Petitioner: Mairi Campbell-Jack and Douglas Beattie on behalf of Quaker in Scotland & Forces Watch
Status:
Closed
Date Lodged:
20 March 2016
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that:
- Guidance is provided on how visits to schools by the armed forces should be conducted so that information presented to children takes account of the unique nature of armed forces careers, ensures political balance, and offers a realistic representation of the role of the armed forces and what a career in the armed forces involves.
- Information is collected to enable public monitoring of the number and location of visits, the purpose and content of visits, and comparison with the number of visits by other employers.
- Parents/guardians are consulted as to whether they are happy for their child to take part in armed forces activities at school.
Report
The Committee published its report on 4 June 2018
2nd Report, 2018 (Session 5) Report on Petition PE1603: Ensuring greater scrutiny, guidance and consultation no armed forces visits to schools in Scotland (1,129KB pdf)
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on 21 June 2018:
Scottish Government response of 21 June 2018 (108KB pdf)
Summary
15 September 2016: The Committee took evidence from Mairi Campbell-Jack, Parliamentary Engagement Office, Quakers in Scotland; Emma Sangster, Coordinator, Forces Watch; and Rhianna Louise, Education and Outreach Project Office, Forces Watch and agreed to write to the Scottish Government, local authorities, the Armed Forces Careers Office, Skills Development Scotland, the Association of Heads and Deputies in Scotland, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the Scottish Youth Parliament. Link to Official Report 15 September 2016
24 November 2016: The Committee agreed to write to organisations representing parents and teachers, schools, children's rights organisations, young people's organisations, veterans and careers bodies such as Skills Development Scotland. Link to Official Report 24 November 2016
2 March 2017: The Committee agreed to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and COSLA to give evidence at a future meeting and to request a briefing from the Ministry of Defence. Link to Official Report 2 March 2017
20 April 2017: The Committee agreed to reflect on the evidence from the Deputy First Minister and to consider a note by the clerk at a future meeting. Link to the Official Report.
25 May 2017: The Committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. Link to Official Report 25 May 2017
9 November 2017: The Committee agreed to invite the petitioner to respond to the evidence heard, and to consider the petition further at a future meeting. Link to Official Report 09 November 2017
15 March 2018: The Committee agreed to publish a report on the Committee’s consideration of the petition. Link to the Official Report 15 March 2018
24 May 2018: The Committee considered and agreed a draft report on petition PE1603 on ensuring greater scrutiny, guidance and consultation on armed forces visits to schools in Scotland. Link to Official Report 24 May 2018
8 November 2018: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government and to defer further consideration of the petition to a future date. Link to the Official Report 8 November 2018
5 September 2019: The Committee agreed to close the petition under Standing Order Rule 15.7 on the basis that an important piece of work has been undertaken to highlight the issues raised in the petition. The Committee also agreed to write to the Scottish Government. Official Report of Meeting 5 September 2019
Written Submissions
Additional Information
At the meeting on 20 April 2017, the Deputy First Minister undertook to write to the Ministry of Defence in relation to data on armed forces visits to schools in Scotland. The following information has been provided to the Committee by the Scottish Government following that undertaking.
The available data shows that the armed forces make a high number of visits to schools in Scotland and that this is higher, per head of population, than for England. Some schools and some areas are visited a lot more than others.
* Are the armed forces making too many visits to secondary schools in Scotland?
* Recruitment is a key reason for the visits. Is the promotion of armed forces careers in schools acceptable?
* Parents and guardians are not always consulted in advance about the visits; should they be?
* There is evidence that the visits often give students a sanitised and glamourised view of the armed forces, rather than thoroughly exploring the unique risks, legal restrictions and ethical dilemmas. Should specific guidance be issued to local authorities and schools on how visits can be used to explore the armed forces in a balanced way?
* The Welsh Assembly Petitions Committee has investigated armed forces visits to schools in Wales, and made three recommendations to the Welsh Government to increase transparency and balance, all of which were accepted. Should Scotland now do the same?