Children's Rights Scheme: draft

Foreword by the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise

As Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, it fills me with great pride to share the first Children’s Rights Scheme under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the UNCRC Act).

I am determined to help make Scotland the best place in the world for children to grow up. The commencement of the UNCRC Act in July 2024 marked a historic milestone: Scotland became the first devolved nation to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law, within the limits of devolved competence. This is a bold and transformative step toward realising our ambition.

The UNCRC Act means that public authorities in Scotland now have a legal duty not to act, or fail to act in a way that is incompatible with the UNCRC requirements in the Act when carrying out a relevant function. This ‘compatibility duty’ is a key provision, along with other important provisions in the Act that will help strengthen access to children’s rights. Under the Act, Scottish Ministers are required to publish a Children’s Rights Scheme. This Scheme sets out the arrangements we have made - and propose to make - to ensure we comply with the compatibility duty, and to secure better or further effect of children’s rights. It is a key part of embedding a proactive culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights across Scotland’s public sector.

Our arrangements in this scheme are made with all children and young people in mind so that their rights are at the heart of everything we do. The Scheme is grounded in the principles of the Children’s Human Rights Approach, as discussed in our non-statutory guidance for public authorities:

• Embedding: putting children’s human rights at the core of planning and the delivery of services that affect children;
• Empowerment: giving children the knowledge and confidence to use their rights and hold organisations and individuals that affect their lives to account;
• Participation: listening to children and taking their views seriously;
• Accountability: taking steps to monitor children’s rights standards and provide remedies where there is failure to meet these standards; and
• Equality and non-discrimination: ensuring that every child has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.

The Scheme is not a ‘one-off’ document. The UNCRC Act requires us to review the Scheme and report on progress on a regular basis and so we will continually consider what more we can do to embed these principles in Scotland. As I have heard many times, the incorporation of the UNCRC is just the start and there is still a journey ahead.

However, I have a great deal of pride in the progress that we have made so far and I am confident that the Children’s Rights Scheme will help us to maintain our significant momentum in embedding children’s rights in Scotland.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the development of this Scheme. In particular, I am grateful to the children and young people who provided their views, and to key stakeholders including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), and UNICEF (UK), and other members of the UNCRC Strategic Implementation Board.

Together, we are building a Scotland where children’s rights are not just recognised - but realised.