Scottish Budget Bill 2026 - 27 (the Budget (Scotland) (No. 5) Bill): child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Conclusion

7. 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?

The Budget Bill will have a positive impact on children's rights, specifically on Article 4, as it is a legislative mechanism forming part of the overarching Budget process which facilitates Scottish Ministers’ compliance with the requirement under Article 4 to undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the UNCRC requirements and, as part of this, to achieve sufficient resources for the realisation of children’s rights. The Bill enables Parliamentary scrutiny of the portfolio allocation figures decided upon in the Budget Statement. In addition, the Bill is the legislative mechanism through which the resources, as decided upon in the Budget Statement, are allocated to individual Ministerial portfolios for specified purposes and through which the Scottish Government obtains the authorisation of the Scottish Parliament to use those resources for the specified purposes in financial year 2026-27.

A separate CRWIA has been prepared for those strategic decisions made in the Budget Statement, which will be published in the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment.

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.

The positive impacts of the Bill relate to it being a legislative mechanism forming part of the overarching Budget process which facilitates Scottish Ministers’ compliance with the requirement under Article 4 to undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the UNCRC requirements and, as part of this, to achieve sufficient resources for the realisation of children’s rights.

The Budget Bill will have a positive impact on Article 4. The Bill enables Parliamentary scrutiny of the portfolio allocation figures decided upon in the Budget Statement. In addition, the Bill is the legislative mechanism through which the resources, as decided upon in the Budget Statement, are allocated to individual Ministerial portfolios for specified purposes and through which the Scottish Government obtains the authorisation of the Scottish Parliament to use those resources for the specified purposes in financial year 2026-27.

A separate CRWIA has been prepared for those strategic decisions made in the Budget Statement, which will be published in the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment.

9. If a negative impact has been identified please describe it below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility?

As the Bill is a legislative mechanism, forming part of the overarching Budget process which facilitates Scottish Ministers’ compliance with the requirement under Article 4 to undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the UNCRC requirements and, as part of this, to achieve sufficient resources for the realisation of children’s rights, no negative impacts have been identified. Strategic decisions about the allocation of budgets across Scottish Government Ministerial portfolios are made in the Budget Statement, which is subject to a separate CRWIA that will be published in the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment.

No risks of a potential incompatibility have been identified as part of this impact assessment for the Bill. There is no evidence of negative impacts on the UNCRC requirements (as incorporated) as a result of the Bill, which is a legislative mechanism and is one stage within the overarching Budget process which will facilitate the implementation of the strategic decisions taken in the Budget Statement through spending decisions made at portfolio level during financial year 2026-27. A separate CRWIA, detailing the impacts of those strategic decisions, has been prepared for the Budget Statement and will be published in the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment.

Mitigation Record

What options have been considered to modify the proposal in order to mitigate a negative impact or potential incompatibility?

Not applicable

Issue or risk identified and relevant UNCRC requirement

Not applicable

Action Taken/ To Be Taken

Not applicable

Date action to be taken or was taken

Not applicable

10. 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

If yes, please provide an explanation below:

The Bill forms part of the overarching Budget process through which the Scottish Ministers comply with Article 4 of the UNCRC requirements (as incorporated into Scots law). This Article requires the Scottish Ministers to undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the UNCRC requirements and, as part of this, to achieve sufficient public resources for the realisation of children’s rights. As such the effect of the Bill has the potential to contribute to all wellbeing indicators.

The impacts of the decisions around portfolio allocation figures on children’s rights and wellbeing are assessed in the separate CRWIA for the Budget Statement (to be published in the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment), as the strategic decisions on the portfolio allocation figures are made within the Budget Statement itself.

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

This CRWIA refers to the impacts of the Budget (Scotland) (No. 5) Bill.

A copy of this CRWIA will be published on the Scottish Government website (gov.scot). A separate CRWIA has also been produced for the Budget Statement and will be published as part of the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment on gov.scot.

At the individual policy level, relevant teams will continue to ensure that children and young people who engaged with the Scottish Government and highlighted their priorities are made aware of both this CRWIA for budget purposes, and of the role and purpose of CRWIAs in individual policy delivery.