Decision-making: children and young people's participation

Advice and support for children and young people

The information below is specifically written for children and young people and adults who are supporting them.

You should be treated fairly and listened to by public services. These are places like schools, hospitals, social work services and the police. Public services welcome your feedback about your experiences of them.

You have the right to express your feelings to public services, both positive and negative.The Scottish Government wants to support you to share your views, raise concerns and make complaints when you feel your rights are not being respected by a public service.

In partnership with Barnardo’s Scotland and children and young people, the Scottish Government has created information highlighting that public services should respect your rights. Made up of two posters and web content, this information aims to help you to understand your right to be treated fairly and what you can do if you feel your rights have not been respected. The information will be hosted on the Young Scot website and launched in autumn 2025.

The information below can help you understand the support available if you want to raise a concern.

How to share your concerns and who can help

You have rights that should be respected, protected and fulfilled. A good way to start learning about your rights could be to read this child-friendly version of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It could also be useful to watch this short animation. It shows children’s journeys through their community and how their rights are being respected.

There are different ways to share your views, raise concerns or make a complaint and different people and organisations can support you to do this.

Speaking to an adult you trust

If you feel you are not being treated fairly or not being listened to by public services, you should speak with an adult you trust, for example a parent, carer, teacher or social worker. This person may be able to help with your concern directly to make things better for you, help you to understand your rights and options and take the next steps such as speaking to the public service or making a formal complaint.

Having a conversation with your parent, carer, or family member could be helpful.  The ParentClub website includes information on the role of parents, carers and family members and how they might help you. 

Advocacy services

Independent advocacy might be available to help you or a group of children and young people to share what you are concerned about or feel is not right. An advocate’s role is to help children and young people have a strong voice, tell people what they think, and have as much control as possible over their own lives. Some children can access free independent advocacy support to help them have their views heard. You can use the Find an Advocate tool on the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance website to see what is available in your local area.

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland

The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland plays an important role in protecting and promoting children’s rights including investigating concerns and amplifying children and young people’s voices. The Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland is Nicola Killean.

Law centres

Sometimes you might need legal assistance which means you need to speak to a lawyer.  There are different law centres in Scotland who know lots about working with children and young people.

UNCRC says that a child should have a lawyer to empower them to stand up for their rights, when legal decisions are being made about them. 

If you are not getting answers or results, or you are worried about a decision that has been made about you, or a change going ahead that you are unhappy with, then you can talk to a lawyer about protecting your rights.

Clan Childlaw have a free helpline which can help a child or young person understand their rights and find a lawyer, and Clan have lawyers who give children and young people free legal advice.

The Scottish Child Law Centre, have community clinics and school projects, provide free and empowering advice about how the law impacts the rights of children, and follow up support to action that advice and realise children’s rights.

Formal complaints

Public services have made it easier for you to make a formal complaint. There are people who are trained to discuss your complaint.

Before making a formal complaint it could be useful to have a conversation to see if the issue can be resolved. You could speak to someone you know from the public service or access their website to find the “Complaints Team” or “Customer Feedback” team who will be able to help you. 

The Scottish Public Service Ombudsman has developed a child-friendly way for public bodies to look into complaints from children and young people in a way that upholds their rights.

The Citizens’ Advice website contains useful information on how to complain if you’re not happy with the way your local council has dealt with you or your family.

If you want to make a complaint about the NHS, the NHS must give you the contact details for The Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS). They are people that can help you talk to the NHS (National Health Service).  You can get help from special adults called mediators. These are people who are trained to help you talk about problems. They won’t take sides. They help everyone listen to each other and find a way to fix the problem together. 

Examples of young people being listened to

I am a young person in Inverness. I am 13 years old. At school I was annoyed because I was excluded from class but then I had nothing to do. I felt ignored. I told my pastoral teacher I wasn’t happy about that and they said I could share my views and concerns with the school. They helped me speak to the teacher about what had happened, how I felt and to reach an agreement about the best way forward to help me stay in class and learn. I wrote down how I felt on a notepad for the teacher to read before we talked. This helped me to feel more confident when we were speaking. I felt heard and respected and feel more positive about that class and teacher now.  

I am a young person in Livingston. I’m 17 years old. I attend a course that a local charity runs. I dropped out of school when I was 15 and have always felt forgotten about by the adults in my life. My dad has recently starting talking to me about rights. It seems there are things that have been missing in my education. My dad is helping me realise that I haven’t been listened to – if I was, then the things that weren’t feeling right might have changed. He’s also told me about legal services that give advice to young people about their rights. ​​

I am a young person from Aberdeen. I’m 17 years old and recently became homeless. My advocacy worker told me about SPSO’s new complaints process. My housing association had not listened to me when I made a complaint to them about the quality of my temporary accommodation. The SPSO listened to me and took my case on. After a few weeks a case worker got in touch to discuss my complaint and kept me updated as they looked into things.

How to start conversations

You can share your views by speaking to someone or by communicating in other ways such as writing a note and asking them to read it.

One of the most difficult parts of sharing your views can be knowing how to start. It takes bravery to start what might feel like a difficult conversation. It is normal to feel this way. Adults from across Scotland are there to listen to you. 

The following phrases could help you speak directly to someone or write a note:

“I want to talk to someone about my rights, I feel like they are not being respected here – could you help me”

“I would like to speak to someone about getting support to complain that my rights are not being respected – can you tell me how to contact the complaints team?”

“I want to know more about my rights in this space (school, secure care, police station).  Can someone help me understand please?”

“Can you explain how you are supporting me to express my views please?”

“I am writing this note because I would like to share my views about my health needs. I prefer to write down my thoughts. Can you help me please?”