Education, Children and Young People Committee publish report on Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill

The RRN welcomes the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill – Stage 1 Report, published today, by the Scottish Parliament Education, Children and Young People Committee.

Following several months of scrutiny, during which Ben Higgins, RRN CEO, and Beth Morrison, campaigner and RRN Trustee were both invited to give evidence, the committee has confirmed it agrees with the overall principles of the Bill, also known as Calum’s Law, seeking to create statutory guidance on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools and introduced by Daniel Johnson MSP.

This is a significant and positive milestone in seeking to create better protections for children and clearer, practical guidance for teachers. The proposed Bill is an important step towards Scottish Government fulfilling requirements of article 19 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child and the commitment in The Promise not to exacerbate trauma by imposing restrictive, humiliating or stigmatising consequences for challenging behaviour. In most areas, it builds on non-statutory guidance published by Scottish Government in 2024.

The RRN, however, does have concerns around three key areasof the Bill – recording and reporting, the use of seclusion, and staff training – as set out in our proposed amendments below. The wording as it currently stands risks the unintended consequence of making provision in these areas a step backwards in terms of protecting children.

We are pleased to see that the Education, Children and Young People’s Committee’s report of 16th January echoes many of our proposed amendments including amending reporting to be the same day and inclusion of certified training, stating the committee “welcomes the current guidance approach that, where the use of restraint training is required, schools should use training that is certified as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards.”

The publication of the Committee report today is a significant milestone and the RRN recognises the considerable efforts of RRN Trustee Beth Morrison and colleague, Kate Sanger, in getting the Bill to this stage.

RRN will continue to support the Bill and engage throughout the process to ensure any necessary amendments are considered.