Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 parents can withdraw a child from religious education and religious observance in school. Religious education can also be known as religious and moral education.
Part 1 of the Bill would require schools to inform a child if their parent asks for them to be withdrawn from either or both of these. It also gives the child the chance to express their views. Where the child’s views are different from the parent’s views, the school would have to follow the child’s wishes.
Where a child is not capable of forming a view, the school would not have to take these steps. However, it is assumed that a child is able to do so unless it is shown otherwise.
Part 2 of the Bill makes changes to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.
This Act places a duty on public authorities not to act in a way that is incompatible with the UNCRC. There is an exception to that duty where an Act of the UK Parliament requires them to act differently. The Bill would put in place another exception so that Acts of the Scottish Parliament were treated in a similar way to Acts of the UK Parliament, where there are conflicting duties.
As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).
Read the FM for this Bill: Financial Memorandum.
The Committee has launched a call for views on the Financial Memorandum of the Bill. The closing date for submissions is Monday 1 September 2025.
You can submit your views to the Committee on Citizen Space.