Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Contact

Joanne McNaughton

(Clerk for the Committee)

Finance and Public Administration Committee

0131 348 5000

fpa.committee@parliament.scot

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

About the Bill

This is a Member’s Bill, introduced by Christine Grahame MSP. The aim of the Bill is to improve the health and welfare of dogs.

The Member’s view is that buying a puppy or dog in a responsible way can make a difference to that animal's welfare. The Member also believes it could change the nature of the puppy trade.

The Bill aims to:

help to influence the behaviour of those getting a puppy or dog
lower the demand for puppy farms and other similar practices

The Bill also sets out that the Scottish Government can make a register of unlicensed litters of puppies. This would be to ensure that where litters are not born under a dog breeding licence they are still accounted for. Under this change, it would not be possible for puppies to be sold in Scotland by someone who is not regulated in some way.

Current Status of the Bill

This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Christine Grahame MSP on 20 June 2023.

Read and find out more about the Bill: Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill

Stage 1

The Rural Affairs and Islands 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 has been published on this consultation platform

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: Monday 25 September 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.