Publication - Impact assessment

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) system in Tier 4 of the Agricultural Reform Programme: Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

Published: 21 September 2026
From: Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands, +3 more … Director of Agriculture and Rural Economy, Director-General Net Zero, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs
Directorate: Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Topic: Farming and rural, Work and skills
ISBN: 9781807755645

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment to accompany the consultation on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in Tier 4 of the Agricultural Reform Programme. Tier 4 focuses on people and professional development. This includes skills, knowledge transfer, training, advisory services.

Supporting documents

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal (Please delete as necessary):

Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) regime in Tier 4 of the Agricultural Reform Programme

This proposal is to set up a CPD regime to provide specific occupational groups of people (and individuals within them) including farmers, crofters, land managers, persons who provide relevant advice to them, as well as others who provide advice or services in or for rural communities throughout Scotland, with a framework to undertake CPD and participate in a range of CPD activities.

For the purpose of this CRWIA children and young persons relate to ones who can be employed in agriculture.

The CPD regime is in essence a framework to support personal and professional development. While a CPD regime could have requirements that are to be met by an individual, they also have some flexibility in how they can undertake aspects of their personal and professional development to meet their needs.

The immediate objective of establishing a CPD regime could be to encourage and facilitate personal and professional development, and improvement in practices, in agriculture, land management and other associated vocational fields. The regime could include monitoring and evaluation and this would be an integral part of the CPD regime.

CPD forms part of Tier 4 (“complementary support”) of the Agricultural Reform Programme. Whilst it is a standalone Tier, it also underpins and helps to support the other Tiers. As with the other support in Tier 4, it could help to contribute to the five strategic outcomes of the Agricultural Reform Programme. It could help to support a Just Transition in respect of skills, knowledge exchange, wellbeing and mental health and access to services. It could have downstream benefits for the four outcomes in the Programme:

High Quality Food Production
Thriving Agricultural Businesses
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Nature Restoration.

It could help to contribute towards the outcomes in the Vision for Scottish Agriculture. In particular this relates to skills and co-operative approaches to optimise collaboration and knowledge exchange.

It could also help meet short, medium and long-term outcomes of the Agricultural Reform Programme.

In the autumn of 2026 the Scottish Government is consulting on a CPD system as part of Tier 4 of the Agricultural Reform Programme. The consultation asks a series of questions about proposals for a system, including approaches that could be undertaken and policies. Scottish Ministers have not taken any decisions on the introduction of the CPD system, its approach and policies. The consultation will provide further evidence to inform any decisions that they make on such a system in due course.

Start date of proposal’s development:

9 August 2022 – start of policy consideration of what a CPD regime could look like

Start date of CRWIA process:

9 January 2025

2. 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?

Article 12 – respect of the views of the child – in particular, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

Article 13 – freedom of expression – in particular, the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.

Article 23 – Children with a disability – in particular, that parties recognise that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community, and recognising the special needs of a disabled child, and that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training and preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development.

Article 28 Right to education – in particular, the encouragement of vocational education, making them available and accessible to every child; making educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children; facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods.

Article 29 Goals of education – in particular, the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; the development of respect for the natural environment.

Article 32 – Child labour – in particular, the recognition that there are educational measures to protect children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Evidence from:

Existing research/reports/policy expertise

Policy reports included the following ones:

The Future of Scottish Agriculture - A Summary of the National Discussion, June 2016

A future strategy for Scottish agriculture, May 2018.

A wide range of desktop research was conducted into CPD regimes and their use within the agriculture sector in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and other professional sectors (e.g Farming Connect in Wales and Teagasc in the Republic of Ireland). This included for example, reference to the scope of the regimes, the persons who were able to participate in them, and exemptions from participation in the CPD regimes.

Annual reports of the Farm Advisory Service, particularly the one to many part of the service. The one to many annual report for 2024/25 shows that 1% of each of the male and female attendees were under 20 years of age. While there are specific Next Generation events, there is no minimum age for attendance though young people must be supervised by an adult.

An understanding of current support for skills and knowledge transfer for agriculture, including the Farm Advisory Service, and the Practical Training Funds, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund, the pre-apprenticeship programme in Scottish agriculture, and an understanding of New Entrants Policy, including provision of activities through the Farm Advisory Service.

Consultation/feedback from stakeholders

Formal consultation was undertaken through a number of consultation exercises relating to the development of agricultural policy in Scotland:

Agriculture Transition in Scotland: first steps towards our national policy, August 2021, and the analysis of the consultation responses.

Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture: Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill

This consultation included a question to assist in determining the extent and level of CRWIA required: “Are you aware of any examples of particular current or future impacts, positive or negative, on young people, of any aspect of the proposals in this consultation? Could any improvements be made?” The consultation did not highlight any potential negative impacts that the Bill itself and the initiatives and policies covered within may have on certain groups. As the Bill was an enabling one it was considered that it would have limited impact on children.

The consultation by the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, Scottish Parliament, into the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill as well as the evidence sessions on the Bill and amendments to the Bill, and

An informal consultation - “An Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Scotland: a paper for informal discussion” (not formally published but circulated among stakeholder organisations).

Consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

During the informal consultation “An Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Scotland: a paper for informal discussion” an evidence gathering was held with members of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Association.

BRIA interviews included families whose family members were employed on the farm and hoped to have a long term future on it.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

All of the evidence relating to CPD regimes makes very little or no reference to CPD for children and young people. This is because CPD regimes relate to persons engaged in employment, for example within a particular profession or professions. If there is reference to a particular age group in employment, and to whether they should participate in a CPD regime, it is to individuals who are retired or partly retired, to ensure that they are compliant with the CPD requirements.

However, we know that within different professions CPD is an important way to ensure the individuals have the appropriate knowledge and skills and that it is seen to be something that is positive to undertake. It is also about an individual being able to decide what is relevant to them for their development, as well as undertaking the required activities, and can therefore be seen as something that is empowering to an them.

We are aware of the positive impacts that personal and professional development have on children and young persons in agriculture through vocational activities such as the Pre-Apprenticeship Programme which enables participants to earn and learn in the workplace whilst also gaining a vocational qualification and helps to prepare young people for employment in agriculture and the wider rural sector, as well as the practical training funds such as the Next Generation Practical Training Fund.

In order to understand further specific impacts, we will ask questions in the consultation, including potential impacts, consult further with children and young persons, particularly those employed in agriculture, during the consultation. Our consultation events will also include children and young persons.

5. Analysis of Evidence

As noted, all of the evidence relating to CPD regimes makes very little or no reference to CPD for children and young people. However, we are aware of the positive impacts that personal and professional development can have on children and young persons in agriculture through for example, vocational activities.

While the consultation sets out that we could exclude specific children and young persons from the CPD regime, we want to be able to understand further impacts of this policy. We have asked specific questions in the consultation on the exclusion of specific persons and the impacts, positive and negative, that the proposals may have on children and young persons. As noted above, Scottish Ministers have not taken any decisions on the introduction of the CPD system, its approach and policies. The consultation will provide further evidence to inform any decisions that they make on such a system in due course.

During the consultation, we will engage with children and young persons, particularly those employed in agriculture. Our consultation events will also include children and young persons.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

The evidence pointed to a need to further consider the eligibility of children and young persons employed in agriculture for the CPD regime, including any conditions around this, as well as the accessibility of activities that could help to contribute towards their CPD.

As a result of this assessment, the consultation proposes to set out the potential users of the CPD regime. This includes a number of occupational groups. It understands the complexity of the various groups and employment practices in agriculture. It considers that the following groups of farm workers should not be included in the scope of the CPD system:

Students enrolled at secondary school and who can be legally employed
Pre-apprentices / apprentice undertaking formal training (as recognised by Skills Development Scotland)
Students from a recognised Higher or Further education institution as part of work placement or work experience
Students from a recognised Higher or Further Education Institution (part-time or Full-time)
Workers primarily employed on non-agricultural activities including shop, catering establishment, distribution warehouse etc
Seasonal workers.

The assessment has highlighted the need to consider the eligibility of children and young persons to activities that could contribute towards CPD. There will also be a need to consider the provision of accessible materials for them.

We have included two questions on the eligibility of children and young persons in the CPD regime and the impacts of the proposals on them..

We will consult and engage with these groups during the consultation.

As noted, Scottish Ministers have not made any decisions on the CPD regime.

7. Conclusion

As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, what is the potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights?

While the consultation sets out that we could exclude specific children and young persons from the CPD regime, we want to be able to understand further this policy and its impact before Ministers take a decision on eligibility of users in the CPD regime.

