Meeting of the Parliament 27 March 2025
We absolutely were. That came across in the evidence sessions that we held and in the information that we gathered during those sessions. I hope that our report reflects that.
However, we recognised the challenges in relation to the universality of the opportunity to experience residential outdoor education, including how it should be funded, the impact on teachers and the existing capacity of residential outdoor centres to accommodate pupils. We all acknowledged that more work needs to be done in assessing capacity across Scotland and the ability for existing outdoor centres to provide residential opportunities for all pupils—including, as Liz Smith said, to accommodate pupils with complex additional support needs. We all agreed that the additional costs of providing residential outdoor education for pupils with ASN should not fall disproportionately on those pupils’ families.
I will move on to teachers and the concerns that we heard during our evidence sessions and our informal session with teachers. Currently, teachers facilitate residential outdoor education visits on a voluntary basis. Many of the teachers whom we spoke to spoke highly of the value of that experience to pupils and to them personally. However, representatives of education trade unions cautioned that placing such trips on a statutory footing, as proposed in the bill, would change the nature of the arrangements. We heard that that could potentially require teachers to renegotiate their terms and conditions via the tripartite Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, and we recommended that the Scottish Government provide its view on whether that would be required and an estimate of any resulting costs.
On funding, we all agreed that the national funding of residential outdoor education is a good example of preventative spend—its benefits are well documented. That said, parental contributions and fundraising are key sources of income for many schools that currently provide residential outdoor education. We have, therefore, asked the Scottish Government and the member in charge of the bill to consider whether the aim of universal provision of residential outdoor education can retain a place for parental contributions and local fundraising.
The costs that are associated with the bill mean that it cannot proceed to stage 2 unless a financial resolution is lodged. That cannot be done by the member in charge; it can be done only by the minister and the Scottish Government. I am slightly unsure about the notification that we received last night from the Scottish Government, in its response to the committee, that it
“will not stand in the way of the Bill but will not be lodging”
the financial resolution that is needed unless some progress is made. I ask that, when the minister speaks, she outlines the process that we must go through as a committee and as a Parliament to determine whether the Scottish Government will eventually lodge a financial resolution, which is clearly crucial.
We heard interesting evidence from the member in charge on other funding options that could supplement the central Government funding that will be required to implement the bill. That included a public trust model. Not only the education committee but the Finance and Public Administration Committee said that there was merit in exploring such alternative funding models, and we recommended that the Scottish Government liaise with Liz Smith to explore the options in a meaningful way.
The committee heard of concerns regarding capital funding for outdoor education centres. We were told that, rightly, current market prices for school residentials do not include capital costs for the centres, to keep the costs of residential trips affordable. We also heard that some centres were built in the 1930s and were designed to be used for perhaps up to 25 years but are still in use now, with refurbishments done on a piecemeal basis when funding allows. All those issues were rightly highlighted and brought to the fore during one of our evidence sessions.
The Education, Children and Young People Committee supports the general principles of the bill. There are issues that need to be addressed in relation to costs and staffing, as I have set out, but the further parliamentary stages that will be afforded to Liz Smith, the Scottish Government and the Parliament as a whole provide us with an opportunity to resolve those.
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