Committee
Criminal Justice Committee 07 January 2026
07 Jan 2026 · S6 · Criminal Justice Committee
Item of business
Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
You have put three points to me. I will pass the first two to Charlie Pound, but I will take the final point, which was about MAPPA not being designed for domestic abuse. When the Scottish Government was working to create the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023, it specified that those subject to notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 could not be released early via regulations. The Government also included domestic abuse offenders in that list, using the same definition that we have included in the bill, so I absolutely reject the idea that MAPPA is not designed for that. Even though we do not have statistics, we have also heard that MAPPA already covers some of that stuff, but that it is not written into statute. To be honest, there is a lack of accurate data, which we asked the minister about. MAPPA was made for sex offenders, but it has moved on and it covers a lot of other things, although those are not covered by statute and it does not say that those things have to be covered. That is why, as I said in one of my earlier answers, it is important that we add domestic abuse. MAPPA deals with sex offenders, serious offenders and the risk to public health, and I would like to add domestic abuse offenders to that list. I hand over to my colleague Charlie Pound to respond to your first two points.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Audrey Nicoll)
SNP
I welcome everyone to the first meeting in 2026 of the Criminal Justice Committee and wish you all a very happy new year. First, I apologise to everyone that...
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning, and happy new year. I begin by thanking the committee for the scrutiny that it has undertaken so far on my member’s bill. I have found it very ...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you, Ms Gosal. Certainly, there is no doubt about your passion and commitment to the bill. I will kick off with a broad question. As you will be aware,...
Pam Gosal
Con
To be clear, parts 1, 2 and 4 of the bill are based on models that are in operation already in Scotland. Part 2, on assessment of offenders for rehabilitatio...
The Convener
SNP
I want to stay with part 1, which you have just mentioned, and refer back to the evidence that we received on 10 December from Detective Superintendent Adam ...
Pam Gosal
Con
Absolutely, convener. It is important that, in light of the evidence-taking sessions that the committee has had, it is open to us to consider where the bill ...
The Convener
SNP
Ms Gosal, my specific question was more about your views on the assertion that the resource requirement for part 1 of the bill would draw existing resources ...
Pam Gosal
Con
I said in my opening statement that there would have to be additional resources. At no point in part 1 am I saying that the police or authorities would have ...
The Convener
SNP
The other part of my question related to the fact that existing processes do not necessarily require a criminal conviction for interventions to take place. P...
Pam Gosal
Con
I will bring in my colleague Charlie Pound on technical issues.
Charlie Pound (Scottish Conservative MSP Group)
We would definitely accept the point that not everyone who presents a risk has been convicted of an offence. The reason why we have modelled part 1 on notifi...
The Convener
SNP
We will have to move on, so thank you for that. I will bring in Liam Kerr, followed by Sharon Dowey.
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning. For my first question, Pam Gosal, I would like to go back to the convener’s original question, just to drill into something. The University of...
Pam Gosal
Con
Of course, a register alone will not fix everything—we know that. It is only part of the solution. You can see that my bill has four parts. We need to ensure...
Liam Kerr
Con
Yes, but we need evidence that it would work. The problem that the committee has is that we have heard evidence that it would not work, but I take your point...
Pam Gosal
Con
In the definition of domestic offenders, we have used the same offences that are contained in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023. I do not...
Liam Kerr
Con
My final question is on something that I have asked about in previous weeks. The committee has heard that there might be unintended consequences if the bill ...
Pam Gosal
Con
I do not accept that point. I have heard that many women fear that reporting the perpetrator will make them more angry, but victims want to be protected from...
Liam Kerr
Con
I will press you on that, because it is important and I want to give you the best chance to counter what the committee has heard. The question that I put to ...
Pam Gosal
Con
I repeat that I do not accept that. I am going to be honest here, Mr Kerr. Let us look at the sex offenders register. Do you think that perpetrators want to ...
Charlie Pound
One issue that I would cite is around guilty pleas, which you mentioned, Mr Kerr. Pam has been involved in meetings that we have had with domestic abuse vict...
Liam Kerr
Con
I am very grateful.
The Convener
SNP
I bring in Sharon Dowey.
Sharon Dowey (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning. Could you set out specifically how the provisions in part 1 of the bill will interact with the existing multi-agency arrangements for domestic ...
Pam Gosal
Con
As you know, not all domestic abuse offenders are being monitored under MAPPA. The minister could not provide an answer on that point when I put it to her on...
Sharon Dowey
Con
The committee has more questions on the data gap, but I believe that my colleague Pauline McNeill will ask those. We also heard concerns—the convener mentio...
Pam Gosal
Con
I said earlier that these would be additional resources—I cannot be clear enough on that to the committee. That was a big worry in a lot of the evidence that...
Sharon Dowey
Con
Thank you. Convener, I have a question on the financial memorandum. Do you want me to come in with that at the end of the meeting?
The Convener
SNP
Yes, I will bring you in at the end. At the moment, I am keen for us to focus on part 1 of the bill, but I will certainly bring you back in. Is that you fini...
Sharon Dowey
Con
Yes, thank you.