Scotland halts Good Food Nation Act section 6

Here’s the short version: ministers have paused a part of the Good Food Nation law that was due to start next week. On 11 December 2025 the Scottish Government signed the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 (Commencement No. 4) Revocation Regulations 2025, laid them on 12 December, and they take effect on 15 December. The move cancels the earlier Commencement No. 4 Regulations (SSI 2025/291), which had scheduled section 6 to begin on 16 December 2025, so section 6 will not start on that date. According to the official record on legislation.gov.uk, SSI 2025/291 was set to commence section 6 on 16 December.

If you teach law or policy, this is a useful live example of how Acts come into force. Passing an Act is only step one. Ministers then set the “appointed day” for each section through commencement regulations. A revocation regulation simply removes or cancels a previous commencement before it bites. That’s what has happened here: the planned start date is withdrawn before it arrives, so the legal duty in that section waits for a fresh commencement.

So what is section 6? It’s the line that says Scottish Ministers must have regard to the national Good Food Nation Plan when using certain powers or duties-described in law as “a specified function or a function falling within a specified description”. In plain English: when ministers make decisions picked out in future regulations, they must consider the national plan.

And what is the national plan? The Act requires ministers to publish a plan that spells out the outcomes they want on food issues, how progress will be measured, and the policies they intend to use. It must also set out how views from the food business sector inform implementation. Think of it as Scotland’s high‑level food policy roadmap that links healthy diets, climate, nature, fair work and child poverty.

Where were we before this pause? The earlier Commencement No. 4 regulation-signed by Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon-was made on 23 October, laid on 27 October and would have brought section 6 into force on 16 December. Its own note explained that it “brings section 6 (effect of plan) … into force on 16 December 2025”. Today’s revocation stops that timetable.

Why pause now? The law says section 6 only bites in relation to functions that are “specified” in separate regulations. The Scottish Government has been taking those “specified functions” regulations through the affirmative scrutiny process, with the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee taking evidence on 3 December. Government guidance also explains that the first set under section 6 needs parliamentary approval. Aligning these moving parts is likely the practical reason, though no reason is given in the revocation text itself.

For you as a student, teacher or practitioner, the immediate effect is limited but instructive. The Act’s aims remain; what changes is timing. Ministers do not yet carry the section 6 duty to have regard to the national plan when exercising the to‑be‑specified functions. Other sections already in force-like preparing, reviewing and reporting on the plan-continue as set out in statute and previous commencement regulations.

A quick reading tip for statutory instruments: start with the heading that gives you the citation and dates; then check the “Appointed day” article to spot what is starting and when; finish with the “Explanatory Note” to confirm the effect in one paragraph. If you look at the earlier Commencement No. 4 instrument on legislation.gov.uk, you’ll see it clearly named 16 December 2025 as the start date for section 6-exactly the date now being pulled back.

What happens next? Keep an eye on two things in December: the parliamentary sign‑off of the “specified functions” regulations and the finalisation of the national plan. Committee papers indicate the functions regulations were timetabled for early December scrutiny, and Government policy pages say the revised national plan was laid in June 2025 with final publication expected after Parliament’s feedback. Once those are in place, ministers can set a fresh, workable start date for section 6.