Meeting of the Parliament 25 November 2025
I will come on to talk about part 2 later, but I recognise that there are a number of different views, particularly about part 2 and on stakeholders’ views. I will continue to listen as the bill makes its way through the Parliament.
The bill serves two main purposes: first, to strengthen children’s rights in decisions about religious observance and religious and moral education; and, secondly, to clarify the legal duties of public authorities under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 in situations where provisions in acts of the Scottish Parliament conflict with UNCRC obligations.
The bill is technical in nature, dealing with those two separate but related objectives, as is set out in parts 1 and 2, respectively. As such, the bill has been drafted very narrowly, and deliberately so, as it is intended to address those specific points within the current parliamentary session. However, I want to assure stakeholders and children and young people themselves that the bill does not mark the end of our efforts to strengthen and improve children’s rights.
Religious observance and religious and moral education are two distinct but important aspects of school education in Scotland. Sections 8 and 9 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 provide for the long-standing parental right to withdraw a pupil from religious observance and/or religious and moral education. Guidance on religious observance notes that pupils’ views should be considered in the withdrawal process. Currently, however, there is no requirement in legislation to consider them, and the decision rests entirely with the parent. Part 1 proposes to change that to provide a legal right for a child to be consulted where a parent has made a request to withdraw him or her from religious observance. That would provide certainty in the law that children and young people’s views should be considered when parents are exercising their withdrawal right. It does not introduce an independent right to withdraw for the child, nor does it alter the parent’s right to request a withdrawal. In practice, it also gives the child the ability to opt back in.
Without those changes, pupils might be denied those aspects of their education against their wishes, and their rights under the UNCRC might not be upheld. The committee has heard divergent views on the topic and, given that plurality of views, the Government’s approach is to chart a middle course: to strengthen children’s rights while balancing the three key considerations of parental rights, the recognition of stakeholder views and the practical implications for schools.