Swingers in Glasgow, Scotland

Paying for or receiving payment for sex is not in itself an offence. A person in prostitution who loiters, solicits or importunes in a public place commits an offence under s.46 Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (fine up to level 2, no persistence requirement); soliciting or loitering to buy sex in a public place is an offence under s.1 Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007. Section 11 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 penalises brothel-keeping, landlords and occupiers who permit it, a male person living on the earnings of prostitution (control of a sex worker's movements is presumed to be living on the earnings) and a female who controls a sex worker's movements for gain (up to 7 years); s.7 of the same Act penalises procuring. Ash Regan MSP's member's bill to criminalise paying for sex, repeal s.46 and quash past convictions was introduced on 20 May 2025 as the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill and fell at Stage 1 on 3 February 2026 (54 for, 64 against). None of the Scottish prostitution offences is listed as a priority offence in Schedule 7 of the Online Safety Act 2023 (Scottish human trafficking is). Source: Prostitution Laws (prostitutionlaws.org), https://prostitutionlaws.org/countries/united-kingdom/, reviewed 2026-11-04, CC BY 4.0.