Amendment 10 and 4: Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Amendment 10, in the name of Jeremy Balfour, and amendment 4, in the name of John Mason, will require the statutory guidance to include provision about the steps that should be taken to support participation by pupils including, in particular, those with additional support needs, and provision about the requiring of a financial contribution from parents, including, in particular, the matters that are to be taken into account to ensure equality of access. Both those amendments follow on from discussions at stage 2 and immediately thereafter. At stage 2, the bill was amended both to remove its duty on ministers to fund the full provision of residential outdoor education and to enable education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools to ask parents for a contribution.
In lodging my stage 2 amendments, I sought commitments from the minister that parents of pupils with additional support needs would not be charged more to cover the cost of providing for those needs to be met, and that pupils whose parents could not afford to contribute would still be able to benefit from residential outdoor education courses. Helpfully, the minister gave those commitments at stage 2. I am very grateful to her for that. Amendments 10 and 4 further solidify those commitments by requiring the statutory guidance to include provision about pupils with additional support needs and about equality of access. I therefore very much welcome both amendments 10 and 4.