No gov.uk item published between 29 August and 30 September 2026 mentions the draft Independence Referendum Bill or the request for referendum powers; the Scotland Office feed shows 10 items, none of them on the Bill, and the Tenth Annual Report on the Scotland Act 2016 (29 September) does not mention it either.
Resolves on gov.uk. YES if a news story, speech, written statement, correspondence or policy paper published on gov.uk on or before 30 September 2026 refers to the Scottish Government's draft Independence Referendum Bill or to its request for referendum powers. If that source has not published in time, BBC News and The Guardian citing the gov.uk document. A quotation reported only in a newspaper does not count settle it.
We found four formal requests for the power since 2012. In 2012, 2017, 2019 and 2022, the Scottish Government asked the UK Government for the power to hold an independence referendum, by letter, by agreement or by a published plan. We asked whether the UK agreed to hand over that power within 18 months. Section 30 orders on other subjects, fifteen in all, are left out. They show the legal tool in use, and this record is about the requests.