish Parliament.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

Can the noble and learned Lord explain what he means by that? I think he is saying that there is no impact assessment of the effect of the regulation of devices and substances being in Scotland rather than England. That is all that paragraph 9 deals with.

[Lord Keen of Elie (Con)]

No, I am saying that there is no impact assessment in respect of the effect of this legislation in Scotland on the regulation of the medical profession, which is also an expressly reserved matter under paragraph G2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998. Because that will be impacted by virtue of this Section 30 order being granted to the Scottish Parliament, that ought to be a consideration in this context.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

I think the noble and learned Lord misunderstands what is being said here. It says that there is no impact expected in allowing the Scottish Parliament to be the body that allows regulations to be entered into in relation to devices or substances. That is all that is being said here.

[Lord Keen of Elie (Con)]

That is my very point, with the greatest of respect, because the reserved matters are not just medical devices but regulation of the medical profession. Therefore, the very fact that it is such a narrow order means that the relevant impacts of this Section 30 order and of the legislation, assuming it is competent and passes, have not been properly addressed in this context.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

It is an impact assessment only of this instrument, not the Scottish legislation.

[Lord Keen of Elie (Con)]

I am underlining the narrowness of this instrument and what it omits. It omits to address properly the effect of passing this legislation through the Scottish Parliament as a consequence of the Section 30 order.

I have sought to make this as clear as possible for at least some of your Lordships. In my respectful submission, this is a situation in which the Government should think again about the course of action they propose to adopt. I therefore express my regret with regard to this instrument.