Equality and human rights mainstreaming: children's right and wellbeing impact assessment

Annex A: Child Rights & Wellbeing (CRWIA) Impact Assessment for Mainstreaming Action Plan

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

Name the proposal: Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Action Plan

This CRWIA assesses the introduction of the Mainstreaming Action Plan as a strategic framework, rather than assessing individual actions. Responsibility for completing CRWIAs for individual policies and actions included in the Action Plan will remain with the relevant policy teams.

The Mainstreaming Action Plan sets out 59 measurable actions that the Scottish Government are taking to embed and mainstream equality and human rights across its systems and processes. These actions are structured around six key drivers:

• Strengthening leadership
• Developing accountability and transparency
• Ensuring an effective regulatory and policy environment
• Utilising evidence and experience
• Enhancing capability and culture
• Improving capacity

The Action Plan focuses on Scottish Government-led actions and is designed to be updated annually. It aims to remove systemic barriers, improve service delivery, and ensure that equality and human rights considerations are central to decision-making and governance.

Start date of proposal’s development: April 2025

Start date of CRWIA process: April 2025

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

• Article 2 (Non-discrimination): The Action Plan includes targeted measures to reduce discrimination, such as an inclusive communications toolkit. This will help to ensure children from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled children, and other protected groups are not disadvantaged in accessing public services.
• Article 3 (Best interests of the child): By embedding equality and human rights into decision-making and service delivery, the Action Plan aims to ensure that the best interests of children are considered in policy development. The governance framework will support consistent application of this principle across government.
• Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child): The Plan includes actions to expand lived experience participation mechanisms, including a new participatory procurement processes. These structures can be used to involve children and young people in shaping policies that affect them.
• Article 23 (Children with disabilities): The Plan includes actions which focus on improving the rights of disabled people, including children, to participate fully in society.
• Article 24 (Health and health services): The Plan includes actions to improve health data collection and accessibility, such as digital inclusion initiatives and the development of health-related equality evidence. These will support better health outcomes for children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Article 27 (Adequate standard of living): The Plan includes actions to promote fair work practices which contribute to improving living conditions for children in low-income households.

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

• The Mainstreaming Action Plan and the actions included within it draw on a wide range of existing sources and reports to inform its development. For example, these include the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023–2025 and its evaluation. These sources provide a robust evidence base on systemic inequalities, lived experience, and gaps in accessibility and inclusion across public services.
• Consultation and stakeholder engagement was carried out with equality organisations to shape both the scope of the Action Plan and the accompanying Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). In addition, feedback from the consultation on the Mainstreaming Strategy—which directly referenced the Action Plan—was used to inform and strengthen the Plan. This combined input helped ensure that the scope of the Action Plan and its included actions are relevant and measurable.
• No direct consultation was undertaken for the Action Plan with children or young people, however we engaged with organisations who represent their needs.

3. Further to the evidence described at ‘2’ 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.

• Yes, there are some gaps in our evidence base that may affect our ability to fully determine the impact of the Action Plan on children and young people.
• Direct engagement with children and young people: While the development of the Action Plan has been informed by stakeholder feedback, there has been no direct consultation with children and young people during its development. Individual actions included within the Action Plan are expected to have been developed through engagement with relevant groups.
• Intersectional data gaps: There is limited data on how multiple characteristics intersect for children (e.g. disabled children from minority ethnic backgrounds). There are actions included within the Action Plan to strengthen the approach to intersectional analysis, including through the Equality Evidence Strategy and related data improvement work.

4. Analysis of Evidence

• The evidence gathered suggests that the Mainstreaming Action Plan is likely to have a positive impact on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland. While the Plan is not specifically targeted at children, the purpose and scope of the Action Plan includes actions which aim to strengthen systems and processes for policy development which can lead to better outcomes for people, including children.
• There is a specific action included in the Action Plan to develop and publish Governance Framework by summer 2026 for the Action Plan. It is intended to help identify gaps in mainstreaming equality and human rights, and to promote accountability across Government.

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

• As a result of this assessment, the following considerations have been identified to strengthen the Mainstreaming Action Plan’s relevance to children and young people:
• The Scottish Government aims to improve accessibility of the Action Plan by providing alternative formats, such as summary versions and easy-read materials, to support broader understanding and engagement.
• The governance framework proposed within the Action Plan is expected to support the identification of gaps in delivery and evidence, including those affecting children and young people.

Conclusion

6. 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?

• Overall impact on children’s rights: Positive

7. 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.

• How the proposal is expected to protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland:
  • The Mainstreaming Action Plan is intended to strengthen the Scottish Government’s approach to embedding equality and human rights across its operations. While not specifically targeted at children, many of the actions outlined in the Plan are expected to influence the systems and services that children interact with, particularly in areas such as education, health, and social care.
  • The Plan aims to improve accessibility through inclusive communications and data improvements, and to identify and address systemic gaps through a proposed governance framework. Actions set out in the plan are likely to support the realisation of children’s rights under the UNCRC, including non-discrimination (Article 2), the best interests of the child (Article 3), participation (Article 12), the rights of disabled children (Article 23), health and health services (Article 24), and adequate standard of living (Article 27).
  • Overall, the Action Plan is expected to contribute positively to the protection and fulfilment of children’s rights in Scotland by promoting inclusive, evidence-informed, and accountable approaches to policy and service delivery.

8. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland?

• Safe: Yes
• Healthy: Yes
• Achieving: Yes
• Nurtured: Yes
• Active: Yes
• Respected: Yes
• Responsible: Yes
• Included: Yes
• Explanation: The Action Plan contributes to all wellbeing indicators by strengthening the processes and systems within Government to better embed equality and human rights in policy development.

9. How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights?

• To support transparency and accessibility, the Scottish Government will provide alternative formats of the Mainstreaming Action Plan, such as summary versions and easy-read materials. These formats are intended to help a wider audience—including children and young people—to understand the purpose and impact of the Plan.

Post Assessment Review

10. Planning for the review of impact on children’s rights and wellbeing

• The Mainstreaming Action Plan will be reviewed, updated and published annually. In line with this, impact assessments will also be reviewed and updated.