Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Overview

About the Bill

This Member’s Bill has been introduced by Gillian Mackay MSP. It creates safe access zones around all places providing abortion services in Scotland.

The Bill makes it an offence for a person in a safe access zone to act in certain ways. This includes any behaviour that might stop a person from getting an abortion or make them feel scared or upset about getting an abortion.

It would also be an offence if a person behaved in these ways in other places, if their behaviour could be seen or heard from the safe access zone. For example, where someone's house is within a safe access zone boundary, they could commit an offence if they do something which could be seen through their window by a person in the safe access zone, and which is meant to try to stop someone from having an abortion or makes them feel scared or upset about getting an abortion.

Current Status of the Bill

This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Gillian Mackay MSP on 5 October 2023.

Read and find out more about the Bill: Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill.

Stage 1

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has been designated as the lead Committee for the Bill. A separate call for views on the Bill’s policy provisions has been issued by the lead Committee on this consultation platform.

Financial Memorandum

As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).

Read the FM published alongside this Bill.

Making a Submission

Before making a submission, please read our Privacy Notice about submitting your views to a Committee. This tells you about how we process personal data.

Please note that in most cases your submission will be published on the Scottish Parliament's website and may be quoted in the Committee's report or in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast).

Please use the Questionnaire provided for your submission:

1. Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made? 

2. If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM? 

3. Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?

4. If the Bill has any financial implications for you or your organisation, do you believe that they have been accurately reflected in the FM? If not, please provide details.

5. Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate? 

6. If applicable, are you content that your organisation can meet any financial costs that it might incur as a result of the Bill? If not, how do you think these costs should be met? 

7. Does the FM accurately reflect the margins of uncertainty associated with the Bill’s estimated costs and with the timescales over which they would be expected to arise?

The deadline to submit your views is: Wednesday 20 December 2023.

We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. Due to the time required to process and analyse evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the agreement of the Committee Clerk.