Bills and Laws

Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill

Overview

To help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Parliament passed two Bills in 2020. These became the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (No.2) (Scotland) Act 2020 (“the Scottish Acts”). The changes to the law in Part 1 of each of these Acts are due to expire on 30 September 2021.

This new Bill will extend Part 1 of each of these Acts until 31 March 2022. This means that the changes to the law in Part 1 of each of these Acts will continue to be the law until that time. An example of a change that will be extended is a protection against eviction for people who rent their homes.

The Bill will also allow secondary legislation to be used to extend Part 1 of each of these Acts further, to 30 September 2022. The Parliament would need to agree to this by approving an affirmative SSI.

The Bill also expires certain changes made in Part 1 of each of the Scottish Acts so that these will not continue to be the law after 30 September 2021. These can be found in paragraphs 12 through to 30 of the explanatory notes. An example of a change that will expire is a temporary extension of timescales relating to children’s hearings.

The Bill only relates to the Scottish Acts and not the Coronavirus Act 2020 passed by the UK Parliament.

Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill as introduced (371KB, pdf) posted 18 June 2021

SPICe blogpost

SPICe published a detailed, extended blogpost on the Bill as introduced.

Read the rest of the Bill's overview

The Bill was passed on 24 June 2021 and became an Act on 04 August 2021

About the Bill

Introduced

Read the Bill and information which explains what it does, why it was introduced, and how much it will cost.

Stage 1 - General principles

Committees examine the Bill and gather views. They produce reports before MSPs debate the Bill in the Chamber. MSPs then decide on the purpose (“general principles”) of the Bill.

Stage 2 - Changes to detail

MSPs can propose changes (“amendments”) to the Bill. The amendments are considered and decided on by a committee.

Stage 3 - Final changes and vote

MSPs can propose further “amendments” (changes) to the Bill. MSPs decide on each of these. Finally, they debate and vote on whether to pass the Bill.

Bill becomes an Act

If the Bill is passed, it can receive Royal Assent and become an Act.