Editing Legislative consent motion (section)

==Current situation and review==

In 2005 the Procedures Committee undertook an inquiry into the use of Sewel motions, and heard evidence from Lord Sewel, [[Henry McLeish]] (the former [[First Minister of Scotland]]), and [[Anne McGuire]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] (the Parliamentary [[Under-Secretary of State for Scotland]]). Following the review, the motions were retitled legislative consent motions and the procedures enshrined in the parliament's standing orders.

{{As of|2013|10|7}}, 131 legislative consent motions had been passed by the Scottish Parliament, 39 in the first session (1999–2003), 38 in the second (2003–2007), 30 in the third (2007–11) and 24 so far in the fourth (2011–16).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/19023.aspx|title=Legislative and Public Bodies Act Consent Memorandums and Motions statistics|date=15 October 2010}}</ref>

In December 2022, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] announced proposals to strengthen the Sewel convention such that it becomes "constitutionally protected", as part of a report on [[Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom|constitutional reform]] led by former Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf |title=A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy - Report of the Commission on the UK’s Future |date=5 December 2022 |publisher=Labour Party }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-05 |title=Gordon Brown: Labour plan would make UK work for Scotland |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63853652 |access-date=2024-01-02}}</ref>