Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) for the National Care Service Charter of Rights

1. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

The Charter will provide information about people’s rights when accessing social care, social work and community health support, including children and young people that access support services. The Charter can also be used by young carers (someone up to 18 years of age, or 18 and still in school, who provides or intends to provide care for another person) in order to understand their rights and those of the adult for whom they provide care.

Whilst the Charter does not introduce any new rights, it aims to present existing rights in an accessible way and thereby improve people’s awareness and understanding of these rights. The Charter provides information about support that is available to help people to realise their rights – including independent advocacy, support for decision making, and information and advice services. The Charter also provides information about routes to redress, via a section about feedback and complaints.

The Charter clearly states that it can be used by children, including young carers. The Charter states that the rights and expectations apply to everyone, unless it says otherwise. With respect to information about children’s UNCRC rights specifically, the Charter signposts people to accessible, child-friendly information produced by experts in this field (Young Scot).

The following articles are particularly relevant to the Charter’s development and publication:

Article 4 – Implementation of the Convention

The Charter aims to make sure that children and young people are aware of what their rights are with respect to social care, social work and community health support. The Charter aims to help adults understand about children’s rights in this context. The Charter aims to ensure that authorities responsible for health and social care are aware of people’s rights, including children’s rights.

Article 13 – Freedom of expression (including accessing information)

The Charter aims to help children get the information they need about their rights when accessing social care, social work and community health support. The publication of the Charter will make this information available online and in a range of accessible formats, including a shorter summary version and an easy read version.

Article 12 – Respect for the views of the child

The Charter has been developed through a process of co-design, which included engagement with children and young people, and young carers. The views of children and young people were taken into account in decisions about the content and design of the Charter. Children’s organisations were commissioned to engage directly with children. More information about this process is included in sections 3.1 – 3.3 of this assessment.