Restraint and Seclusion in Scottish Schools: A Call to Action for Children’s Rights

The Restraint Reduction Network, along with charities and organisations promoting children’s rights in Scotland, have today shared a manifesto ask with Scottish political parties, urging them to commit to protecting children from the harmful and unregulated use of restraint and seclusion in schools ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.

The briefing, “Restraint and Seclusion in Scottish Schools: A Call to Action for Children’s Rights”, sets out urgent reforms needed to uphold children’s rights to safety, dignity, and inclusion in education, particularly for those with additional support needs.

Scotland’s children deserve schools that are safe, nurturing and inclusive. While most experience this, too many, particularly children with additional support needs, are subjected to harmful and unregulated use of restraint and seclusion. Despite years of evidence, Scotland still lacks a statutory framework on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools.

Today, we are asking all political parties to make a commitment to passing statutory guidance, taking an important step to ensuring this is the case.

Read the briefing in full here.

Signatories include:

Ben Higgins, CEO, BILD

Beth Morrison, Founder, PABSS

Linda Mitchell, Interim Chief Executive, Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland

Charlie McMillan, Director, Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Fraser McKinlay, Chief Executive, The Promise Scotland

Dorry McLaughlin, CEO, Scottish Autism

Rob Holland, Director, National Autistic Society Scotland

Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner (2017-2023)

Juliet Harris, Director, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)

Jacqui Shurlock, CEO, Challenging Behaviour Foundation

Kate Sanger, Founder, My Commpass

Natalie Blue, Co-founder, EmpowerED Scotland

Pauline Charles, CEO, Borders Additional Needs Group

Jenny Miller, Chief Executive, PAMIS

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