Order!

We begin with a Stage 1 debate on SB239, in the name of the 21st Scottish Government. The question is whether this Parliament approves the general principles of the Criminal Procedure (Progressive Standard Scale) (Scotland) Bill.

Criminal Procedure (Progressive Standard Scale) (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to amend the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act to establish a progressive standard scale and to make fines proportional.

1 Progressive standard scale

(1) The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 46) is amended as follows.

(2) In section 225, subsections (1) through (7) are omitted and replaced with the following–

“(1) There shall be a standard scale for fines for offences triable only summarily, which shall be known as the progressive standard scale.

(2) All references in legislation to the “standard scale” or derivatives shall be taken to mean the progressive standard scale.

(3) Schedule 13 (which makes provision for the rates of the progressive standard scale) shall have effect.”

(3) After Schedule 12, insert–

“SCHEDULE 13

PROGRESSIVE STANDARD SCALE

1 The progressive standard scale is shown below–

Level on the Scale	Rate
1	1×relevant income
2	3×relevant income
3	6×relevant income
4	15×relevant income
5	30×relevant income​

3 In this schedule, “relevant income” refers to yearly income, included but not limited to earnings from employment and Basic Income, before any taxation, divided by 260.

4 The Scottish Ministers may, by regulations subject to the negative procedure, amend the rate at which relevant income is multiplied by no more than ±20%.

5 The Scottish Ministers may, by regulations subject to the negative procedure, amend the number that yearly income is divided by to make relevant income by no more than ±20 days."

2 Commencement

(1) This Act shall come into effect on the day of Royal Assent.

(2) Fines levied before that date shall be subject to the previous standard scale.

3 Short title

(1) The short title of this Act is the Criminal Procedure (Progressive Standard Scale) (Scotland) Act.

For reference, the tables of the bill can be found here.

This bill was written by the Rt Hon Lady model-avtron LT CT PC MP MSP MLA MS, Tòiseach na h-Alba, on behalf of the 21st Scottish Government. It was additionally co-sponsored by Forward and the Scottish Labour Party.

Opening speech

Thank you Presiding Officer / Leas-oifigear riaghlaidh,

In its Programme for Government, the 21st Scottish Government committed to making fines proportional. I am happy to be here today, delivering on that commitment.

I would first like to outline what this bill does. There may be natural similarities between this bill and the Proportional Fines Act, but it is completely different in terms of execution and in outcome.

Firstly, there are no minimums or maximums in terms of the fines. This may seem radical, but it’s similar to the system Finland uses, meaning that fines will truly be proportional to income, instead of being less proportional after a certain threshold in income.

Secondly, we endeavoured to set the rates for the average Scot to be similar to what are currently paying under the non-progressive standard scale. Someone working at a multinational supermarket, for example, earning £30,000 Basic Income, slightly under the average, would pay £481.73 for a Level 2 fine, compared to what they would currently pay at £500. Meanwhile, their hypothetical CEO earning £4 million would pay £46,153.85. That may sound like a lot, but in reality it is the same amount, proportionally.

Proportional fines are a progressive system that means that worse off people aren’t unfairly hurt by fines, whilst ensuring that rich people pay their fair share. Thank you again.

This debate will end at 10pm on the 10th of October.