Letters Patent Process

Process Steps

1.1 Notification from Scottish Government:

1.1.1 The Presiding Officer's office will phone or email to inform CAJR that the Letters Patent are coming to be sealed. They should confirm the time they intend to hand deliver the Warrant to reception. Provide them with your extension number and the security officers or CSC will phone you on their arrival.

1.2 Signatory confirmed:

1.2.1 Contact the secretariat, and ask who is available to sign the Warrant. Arrange a signing time, usually between 11:00 and 11:30. We need to know this before passing the Warrant to chancery support. A list of signatories and their designations can be found at: /wiki/spaces/CAJR/pages/149749922 (login required). 

1.3 Inform National Records of Scotland (NRS):

1.3.1 Contact National Archives by phone and inform them that the Letters Patent are on their way. Email them if you cannot get through by telephone. If we get the document before 10am we can usually get it to NRS for 12pm. This is dependent on the availability of someone to sign the backing. NRS don’t like to get them later than 2pm as the process of sealing takes a minimum of 4 hours. The letters will be hand delivered by RoS to NRS.

1.4 Backing completed by SO1 Chancery:

1.4.1 Once the Letters have been delivered, pass to SO1 Chancery. They will complete the backing of the deed. Tell them who is going to sign the Letters as each signatory has a different designation. The list of signatories can be found at: /wiki/spaces/CAJR/pages/149749922 (login required). 

1.5 Purchase Order to be completed by SO1:

1.5.1 Before the sealing process, we need to request the sealing from NRS via a purchase order (PO) using PECOS. Once generated, the PO Ref (one beginning with 'RE'), needs to be sent to NRS by email. The cost is £200 per seal.

1.5.2 If you have more than one sealing, they can be processed as a single purchase order. Letters Patent is the only PO type where we can raise multiple items, i.e. Commissions need individual POs unless SG specify otherwise.

1.6 Arrange transport to NRS:

1.6.1 Either book the pool car through Carillion from 11:30 to 13:00 or arrange a return taxi trip. The address is Thomas Thomson House, 99 Bankhead Crossway North, Sighthill, Edinburgh, EH11 4DX - follow the road past Makro. NRS - office location On arrival use the front entrance and get taxi to wait on you.

1.6.2 Details for contract taxi: phone for a taxi and tell them you would like to book a contract taxi using the current contract number and cost centre.

1.7 Get it signed and ready to leave MBH:

1.7.1 When the backing has been completed, take the Letters to the signatory. Use the red Letters Patent folder on top of the fire cupboard to protect it and take the special ink pen, (Staedtler pigment liner 0.5). Secretariat do have a pen, but best to take one just in case.

1.8 Exchange:

1.8.1 When someone from the conservation team (NRS Conservation Department) takes the Letters Patent folder containing Warrant, they will give you an empty folder in return. This is important as we need this if another one arrives.

1.9 Confirm Royal Assent:

1.9.1 When you come back to the office you will need to send a Letter of Intimation. The letters are available in the CAJR Fileshare. Once you have updated the letter with new details, i.e. date of Royal Assent, Bill name, scan the letter and then email it to the presiding officer email address mentioned. Also send a hard copy in the post to:

This is already noted on the letter template and can go in a window envelope.

1.10 Update the table of information for Chancery jobs in the plastic folder: (SO1 task)

1.10.1 To keep a note of what is currently ongoing, we will note the information for Chancery support. The folder is kept in the pigeon holes beside the back desk. There is also an electronic version to be updated but (as at July 2015) this is done over a period of time - check with CAJR Team Leader.