Unbuyable Bill may result in just 25 charges a year

The Herald Scotland

04-06-2025

Ms Regan, a former SNP justice minister who defected to Alba in 2023, wants Scotland to bring in what is known as the Nordic Model - a system which criminalises the buying of sex in any setting and de-criminalises people selling sex. Since 2007 the buying of sex in a public place has been a criminal offence in Scotland.
Formally called The Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill Ms Regan's legislation would also quash historic convictions for prostitution and provide sex workers a legal right to financial support to leave prostitution.
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The Alba MSP - who has the backing of Alba leader and former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill - argues prostitution is a form of male violence against women and that sex work exploits vulnerable women who are forced into it as a result of poverty.
She argues her bill is a bold and long-overdue step towards tackling the issue but has said she fears it could be voted down by male MSPs in Holyrood who use prostitutes.
It has already prompted significant debate with sex workers launching a campaign against it arguing it would make them more vulnerable to attack.
The financial memorandum published with the bill estimated that the annual recurring cost associated with measures in the bill, taking into account extra work for the police, the prosecution service and the Scottish Prison Service as well as financial support for people leaving prostitution would be between £1.4 million and £2.2 million.
This was based on estimates of the number of new charges brought to court of between 25 and 75 a year.
"The member is basing total cost estimates on 45, 90 and 135 additional recorded crimes and 25, 50 and 75 additional charges brought to court," the financial memorandum stated.
Lynsey Walton, chief executive of National Ugly Mugs, the UK's national sex worker safety charity, said: 'Ash Regan is trying to have it both ways.
"In public she claims that the Nordic Model is needed to stop a national epidemic of abuse, but privately she admits that changing the law would lead to only a handful of cases a year," she said.
'Sex worker groups, alongside Non Governmental Organisations like Amnesty and the World Health Organisation oppose the new law on the grounds that it will make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, while costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year to enforce."
She added: "If we truly want to address systemic violence against sex workers, we need full decriminalisation, not another expensive, performative policy that protects no one.
"An official government review of similar legislation in Northern Ireland – the only nation in the UK to enact the Nordic Model – found that there was 'no evidence that the offence of purchasing sexual services has produced a downward pressure on the demand for, or supply of, sexual services'. It also found that 'the legislation has contributed to a climate whereby sex workers feel further marginalised and stigmatised'.
A YouGov poll of 1,088 Scottish adults, carried out last year, showed that Scots firmly oppose the Nordic Model, with 47% saying it should be legal for a person to pay someone to have sex with them, versus 32% who think it should not be legal.
The poll showed that 69% of Scots say MSPs should focus on protecting the health and safety of sex workers, and providing support to people who want to leave the industry, compared to just 14% who support new laws to prevent people exchanging sexual services for money.
A spokesperson for Ash Regan said: 'Police Scotland does not routinely record the cost for any specific operation as officers are deployed to where local policing plans necessitate their services are most required.
'If the Bill becomes law then it will be an operational matter for Police Scotland to enforce the new law and Ash has full confidence in their ability to do so."
She added: "Previous Members Bills have provided no financial support for Officer Training whereas Ash Regan's Bill has prudently set out costs to support training requirements of existing police officers. The manner in which the figures have been presented is either a wilful or ignorant representation of how training needs are facilitated in an organisation."