Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum
Overview
About the Bill
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Part 1 of the Bill would require schools to inform a child if their parent asks for them to be withdrawn from either or both of these.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.
Current Status of the Bill
This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 30 April 2025.
Read and find out more about the Bill: Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill.
Stage 1
The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee has been designated as the lead Committee for the Bill. A separate call for views on the Bill’s policy provisions has been issued by the lead Committee and published on this consultation platform.
Financial Memorandum
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 published alongside this Bill.
Making a Submission
Before making a submission, please read our Privacy Notice about submitting your views to a Committee. This tells you about how we process personal data.
Please note that in most cases your submission will be published on the Scottish Parliament's website and may be quoted in the Committee's report or in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast).
Questions in this call for views
- Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made?
- If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM?
- Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?
- If the Bill has any financial implications for you or your organisation, do you believe that they have been accurately reflected in the FM? If not, please provide details.
- Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate?
- If applicable, are you content that your organisation can meet any financial costs that it might incur as a result of the Bill? If not, how do you think these costs should be met?
- Does the FM accurately reflect the margins of uncertainty associated with the Bill’s estimated costs and with the timescales over which they would be expected to arise?
The deadline to submit your views is: Monday 1 September 2025.
We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. Due to the time required to process and analyse evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the agreement of the Committee Clerk.
Submit your views
Interests
- FPA
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