Prevention of Domestic Abuse (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 split into four main parts.

Part 1 introduces notification requirements for domestic abuse offenders. This means that certain convicted offenders must provide certain information to the Police. They must also inform the Police about changes to their circumstances. For example, if they change address. This is similar to notification requirements for sex offenders and is intended to help with the monitoring of offenders.

Part 2 requires consideration of whether a person convicted of a domestic abuse offence is a suitable candidate to take part in rehabilitation programmes or services. The offender’s suitability is to be assessed at three separate points:

prior to sentencing,
while the offender is in custody; and
prior to the offender’s release

Part 3 places a requirement on Police Scotland, the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service and charities to ask for information from victims of domestic abuse. This includes requests for the victim’s age, sex, disability and ethnicity. The information would be provided on a voluntary basis. The Scottish Government would also need to publish an annual report on the data gathered.

Part 4 requires the Scottish Government and education authorities to promote, facilitate and support domestic abuse education in schools.

Current Status of the Bill

This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Pam Gosal MSP on 7 May 2025.

Read and find out more about the Bill: Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill

Stage 1

The Criminal Justice 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 answer the questions in 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 Friday 3 October 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

Click here to complete the submission form