Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
The costs have not changed since the original discussion of that issue. However, as John Mason knows, at stage 2 we added to the bill a period for its staged introduction and we also changed the commencement date.
The Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise has also put it on record that there will be additional funding for pupils who have additional support needs, so that nobody will have to pay extra for that reason, and for families who cannot afford to pay for the provision. I am grateful to the minister for doing that.
The bill now includes an explicit requirement for the Scottish Government to consult trade unions when it is preparing guidance. I thank Pam Duncan-Glancy for her work in strengthening the bill in that way at stage 2. Earlier this afternoon, amendments were passed at stage 3 to provide that the Scottish Government must consult teachers who are not in trade unions, as well as representatives of young people themselves, before preparing its guidance. Those are all very positive steps. Similarly, earlier today, changes were accepted that establish what the statutory guidance must include, and those have also strengthened the bill.
As I mentioned, the commencement date has also changed. Instead of the bill automatically coming into force on 7 July next year, the Scottish Government will now make commencement regulations. That change will allow the Government, education authorities, managers of grant-aided schools, the outdoor education sector and other key partners, such as trade unions and school leaders, more space to get ready.
I thank the outdoor education sector for its tireless support for the bill; it is good to see that many representatives of the sector are in the public gallery this afternoon. I also thank my colleagues across the chamber, my staff, the non-Government bills unit—which is one of the Parliament’s biggest assets—and the many young people who have clearly believed that the bill could provide them with life-changing opportunities.
I am pleased that the minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills see the benefits of the bill. I thank them for their constructive engagement in getting us to where we are today, and I am grateful to them for respecting the will of the Parliament.
Finally, I thank the Education, Children and Young People Committee and its convener, Douglas Ross, for their excellent scrutiny of my bill at stages 1 and 2, as well as Kenny Gibson and colleagues on the Finance and Public Administration Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee for their scrutiny.
It is an honour for me to move the motion to pass the bill.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees that the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill be passed.
16:59