Meeting of the Parliament 17 February 2026 [Draft]
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests.
I apologise to Karen Adam for having to step out during her speech. I will look it up, I assure her.
Today, the Parliament was asked to consider a bill that, at its heart, addresses two of the most sensitive areas in our education system: religious observance and religious education, and the rights and responsibilities of parents, schools and children. Throughout the process, Scottish Labour has approached the bill with seriousness, respect for Scotland’s diverse communities and a deep awareness of the decades-old settlement that underpins both non-denominational and denominational schooling.
However, it is now abundantly clear that the Scottish Government did not do the preparatory work that was necessary for a bill of such importance. The stage 1 lead committee concluded that ministers had failed to gather the evidence that was required, leaving the Parliament to legislate without sufficient clarity and in the face of a significant danger of unintended consequences for schools, families and children. That failure has shaped every stage of the scrutiny.
The Government has also shown a striking lack of understanding of denominational settings, the legal status and religious character of which are not only long established but protected in statute. So serious have those concerns been that the Bishops Conference of Scotland felt compelled to intervene publicly, warning that several of the amendments risked eroding the distinctive ethos of Catholic education. That is unprecedented and should have given ministers pause.
At the same time, the Government has failed to provide the evidence, the impact assessments and the policy coherence that would be required to reassure parents, whose rights are expressly recognised in Scots law and in the UN convention, about the consequences of the changes that are being proposed. In its current form, the bill has created confusion rather than clarity, and division rather than consensus.
We have also heard deep concern from teachers and local authorities about workload and resources. Schools are already stretched, yet the Government has brought forward significant administrative duties and new decision-making responsibilities without providing the resources to implement them. That is not respectful or realistic, and it is not responsible law making.
Scottish Labour supports our faith schools; we support parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s education; and we support the principle that children should be consulted in ways that are appropriate, balanced and rooted in the relationships of trust that exist between families and schools. However, the bill that is before us does not achieve that balance.
Scottish Labour engaged constructively at stage 2. We also lodged amendment 24 at stage 3, which would have protected the statutory framework of denominational schools and ensured that nothing in part 1 would undermine the long-standing rights and duties in the 1918 and 1980 acts.
We must also note the contribution of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, who has been explicit that, even with the proposed amendments, part 1 will not deliver a rights-respecting framework and that the Government still has not addressed the fundamental drafting flaws that place the legislation outside the scope of the UNCRC. When both children’s rights bodies and denominational representatives sound the alarm, the Parliament really ought to listen.
Without the Government’s acceptance of Scottish Labour’s consistent requests for substantial, concrete safeguards in the bill, we cannot support the legislation. The Government has not provided those safeguards; it has not provided clarity; and it has not brought forward a bill that commands confidence across Scotland’s schools, families or faith communities. For those reasons, Scottish Labour will not be able to support the bill at decision time.