Education, Children and Young People Committee 19 November 2025
Our next item is consideration of the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill at stage 2. I welcome Liz Smith MSP, the member in charge of the bill, and her supporting officials. I also welcome Jeremy Balfour MSP, who has amendments, and the Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise, along with her supporting officials. The officials seated at the table are here to support the member in charge and the minister, but are not able to speak in the debate on amendments. Members should therefore direct their comments or questions to Ms Smith or to the minister.
Before I begin, I will briefly explain the procedure that we will be following this morning. The amendments to the bill that have been lodged have been grouped together, and there will be one debate on each group of amendments. I will call the member who lodged the first amendment in a group to speak to and move that amendment and to speak to all other amendments in the group. I will then call any other members who have lodged amendments in that group. Members who have not lodged amendments in the group but who wish to speak should catch my attention. If the member in charge of the bill has not already spoken on the group, I will then invite her to contribute to the debate. The debate on each group will be concluded by me inviting the member who moved the first amendment in the group to wind up.
Following debate on each group, I will check whether the member who moved the first amendment in the group wishes to press it to a vote or to withdraw it. If they wish to press ahead, I will put the question on that amendment. If a member wishes to withdraw their amendment after it has been moved, they must seek agreement of other members to do so. If any member present objects, the committee immediately moves to the vote on the amendment. If any member does not want to move their amendment when called, they should say “not moved”. Please note that any other member present may move such an amendment. If no one moves an amendment, I will immediately call the next amendment on the marshalled list.
Only committee members are allowed to vote. Voting in any division is by a show of hands, and it is important that members keep their hands clearly raised until the clerks have recorded their vote. The committee is also required to indicate formally that it has considered and agreed each section of the bill, so I will put the question on each section at the appropriate time.
Section 1—Provision of residential outdoor education