Holyrood may need to be recalled in summer to pass Horizon Bill – Constance

The Scottish Parliament may need to be recalled in the summer recess to finalise legislation to exonerate subpostmasters convicted of crimes in relation to the Horizon IT system.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish Bill, which is being treated as an emergency at Holyrood, needs to be in place as soon as possible after the UK legislation is passed.

MSPs will debate Stage One of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill on Tuesday before moving to Stage Two on Thursday.

Writing to Holyrood’s Justice Committee, Ms Constance said she wanted to ensure parity of treatment for subpostmasters north of the border – ensuring they can access the UK Government’s redress scheme.

Ms Constance said the Scottish Parliament should only conclude the final part of its Stage Three debate after any final changes to the UK legislation became clear.

In her letter, Ms Constance said: “The UK legislation is proceeding through Westminster, but we do not yet have the final timetable for that and amendments can still be made to the Bill in the House of Commons and Lords.”

And she added: “I very much hope the passage of the UK Bill can be before the Scottish Parliament breaks for recess at the end of June.

“However, as the Minister for Parliamentary Business made clear last week, the possibility of me asking for the Parliament to be recalled for Stage Three cannot be ruled out.”