Residential Care Charter of Rights Working Group minutes: October 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Claire Grant, Scottish Government
• Rachael Wilson, Scottish Government
• Abby Knowles, Scottish Government
• Paul Gorman, Scottish Government
• Frances Edwards, Family Rights Group
• Angela Waddell, Partners in Advocacy
• Tracie McEwan, Education Scotland
• Neil McKenzie, Police Scotland
• Rhian Croke, Children’s Legal Centre Wales
• John Mackie, East Lothian Council
• Neill Clark, East Ayrshire Advocacy Services
• Jayne Miller, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Paula Raymond, East Ayrshire Council
• Kari-Ann Johnston, East Lothian Council
• Jane Donaldson, Who Cares? Scotland

Apologies:

• Stacey Lindsay, Scottish Government
• Fiona Howe, Scottish Government
• Loraine Cran, Scottish Government
• Thomas Grant, Scottish Government
• Nick Preston, Partners in Advocacy
• Lorna Renwick, NHS Highland
• Moira Greentree, Why Not Trust
• Kerry Kinnes, Pebbles Care
• Katy Nisbet, Clan Childlaw
• Laura Doherty, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Emma McGarry, Moore House
• Gavin Calder, Harmeny Education Trust
• Andrea Morrison, Our Promise Scotland
• Kay McKerrell, Who Cares? Scotland
• Adam Hughes, Horizons Residential Care
• Steven McPherson, Education Scotland
• Lesley Rodger, Greenleaf House
• Pauline Kuhl, Horizons Residential Care
• Jan Grieve, NHS Borders
• Carrie McCulloch, NHS Lanarkshire
• Andrew McClelland, North Ayrshire Council
• Eleni Mangina, Our Promise Scotland
• Jennifer Gage, Our Promise Scotland
• Jillian McFadyen, Partners in Advocacy
• Jayne Brinded, Partners in Advocacy
• Lesley Mollison, Rossie Young People's Trust
• Rosemary Robertson, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Juliet Henderson, Police Scotland
• Ellis Pitt, Phoenix Abbey
• Peter Summers, Pebbles Care
• Nikki Spears, East Ayrshire Advocacy Services
• Selwyn McCausland, Barnardos
• Heather MacMaster, Angus Independent Advocacy

Items and actions

1. Purpose of the Meeting

The meeting focused on engaging with children and young people and reviewing existing charters and resources to help shape the group’s vision for the final charter.

2. Agenda Items and Discussion

Item 1: Welcome

The chair welcomed all attendees and introduced Paul Gorman from the Scottish Government’s Children’s Rights Unit who has recently joined the group.

Item 2: Review of previous actions

The chair reviewed actions from the previous meeting, highlighting those still outstanding.

Action: Group to continue to share details of existing networks that could be used to engage with children and young people.

Item 3: Engagement with children and young people

The chair explained that SG has begun a mapping exercise to better understand the different cohorts of children in residential care and their rights. It was proposed that engagement with children and young people should take place once this exercise is complete and there is a tangible draft to share. The group agreed with this approach, and the chair committed to circulating a draft of the mapping document before the next meeting. The chair asked members if they would be interested in leading or supporting engagement within children and young people of behalf of the group.

Jane Donaldson (JD) shared an update from a recent discussion with Rossie Young People Trust’s education department, noting their interest in the charter work, and offered to connect SG with them.

Action: SG to share draft of the mapping document before the next meeting

Action: Members to express their interest in leading or supporting engagement with young people

Action: JD to connect SG with Rossie Young People’s Trust regarding the charter

Item 4: Discussion on existing charters and resources

The group reviewed three existing charters and resources shared in advance, discussing what aspects they liked.

The first resource was a guide for children and young people on their rights when they are in a police station. The group commended the visual design of the resource. However, members noted that while it clearly outlines the rights of children and young people, it does not explain what those rights mean in practice for the individuals concerned. The group also suggested it would be useful to include a glossary to clarify key terms used throughout the document and to consider producing alternative formats tailored to different groups of young people (e.g. a mobile-friendly version).

The second resource was information for children and young people on their right to continuing care. The group felt that this resource was overwhelming and contained too much information for a young person to use independently. However, members agrees that it is a useful tool for professionals to use alongside children and young people. The group particularly liked the inclusion of case studies.

The third resource was a one pager for children with additional support needs. The group noted that the language uses in this document is more suited to professionals and not particularly child friendly. While members appreciated the visuals, they agreed it would benefit from incorporating more infographics and reducing the amount of text. It was later noted that although the language is not especially accessible to children and young people, the document is intended to be used alongside advocacy support within educational establishments.

The group also discussed UNCRC cards, small credit sized cards that display an individual right per card, easily digestible and good discussion prompts for children.

Action: SG to explore UNCRC cards

More broadly the group provided the following feedback on what to consider as part of the development of this charter:

• It should be there for children to read at their leisure with professionals able to help understanding
• consider producing different versions for different age groups.
• consider creating an Easy Read version
• children can often be overwhelmed by information so different formats would be useful e.g. mobile phone access, use of QR codes allowing it to be easily updated
• including a glossary of terms might be helpful
• consider how to reflect rights for children from different parts of the UK where different legal frameworks apply
• a simpler hard copy with digital hyperlinked versions for varying circumstances might be helpful

Item 5: AOB

Action: SG to engage with Each and Every Child as this work progresses

Action: SG to speak to Northern Ireland Executive about Northern Ireland involvement in this work