Scottish Ministers have pulled a key switch in Scotland’s food policy days before it was due to go live. A new statutory instrument made on 11 December and laid on 12 December revokes the earlier order that would have commenced Section 6 of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act on Tuesday 16 December 2025. The revocation takes effect on Monday 15 December 2025, pausing the change for now. The earlier order had set 16 December as the start date.

Section 6 is short but important: it would require Ministers, when exercising specified functions, to have regard to the national Good Food Nation Plan. In plain terms, once in force it binds decision‑making to the plan across defined areas of government work.

Which functions count is not guesswork; they must be spelled out in regulations. The Scottish Government’s own overview notes the first set made under Section 6 would go through the affirmative procedure, with a later set expected for relevant authorities. Until those regulations are made and Section 6 is commenced, the duty does not bite.

This pause lands after months of staged commencements for other parts of the Act. The October order that is now revoked would have activated Section 6 on 16 December, and the same instrument set out a handy history of what has already started, including core planning duties switched on in 2023 and 2024, and further provisions during 2025. Those earlier commencements remain in place.

For Northern producers and processors trading into Scotland-particularly along the A1 and M6/M74 corridors-the immediate message is continuity. Purchase orders for schools, hospitals and councils north of the Border proceed under existing rules. Any shift that ties decisions more directly to the national Good Food Nation Plan will now come later, once a fresh commencement date is set.

Local authorities on both sides of the Border have been preparing for closer alignment with Scotland’s plan themes: healthier diets, fair work and resilient supply chains. The Act’s principles point to the right to adequate food, climate and biodiversity goals, and the role of a thriving food business sector-signals that were expected to steer procurement criteria and programme design over time.

In practical terms, nothing new is mandated for Ministers next week. Councils and suppliers should keep documenting provenance, nutrition and workforce standards as they already do, and watch for any new “specified functions” regulations that will clarify where the duty applies first. When Section 6 does start, evidence‑ready supply chains will adapt fastest.

Why the last‑minute change? Ministers haven’t set out the political or technical reasons in the instrument itself. What is clear in law is the mechanism: under Section 28 of the Act, Scottish Ministers can appoint commencement days by regulation-meaning they can set a new date when ready. Businesses and public bodies should look out for a replacement commencement order.

The bigger picture is steady rather than dramatic. Scotland’s Good Food Nation programme has been unfolding in phases; this revocation slows one part of that timetable but leaves existing duties untouched. For Northern firms supplying into Scotland-and Scottish councils partnering with authorities in Northumberland and Cumbria-the sensible approach is to plan on today’s rules while preparing for tomorrow’s documentation.

We’ll continue to track the next steps and the knock‑ons for school meals contracts, hospital catering frameworks and community food partnerships across the North. For now, orders keep moving, and the promised legal duty to weigh decisions against the Good Food Nation Plan waits its turn.