Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill: consumer duty assessment

Decision

As explained above, it is assessed that no changes are needed for the reasons outlined above.

The consumer duty requires that relevant public authorities, including Scottish Ministers, when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise their functions, must have regard to the impact of those decisions on consumers in Scotland and must have regard to the desirability of reducing harm to consumers in Scotland. An outcome-based approach is taken to meeting the duty which focuses on providing better quality of services and outcomes for consumers, as users of all public services.

By completing this assessment, we were able to identify the relevant consumers who may be impacted by the Bill. In considering available evidence we were able to identify potential impacts on those consumers and employ an outcomes based approach to minimise potential harms. Therefore, focussing on the consumer principles, it has been assessed that the Bill has the potential to positively impact the principles of choice, access and fairness. Additionally, it has allowed us to consider mitigations to reduce the potential for harm (stressful withdrawal situations) and ensure that relevant stakeholders have been and will continue to be engaged with in the development of the Bill, during the Parliamentary process, and through implementation and development of supporting guidance.

Authorised by: Lewis Hedge, Deputy Director, Curriculum and Qualifications

Date completed: October 2025