UNCRC Articles

Article 1 Definition of the child: neutral

Article 2 Non-discrimination: neutral

Article 3 Best interests of the child: neutral

Article 4 Implementation of the Convention: neutral

Article 5 Parental guidance and a child’s evolving capacities: neutral

Article 6 Life, survival and development: neutral

Article 7 Birth registration, name, nationality, care: neutral

Article 8 Protection and preservation of identity: neutral

Article 9 Separation from parents: neutral

Article 10 Family reunification: neutral

Article 11 Abduction and non-return of children: neutral

Article 12 Respect for the views of the child: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 13 Freedom of expression: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 14 Freedom of thought, belief and religion: neutral

Article 15 Freedom of association: neutral

Article 16 Right to privacy: neutral

Article 17 Access to information from the media: neutral

Article 18 Parental responsibilities and state assistance: neutral

Article 19 Protection from violence, abuse and neglect: neutral

Article 20 Children unable to live with their family: neutral

Article 21 Adoption: neutral

Article 22 Refugee children: neutral

Article 23 Children with a disability: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 24 Health and health services: neutral

Article 25 Review of treatment in care: neutral

Article 26 Social security: neutral

Article 27 Adequate standard of living: neutral

Article 28 Right to education: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 29 Goals of education: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 30 Children from minority or indigenous groups: neutral

Article 31 Leisure, play and culture: neutral

Article 32 Child labour: positive if children and young persons included in CPD regime

Article 33 Drug abuse: neutral

Article 34 Sexual exploitation: neutral

Article 35 Abduction, sale and trafficking: neutral

Article 36 Other forms of exploitation: neutral

Article 37 Inhumane treatment and detention: neutral

Article 38 War and armed conflicts: neutral

Article 39 Recovery from trauma and reintegration: neutral

Article 40 Juvenile justice: neutral

Article 41 Respect for higher national standards: neutral

Article 42 Knowledge of rights: neutral.

First optional protocol

Article 4: neutral

Article 5: neutral

Article 6: neutral

Article 7: neutral

Second Optional Protocol

Article 1: neutral

Article 2: neutral

Article 3: neutral

Article 4: neutral

Article 6: neutral

Article 7: neutral

Article 8: neutral

Article 9: neutral

Article 10: neutral

Article 11: neutral

8. If you have identified a positive impact on children’s rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland.

While, as noted, Scottish Ministers have not made any decisions on the CPD regime, including the users of the CPD regime, we have considered, for the purposes of this CRWIA potential impacts in terms of the UNCRC articles.

We consider that should the specific groups of children and young children be excluded then most of the impacts are neutral and the CPD regime would not be expected to have effect either positively or negatively.

Should Scottish Ministers decide that children and young persons be included within the scope of the CPD regime, we consider that the policy could have a positive impact on Article 28 Right to education and Article 29 Goals of education, but also on Article 12 Respect for the views of the child, Article 13 Freedom of expression, Article 23 Children with a disability and Article 32 Child labour.

These would be largely be direct impacts that would relate to particular aspects of these Articles. For example:

Article 12 – respect of the views of the child – a child or young person would need to identify activities that are relevant to their personal and professional development in the CPD regime. If they were applying for a grant or to meet specific eligibility criteria, they would need to provide views to support their application. In this case the views of the child would need to be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. As noted, we intend to consult with children and young people in order to shape eligibility criteria for CPD regimes.

Article 13 – freedom of expression – a child or young person would need to be able to identify CPD activities which could take a number of different forms (eg a workshop, a particular course on the Skillseeder platform) and modes of participation (eg audience member, mentee). The use of these different modes of learning could help children and young persons develop personally and professionally in a number of different ways on a range of farming topics, and engage with people, including their peers, other age groups and other groups within agriculture. Ina CPD recording system they would need to be able to articulate what they have learned, its benefit to them, and what are their next steps to take in their development.

Article 23 – Children with a disability – we are aware that the agriculture sector has a higher level of dyslexia than other sectors, as well as other disabilities. We recognise the barriers that these have on being able to develop a career in the sector. We know that the design of the CPD regime needs to make CPD accessible to individuals with these disabilities so that they can fully participate in it and gain the benefits of personal and professional development and ensure their fullest possible individual development.

Article 28 Right to education – CPD can help to contribute to personal and professional development. CPD activities would need to be accessible to all children and young persons.

Article 29 Goals of education – a child or young person could be able to develop, through CPD, their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. As agriculture and crofting are concerned with living and working on the land, and undertaking activities in relation to them, they could also be able to develop their respect for the natural environment.

Article 32 – Child labour – a child or young person could be able to use CPD to benefit their understanding of their work and workplace, depending on the CPD activity that they undertook. The CPD regime would recognise the interface between education and work and ensure that it did not interfere with a child’s education, or other aspects of their development.