Contract (Formation and Remedies) (Scotland) Bill Financial Memorandum

Contact

Joanne McNaughton

(Clerk for the Committee)

Finance and Public Administration Committee

0131 348 5000

fpa.committee@parliament.scot

Overview

About the Bill

The Bill is in two main parts.

Part 1 contains a statement of the law on formation of contract between parties. This includes:

requirements for a contract to be formed (for example, the parties agreeing on key matters in the contract),
rules on what forms an offer to enter into a contract and when an offer may be revoked by a party (for example, before the other party accepts the offer),
rules on when an offer may lapse (for example, when there is a change of circumstance, like the person making the offer dying),
what is meant by the acceptance, rejection or withdrawal of an offer,
the time limits for agreeing a contract.

Part 2 sets some rules for when someone can ask for help or compensation after a contract has been broken. This includes circumstances where:

both parties have broken the terms of a contract,
there needs to be a return of a benefit (like money or goods),
there is no agreed price, defining how a benefit is valued so that compensation can be given,
a party suffers loss partly through their own fault and partly through the fault of the other party.

Current Status of the Bill

The Contract (Formation and Remedies) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on 2 October 2025.

Read and find out more about the Bill

Stage 1

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform 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 and published on this consultation platform.

Read and respond to the separate Call for Views

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).

Questions in this call for views Questions in this call for views

Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made?
If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM?
Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?
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.
Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate?
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?
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 Tuesday 18 November 2025.

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.

Submit your views

Complete the submission form