Introduction
Once a Bill has gone through all the amending phases and is ready for enactment, its content will need updating so that it becomes an Act.
Converting a Scottish Bill into an Act of the Scottish Parliament will make the following changes:
Updates the XML so that it is now an Act document type
Inserts the Act front cover (containing Short title, Act Year, ASP Number and Explanatory Notes statement)
Inserts new Table of Contents (containing Short title, Act Year, Act Number)
The date of enactment rubric will be added above the long title in the preface and the Act Year and Act Number will be inserted under the Short title in the preface
“Bill” in the short title will be changed to “Act” and the Act Year inserted at the end
The stage version rubric will be removed, as will the Accompanying Document rubric
The back cover will be removed (if there is one).
How to convert a bill into an Act
On the Project Tab, select Duplicate version from the Actions menu on the document version you want to convert into an Act.
The system will ask you to specify a folder and a version description.
When you have provided a folder and version description, select the Convert Bill to Act checkbox and click Create.
The system will create a duplicate version of the document, converting it into an Act and display it on the Project tab in the folder you specified.
Hints and tips
After converting a Bill to an Act, it is possible to delete elements if they are not required e.g. Table of Contents, Explanatory Notes rubric, Assent date in the date of enactment rubric, Act Year and Act Number.
You can’t generate an Act version if the document is already an Act version.
To create the Official Print and Queen’s Copy, we recommend for each one that you duplicate the Palace copy and select Convert Bill to Act.