The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is currently undertaking scrutiny of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026, which was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 17 December 2025.

The Order provides for a limited exception to the list of reserved matters in Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, in respect of the identification and regulation of substances and devices for use in assisted dying.  This is being made in the context of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill which is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament.  

This Order enables the Scottish Parliament (subject to certain limitations) to:

• confer a power on the Scottish Ministers, by way of subordinate legislation made with the agreement of the Secretary of State, to identify substances and devices for use in assisting a terminally ill adult to voluntarily end their own life, 
• confer a power on the Secretary of State to regulate such substances and devices, by way of subordinate legislation.

As part of a more general update on legislative competence considerations in relation to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care provided the following supplementary information about the contents of the Order:

“Subsequent discussion with the UK Government, taking into consideration the changes to the Bill during Committee’s Stage 2 considerations, mean that the section 30 Order also includes provision around medical devices, which may relate to the reserved matters of product standards, safety and liability (section C8 of schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998) and medicines, medical supplies and poisons (section J4 of Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998).”

Since there is a requirement for the section 30 order to be in place prior to a vote being taken on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill at Stage 3, the Committee is working to an expedited timetable for scrutiny of this instrument.

As part of its scrutiny, the Committee wrote to selected organisations, inviting them to submit any written comments on the section 30 Order no later than Friday, 9 January 2026.

The Committee also received written views on the Order from the Member in charge of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, Liam McArthur.