Chamber and committees

Scottish Parliament (Recall and Removal of Members) Bill - Financial Memorandum

Overview

The Bill as introduced sets out that an MSP could be recalled:

• if they receive a sanction excluding them from Parliament for a certain period of time;
• if they receive a prison sentence of less than 6 months.

When an MSP is recalled, people in the constituency or region that the MSP represents will be able to sign a petition calling for the MSP to lose their seat. If the petition is successful, the MSP will lose their seat.

The Bill also establishes that an MSP could be removed if:

• they receive a prison sentence of 6 months to 1 year (at the moment an MSP is only removed if they receive a prison sentence of more than 1 year);
• they do not attend Parliament in person for 6 months and do not have a good reason for their non-attendance.

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 for this Bill: Financial Memorandum.

Your Views

The Committee's call for views closed on Friday 4 April 2025.

The Committee received 4 submissions to its call for views. Read the submissions on Citizen Space.

The Committee agreed to forward the submissions received to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee as part of that Committee's consideration of the Scottish Parliament (Recall and Removal of Members) Bill and to take no further action.