Committee
Criminal Justice Committee 25 June 2025
25 Jun 2025 · S6 · Criminal Justice Committee
Item of business
Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I have spoken to the police—as you know, the police have to stay neutral in the informal consultation. Although people might be positive about the bill, the biggest question is resources and money—I would not sit here and say anything less than that. That is why I introduced the bill and why I am seeking to show the committee why it is much needed.
I will be honest—the figures that came out just yesterday, showing a 26 per cent rise in the use of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, were shocking. I also mentioned the figure of 64,000 incidents of domestic abuse. The figures are rising every year. The 64,000 figure represents a 3 per cent rise from the previous year. We need to do more, as something is not working and people out there are really suffering. From the figures that were published yesterday, we can see that the majority of them are women.
I will pass over to Agata Maslowska from the NGBU team to say a bit more about the financial side.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Our next agenda item is an evidence session on the Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill at stage 1 with the member in charge of the bill, Pam Gosal. ...
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning. I introduced the Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill in May 2025, following the usual members’ bill process and with the support of th...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you for your opening remarks. I start with a pretty general opening question. As I am sure that you will be aware, our committee business is quite bill...
Pam Gosal
Con
I will start by saying a bit about the financial side. We are talking about a maximum cost of £23 million, which is only 0.5 per cent of the justice budget. ...
The Convener
SNP
I think that I am right in saying that your bill began its journey back in 2022. To what extent have you made sure that the figures that you are looking at o...
Pam Gosal
Con
I have spoken to the police—as you know, the police have to stay neutral in the informal consultation. Although people might be positive about the bill, the ...
Agata Maslowska (Scottish Parliament)
Under part 1 of the bill, the main cost is in expanding the existing multi-agency public protection arrangements to include the most serious domestic abuse o...
The Convener
SNP
I have a final question before I bring in Liam Kerr. You said that you anticipate that an additional 3,000 domestic abuse offenders would be included in the ...
Agata Maslowska
Yes—we added that caveat in the financial memorandum.
The Convener
SNP
Before I bring in Liam Kerr, I think that Rona Mackay has a supplementary question.
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
Yes—it is just a small question on what Agata Maslowska said about the most serious sex offenders. What criteria are you using for that? What constitutes a ...
Charlie Pound (Conservative MSP Group)
With regard to domestic abuse offenders specifically, it would be those who were sentenced to 12 months or more for what is specified as a domestic abuse off...
Rona Mackay
SNP
Basically, it is for sentences of 12 months or more.
Charlie Pound
Yes.
The Convener
SNP
I will now bring in Liam Kerr.
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
Pam Gosal, on your point that the provisions in your bill would act as a deterrent, I note that you based the notification requirements on those in the Sexua...
Pam Gosal
Con
I have had a good look to see what evidence is out there. Sex offenders are already subject to notification requirements, as you know, and there is significa...
Charlie Pound
Just for clarification, the statistics on recidivism that Pam Gosal cited are from the Scottish Government’s official reoffending statistics. They relate spe...
Liam Kerr
Con
Thank you for that—perhaps you could send that data to the committee. As I said, in the consultation, expert organisations have told us that that evidence is...
Pam Gosal
Con
That is a good question. I mentioned in my opening statement and in my answer to the convener what happens with the disclosure scheme. It is a good scheme, a...
Liam Kerr
Con
Before he does, I note that your answer suggests that any issue with the existing scheme is due to a lack of knowledge and awareness of what is already there...
Pam Gosal
Con
Perhaps I did not put that right. When I talk about knowledge, I am not talking about what they should know about the scheme, I am talking about knowledge of...
Charlie Pound
I will just throw some statistics at you. A previous freedom of information request that I made showed that, in 2021-22, there were 1,959 disclosures under t...
Liam Kerr
Con
I understand. Thank you.
The Convener
SNP
I will bring in Pauline McNeill, who I think wanted to come in earlier.
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I have a question about which offenders would be caught by the scheme. Charlie Pound, you explained to Rona Mackay that offenders who had been given a 12-mo...
Charlie Pound
Yes.
Pauline McNeill
Lab
So, is it both?
Charlie Pound
Both what, sorry?
Pauline McNeill
Lab
The offenders who would be on the register would be those who were convicted on indictment and those who served—