Order!

Our only item of business today is a debate on bill SB249, in the name of Forward. The question is that the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Democracy in Schools (Repeal) (Scotland) Bill.

Democracy in Schools (Repeal) (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to repeal statutory provisions for democracy in schools, and for connected purposes.

Section 1: Repeals

(1) The Democracy in Schools Act 2022 is hereby repealed in full.

(2) The Democracy in Schools (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2023 is hereby repealed in full.

Section 2: School Choice

(1) Individual schools shall be able to set their own policies with regards to democracy in schools.

(2) In this section, unless specified otherwise, ‘school’ refers to any state-funded provider of secondary level education

Section 3: Short Title and Commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Democracy in Schools (Repeal) (Scotland) Act 2024

(2) This Act shall come into force immediately upon Royal Assent

This Bill was written by the Rt. Hon. Sir Frost_Walker2017, Duke of the Suffolk Coasts, as a member of Forward.

Opening Speech:

Presiding Officer,

I rise in support of this bill. While I don’t necessarily disagree with the intents and aims of the original bills, having amended one and authored the other, on review I believe that being overly prescriptivist with how schools exercise their functions unnecessarily limits the creativity and ingenuity of schools. It should be up to schools to decide how best to implement things like student councils, and the powers it has.

I commend this bill to this Parliament.

Debate under this bill will end with the close of business at 10pm GMT on the 25th of March 2024.