Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
I have the easiest job in the Parliament tonight, which is to open this debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, because my Scottish Conservative colleague Liz Smith, along with her office and the non-Government bills unit, has done all the work—an incredible amount of work—to bring us to this stage. They have achieved something that, at some stages in the process, looked unachievable. However, at any point when there were challenges, Liz Smith got stuck in and overcame them, which has ensured that we, as a Parliament, can vote tonight for the bill to become law. I will be proud to do so.
I am not speaking tonight as convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, but as convener I was privileged to sit through the evidence sessions on the bill and to hear from people who are passionate about it, as Liz Smith is, and who wanted to share their experience about what it will achieve for so many others. I am delighted that so many of them are in our public gallery tonight to watch the final element of the bill’s passage.
I will always remember that, when we were constructing our stage 1 report—and this was included in it—a letter by Nick March was read out to the committee, and I want to use those words again tonight. The meeting was on 13 November 2024, so it was more than a year ago, but the words that Nick March read to us about a young pupil called Nevis stuck with me at the time and still stick with me now.
He said:
“Nevis has cerebral palsy. He is a full-time wheelchair user and he needs support with feeding and an adult with him all the time.”
Nick March wanted the committee to hear—and I want the Parliament to hear—the difference that outdoor residential learning made to Nevis. These are Nevis’s words being read out in Nevis’s Parliament as we are able to pass a bill that Nevis supports:
“Rock climbing was awesome! I got to defy gravity and abseil down a mountain at the speed of light! Kayaking was so cool literally. I sailed round an island with my school friends in a storm! I scored a gold at archery! And we all did drumming together at night, and it was really exciting and fun. I’d never done any of those things before ... I can’t do so many things like that at home because they don’t have spaces for kids with wheelchairs to join in ... I think every kid should get the chance to go to camp, have adventures and hang out together.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 13 November 2024; c 49-50.]
Nevis articulated very clearly why the bill was so important to Liz Smith, who has committed so much of her parliamentary career to getting it on to the statute book, and why it is so important that the Parliament agrees to the bill tonight. As a result of the bill, there will be so many opportunities for kids such as Nevis, now and in the future, to have experiences that will not only stick with them in their school career but remain with them throughout their entire life.
We heard at committee about the difference that outdoor education makes to classroom environments. People who have one view of a teacher before they go on a week-long residential course might have a totally different view when they come back, and that aids education and the atmosphere and environment in our classrooms.
The bill has so many positives. I was delighted when the committee could agree its general principles and the Parliament overwhelmingly supported it at stage 1, which is why the Parliament should—and will—support it to become law tonight.
Sometimes, there are divisions in the chamber and we strongly disagree with one another. At other times, an individual member is able to work across the political parties to bring a nugget of an idea to fruition. Liz Smith should be very proud of having done that, and the Parliament should be proud that an Opposition member has been able to work with the Government to enact a law that will make a real difference. I am delighted to speak in favour of the bill, and I will be very proud to vote for it.
17:10