Children in Scotland’s response to the Restraint and Seclusion Bill

8 Jul 2025

Children in Scotland has responded to the Scottish Parliament’s consultation on the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 17 March 2025.

The Bill was introduced by Daniel Johnson, and is intended to limit the use of unnecessary restraint and seclusion of children and young people in schools, and would require the Scottish Government to issue guidance on the use of restraint and seclusion to education providers.

Children in Scotland welcomes the Bill, having been involved in responding to previous calls for views relating to this topic, as a necessary step towards safeguarding children and young people from the negative impact the use of restrain and seclusion can have, particularly when over- or inappropriately used.

In particular, we support the Bill’s introduction of measures that would strengthen and improve the existing legislative and police framework, such as the introduction of a 24-hour timescale for informing parents and carers of incidents of restrain and seclusion.

And while we welcome the Bill’s requirement for all incidents of restraint and seclusion to be recorded and reported to the Scottish Parliament, we would like to see mention of gathering data on whether the affected child or young person has any additional support needs; as incidents of restraint and seclusion often involve children with additional support needs, we feel that these are important data that should be taken into consideration.

We would also encourage the Bill to make training on seclusion and restraint mandatory for all teachers and support staff, with training focusing on de-escalation and minimising the use of restraint and seclusion. We recognise that all behaviour is communication, and that staff should be supported to respond in a trauma informed way to support and safeguard all children.

We look forward to working further with the Scottish Parliament and the wider children’s sector on this Bill and hope to see it become an Act that will help Scotland’s children to flourish.

Read our full response to the consultation here.