Mandating outdoor education could require pay rises for teachers, councils warn

Mandating residential outdoor education for children could require pay rises for teachers, Scotland’s local authority body has said.

The Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill has been proposed by Conservative MSP Liz Smith and would place a legal duty on councils to ensure children can access residential trips.

In a briefing released on Tuesday, local authority body Cosla said such trips are currently overseen by staff on a voluntary basis, and making it a legal duty for councils would require a change to their contract.

The document said: “Any move towards compulsory obligations would require renegotiation of teacher’s terms and conditions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT).

“This represents a significant material change in duties and may result in salary cost increases.

“Teaching unions have raised serious concerns throughout the Bill’s legislative process about workload implications and contractual obligations.

“Mandatory participation would substantially increase supply cover requirements, creating further costs and staffing pressures, particularly in small and rural schools.

“This may also impact learning, particularly where only part of the class attends an outdoor residential trip.”

Current costs have been estimated at between £20.5 million and £33.8 million by the Bill’s financial memorandum, with Government estimates placing the cost between £24.3 million and £40.6 million.

But Cosla contends the estimates do not take into account teacher costs, meaning they are a “significant underestimate”.

The document said: “Councils face a cumulative £1 billion budget gap across 2026/27 and 2027/28.

“Local authorities simply cannot absorb any new, underfunded duties within their existing budgets, without difficult decisions having to be made over existing commitments.”

Cosla children and young people spokesman Tony Buchanan said councils “fully recognise” the value of outdoor education, but added: “The Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill as drafted will impose significant and underfunded new duties on local authorities.

“Issues around staffing, capacity within centres and provision for pupils with additional support needs would require significant time and investment to meet the duties of this Bill, with the initial financial memorandum vastly underestimating costs.

“We are already facing a challenging financial climate, as made clear in Cosla’s recently published local government manifesto.

“Local authorities are concerned that progressing this legislation runs the risk of diverting resources from essential services and creating unrealistic expectations.

“Cosla remains strongly supportive of ensuring more young people have access to outdoor learning experiences, but this must be done through sustainable, collaborative approaches that fully take into account the resources available.

“We continue to work closely with Scottish Government on alternative approaches to outdoor learning, that are fully costed and integrated with the curriculum.”

The Bill will be considered at stage two by the Education, Children and Young People Committee on Wednesday.

Ms Smith accepted there “have been major issues to be addressed” with her Bill, on the cost, as well as how best to ensure those who currently miss out on residential outdoor education can benefit from it, and on ensuring the sector is ready for the demand.

The Tory MSP added: “Residential outdoor education has proven time and time again that it brings substantial benefit to a younger person – in terms of building resilience, confidence, self-esteem – but also in terms of developing positive pupil-teacher relationships and raising attainment.

“Given the current substantial concerns in schools about pupil behaviour, the attainment gap and attendance levels, residential outdoor education has a key role to play in improving Scottish educational standards.”