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Scottish Parliament: Holyrood Building

Lord Selkirk of Douglas asked Her Majesty's Government:

11 Jun 1999 : Column WA184

    What is the current estimate for the annual running costs of the Holyrood Parliament building; and[HL2736]

    What is the current estimate of the cost of cancelling the Holyrood Parliament building project.[HL2737]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office (Lord Sewel): The Holyrood project is no longer a matter for Scottish Office Ministers. Responsibility transferred to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body on 1 June 1999. Requests for information on the project should be made through the presiding officer in the first instance.

Human Cloning: Legislative Competence of Scottish Parliament

Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether the work to be undertaken on human cloning at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh will be subject to legislation of the Scottish Parliament or whether it is covered by a reserved power; and what rights the Scottish Parliament will have to debate issues such as cloning, human embryo experimentation, abortion and genetic engineering.[HL2721]

Lord Sewel: The subject matter of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, which enables human reproductive cloning to be forbidden in the United Kingdom, is a reserved matter in terms of the Scotland Act 1998, and therefore outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

There are no constraints on the issues which the Scottish Parliament can debate. Notwithstanding that, where reserved matters such as human genetics, abortion and human embryology are concerned, the Parliament has no legislative competence.



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