North Ayrshire Council says it has no plans to remove voting powers for religious representatives on education matters – despite six other local authorities going down that road.

Councils are legally obliged to have three religious representatives when education issues are being discussed by the local authority’s cabinet.

However, local authorities do not have to give those religious representatives the same voting rights as elected members.

Fraser Sutherland, the chief executive of the Humanist Society Scotland, recently argued that the number of councils looking at removing voting rights is accelerating and suggested that most of the 32 bodies in Scotland could remove them in the next five years.

In the four years from 2019 to 2022, just three councils decided to remove voting rights from non-elected members – Perth and Kinross, Moray and Scottish Borders. That number has already been matched in 2023 by Orkney, Fife and Highland councils.

The requirement for councils to appoint three religious representatives is embedded in the Local Government Scotland Act (1973).

However, the legislation does not require the representatives to be given a vote.

The significant power given to religious groups comes as the number of people identifying with a faith continues to drop.

The last census in 2011 showed just over 53 per cent Scots identified with religious groups, a drop of around 12 per cent on 2001. It is expected that current figures would see religious affiliation drop below half.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “North Ayrshire Council has three religious representatives who attend and have voting rights on the Council’s Cabinet when it meets to consider education business.

“The representatives are Elizabeth Turbet (Roman Catholic Church), Andrew Bruce (Church of Scotland) and Rev Mark Goodman (Largs Episcopal Church). There are no current plans to review the arrangement at this time.

“We follow national legislation in respect of the appointment of religious representatives to participate in cabinet meetings when discussing education matters. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for us to comment on the wider policy.

“Religious representatives are appointed to represent their own organisation’s views and how they reach those views is a matter for them.

"As always, parents are encouraged to play an active role in their children’s education and should contact their child’s school in the first instance if they wish to raise an issue.”