Catalogue description Records of Scottish Administration

Scottish Devolution in 1999 and the Scottish Parliament

Prior to 1999 and the introduction of devolved administration in Scotland, there had been a Secretary of State for Scotland. This post had been introduced in 1885 as the Secretary for Scotland which in 1892 became a member of the Cabinet, and from 1926 was elevated to the title Secretary of State for Scotland. The Secretary of State headed the Scottish Office, which was set up in 1928 as a department of the UK Government, assuming responsibility for many of the issues which in England and Wales were dealt with by separate Whitehall departments, such as health, education, justice, agriculture, fisheries and farming.

In the build up to the 1997 UK General Election, Scotland was promised a referendum on devolution by the Labour Party. This manifesto promise was carried out in 1997 just four months after the election, with a referendum held on 11 September 1997, the result of which saw the proposals receive overwhelming support with 74.3 per cent of those who voted being in favour of a Scottish Parliament and 63.5 per cent in favour of it having tax-raising powers.

Following the passage of the Scotland Act 1998, the first elections to the Scottish Parliament were held on 6 May 1999 (elections are held every four years), and the Scottish Executive (officially referred to as the Scottish Government since August 2007) and Scottish Parliament were officially convened on 1 July 1999. This date marked the transfer of powers in devolved matters, previously exercised by the Secretary of State for Scotland and other UK Ministers, from Westminster to the Scottish Ministers in the new Parliament in Edinburgh. The Scottish Parliament has legislative power over all devolved matters (i.e. those not reserved to Westminster or otherwise outside its powers). The Scottish Parliament has 129 MSPs, comprising constituency members and additional regional members.

In 1999, following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, most of the work of the Scottish Office was transferred to the newly established Scottish Executive (responsible for devolved matters, such as health, education, justice, rural affairs and transport) with a small residue of reserved functions (those which are still the responsibility of the UK Government) retained by a new Scotland Office as a department of the UK Government within the Ministry of Justice and led by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Executive is led by a First Minister who is nominated by the Scottish Parliament and who in turn appoints the Scottish Ministers.

On 9 October 2004, a new Scottish Parliament Building, in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, was opened by HM the Queen as the official home of the Scottish Parliament. Whilst the new permanent building at Holyrood was being constructed, the Scottish Parliament's main temporary home from 1999 to 2004 in Edinburgh was the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland.

Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland

After 1999, the Scotland Office became responsible for the representation of Scotland in HM Government and it plays an essential role in managing day to day devolution issues between Westminster and Holyrood, liaising between the UK Government and the devolved Government, and administering the reserved matters of government in relation to Scotland (e.g. the Constitution, foreign affairs, defence, international development, national security, and others).

Also in 1999, the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland was also created by the Scotland Act 1998, to be the chief legal adviser to the UK Government on Scottish Law, a function which had previously been carried out by the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland who were transferred to the Scottish Executive.