MSPs vote to pass Bill mandating outdoor residential education

MSPs have voted to pass a “transformational” Bill mandating outdoor residential education.

The Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill will place a legal duty on councils to ensure school pupils can access residential outdoor education trips.

Tory MSP Liz Smith proposed the legislation, which passed a vote at stage three on Tuesday at Holyrood with a vote of 120 for and no votes against with one abstention.

She believes the legislation will be “transformational” for the development of young people.

Ms Smith said: “I am absolutely delighted that the Bill has passed and that all young Scots will now have access to a week of residential outdoor education at school.

“I’ve always believed that this legislation would be transformational for our young people, which is why I invested so much time and effort to get it on the statute book.

“I’m extremely grateful to MSPs from across the political divide who listened to the overwhelming evidence of the benefits offered to pupils by these programmes.

“Residential trips teach self-reliance, teamwork and leadership skills and offer the chance to engage with nature.

“Too many young people, especially those from deprived backgrounds, have missed out on those opportunities.

“Now that this Bill is set to become law, every pupil will be able to enjoy an outdoor education experience which will boost their physical and mental wellbeing.”

Speaking in the chamber, minister for children and young people Natalie Don-Innes said the Bill will ensure children in Scotland get to “benefit from residential outdoor educations well into the future”.

She said: “Many people will have been privileged in their youth to have enjoyed time away from home at a residential outdoor education facility often in spectacular parts of the Scottish countryside.

“For those children and young people who continue to benefit from such experiences, most have very positive memories and that is really the point of the Schools Residential Outdoor Scotland Bill – to ensure that more children in Scotland get to benefit from residential outdoor education well into the future.”

The Bill was previously criticised over potential costs, with estimates suggesting it could cost up to £40 million to implement.

Local authority body Cosla has also said such a legal duty could require a change to the contract of teachers and potentially increase their pay.

Ms Don-Innes continued that there were, and remain, “significant challenges to overcome in delivery, particularly in cost and workforce considerations”.

However she said that collectively the Parliament as a whole has “worked to improve the Bill in this regard” through amendments at stage two “to the so-called duty to fund provisions and the enabling of financial contributions to be sought”.

Scottish Labour also supported the Bill as MSP Martin Whitfield said: “We know from decades of evidence and the testimony heard at stage one that the experiences build confidence, they build resilience, they build independence in our young people, they build teamwork, they problem solve, they build leadership skills in ways that classrooms just simply cannot do.”

Mr Whitfield was complimentary of Ms Smith for bringing the Bill to Parliament and said that the Bill would stand as a “legacy” of her work in the Parliament.

He continued: “This Bill will stand as a legacy of her work in the Scottish Parliament, as a testament of her passion for Scotland’s children and young people.

“This member has championed the Bill tirelessly because she understands the life-changing impact these experiences will have.”

The Scottish Greens also shared support for the Bill.

Co-leader Ross Greer said the Bill would remove “financial barriers” from pupils to experience outdoor education.

He said: “The Greens are of course going to support this Bill at stage three, we’ve supported it throughout the process because it fulfils commitments we made in our own manifesto to guarantee every pupil at least a week of residential outdoor experience, to remove the financial barriers from that and to expand outdoor play and learning provision across the board.”