Parliament Workbench
Data: Motions & questions to 19 Nov 2026

Written Question · S4W-29162 · Session 4

What its position is on the recommendation made by the Independent Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life in its report, …

Answered Asked by Alison McInnes LD Lodged 5 Jan 2016

The question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation made by the Independent Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life in its report, Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good, that "the legal requirement for schools to hold acts of collective worship should be repealed, and replaced by a requirement to hold inclusive times for reflection".

The answer

Answered by Alasdair Allan on 20 Jan 2016 · 15 days after it was lodged, on time

The report of the Independent Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life, Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good, contains 12 recommendations about the place of religion in public life. These include the recommendation that:
"All pupils in state-funded schools should have a statutory entitlement to a curriculum about religion, philosophy and ethics that is relevant to today's society, and the broad framework of such a curriculum should be nationally agreed. The legal requirement for schools to hold acts of collective worship should be repealed, and replaced by a requirement to hold inclusive times for reflection."
There is no legal requirement in Scotland for schools to ‘hold acts of collective worship’; instead the terms ‘Religious Observance’ or ‘Time for Reflection’ are used in statute and guidance. Education Scotland guidance on religious observance (time for reflection) addresses how effective religious observance may take a variety of forms.

In the Official Report

No contribution in the Official Report cites S4W-29162 by reference.