Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment - updated April 2025

Assessing the impact against the UNCRC requirements

Further information about the UNCRC requirements, including easy-to-understand versions of the articles, can be found on the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland website.

Articles where a positive impact has been identified

• Article 2 – non-discrimination
• Article 3 – best interests of the child
• Article 5 – parental guidance and a child’s evolving capacities
• Article 6 – life, survival and development
• Article 12 – respect for the views of the child
• Article 18 – parental responsibilities and state assistance
• Article 20 – children unable to live with their family
• Article 23 – children with a disability
• Article 26 – social security
• Article 27 – adequate standard of living
• Article 42 – knowledge of rights

Articles where a negative impact has been identified

• None

Articles where a neutral impact has been identified

• Article 1 – definition of the child
• Article 4 – implementation of the Convention
• Article 7 – birth registration, name, nationality, care
• Article 8 – protection and preservation of identity
• Article 9 – separation from parents
• Article 10 – family reunification
• Article 11 – abduction and non-return of children
• Article 13 – freedom of expression
• Article 14 – freedom of thought, belief and religion
• Article 15 – freedom of association
• Article 16 – right to privacy
• Article 17 – access to information from the media
• Article 19 – protection from violence, abuse and neglect
• Article 21 – adoption
• Article 22 – refugee children
• Article 24 – health and health services
• Article 25 – review of treatment in care
• Article 28 – right to an education
• Article 29 – goals of education
• Article 30 – children from minority or indigenous groups
• Article 31 – leisure, play and culture
• Article 32 – child labour
• Article 33 – drug abuse
• Article 34 – sexual exploitation
• Article 35 – abduction, sale and trafficking
• Article 36 – other forms of exploitation
• Article 37 – inhumane treatment and detention
• Article 38 – war and armed conflicts
• Article 39 – recovery from trauma and reintegration
• Article 40 – juvenile justice
• Article 41 – respect for higher national standards

First optional protocol

• Articles 4 – 7

Second optional protocol

• Articles 1 – 11

Impact on children and young people

Under the UNCRC, ‘children’ can refer to: individual children, groups of children, or children in general. Some groups of children will relate to the groups with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010: disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. ‘Groups’ can also refer to children by age band of setting, or those who are eligible for special protection or assistance.

The proposals in the Bill may have an impact on parents, carers, pregnant people, young parents under 18, under 18s and disabled children. The proposals promote a person-centred approach aimed at advancing equality of engagement with social security for children and young people and protect all the Articles of the UNCRC indicated.

Negative impact or incompatibility issues

No negative impacts or potential incompatibility issues have been identified.

Options for modification or mitigation of negative impact or incompatibility

During policy development of the provisions on compensation recovery the concerns previously discussed were identified and addressed to avoid any potential negative impacts to the injured party.

The principles of compensation recovery are a long standing part of the UK social security system with the current legislation and process in place for over 25 years. The DWP recovers amounts of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) the UK equivalent to CDP, from compensation as well as the child element of Universal Credit. There is no evidence to suggest that this recovery has a negative impact on children’s rights as this is an accepted administrative process that places responsibility on the party that is making the compensation payment, not on the injured party.

As the proposal emulates the UK approach to compensation recovery, evidence suggests that there will be no negative impacts on children and young people.

Positive impact: giving better or further effect to children’s rights in Scotland

Where appropriate the relevant articles have been grouped together.

Article 2 – non-discrimination

The Scottish Government is committed to treating all social security applicants equally. The principle of non-discrimination is enshrined in the 2018 Act with Section 1 stating that ‘social security is itself a human right and essential to the realisation of other rights’^[39]. The approach taken by Social Security Scotland is rights-based and client-centred, putting the person at the heart.

The re-determinations and appeals provisions go a step further in adherence to non-discrimination. For example, allowing for a person to have the option to request a re-determination or appeal in exceptional circumstances will actively promote a more flexible, rights based and non-discriminatory process, where people who may be going through volatile or difficult circumstances have the opportunity to challenge a determination beyond the hard deadline of a year, provided they can present evidence that they were unable to challenge previously within this period. This could benefit young people who are experiencing domestic abuse and coercive control, young people or their relatives who are unwell or have had mitigating factors concerned with illness, people who are homeless or have unstable housing, as well as a number of other circumstances that may have prevented a person from requesting a re-determination within the set time. These provisions will allow Social Security Scotland to have discretion to accept late requests for a re-determination beyond one year in exceptional circumstances, which could be extremely beneficial for people experiencing difficult situations by allowing greater flexibility.

The proposal to recognise DWP appointees will be beneficial in advancing equality and non-discrimination, by ensuring crucial social security entitlements are paid without delay to children and young people.

The proposal to make an appointee liable to account to the individual for any mismanagement of the individual’s property will ensure that any child who is not being cared for by somebody with parental rights and has an appointee in place, is offered the same protections as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 offers to children with other types of representatives. This ensures that any children who are living in complex family situations are not disadvantaged or face unintended discrimination.

Article 3 – Best interests of the child

Article 5 – Parental guidance and a child’s evolving capacities

Article 12 – Respect for the views of the child

Article 18 – Parental responsibilities and state assistance

Social security benefits in Scotland have been developed around the principles of dignity, fairness and respect, transparent decision-making, a person-centred approach and they are rooted in the belief that social security is a human right.

Every child has a right to express their views and have them given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. Children should be provided with the opportunity to be heard, either directly or through a representative or appropriate body. Throughout the development of provisions included in the Bill, input has been sought from people with lived experience of social security systems (including from those with lived experience of interacting with DWP). This includes families through the Social Security Experience Panels, as well as engagement with stakeholders who support people accessing benefits.

The re-determinations and appeals proposals continue to embed this person-centred approach by ensuring the best interests of children and young people are taken into account. The changes being made will help to ensure that decisions can be challenged in the way that is best suited to the needs of the person engaging with Social Security Scotland.

For example, where a young person is challenging a benefit decision but Social Security Scotland has failed to make a re-determination in the time allowed in regulations, the young person has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal without waiting for the re-determination to be made. The Scottish Government recognises that a young person can find engaging with government agencies stressful and difficult. If Social Security Scotland had a statutory duty to make the re-determination beyond the period allowed if it has gone ‘out-of-time’ as proposed in the Bill, the young person could choose to wait for the re-determination to be made, rather than making an appeal at Tribunal level which a young vulnerable person can find daunting.^[40] This could help to mitigate feelings of stress, worry and anxiety by not having to proceed with an appeal process.

CDP can be claimed before the age of 16-years-old and can be payable until a person is 18-years-old, or 19-years-old if a young person is waiting for an ADP determination. Young people over the age of 16, who are able to manage their own affairs can receive CDP directly to their bank account, rather than the entitlement being paid to a person who is responsible for them and able to act on their behalf. This means that many young people moving from CDP to ADP will be managing this aspect of their finances, and will have responsibility for their benefit entitlement and any challenges they may wish to make. The re-determinations and appeals provisions will allow more autonomy for young people who manage their own affairs and entitlement and allow for further flexibility and clarity when engaging with social security and challenging decisions.

The proposal to clarify the circumstances that the First-tier Tribunal can take into account when upholding the Scottish Ministers’ determination or making its own determination are likely to contribute positively to the best interests of the child. The provisions make it clear that the Tribunal must not take into account circumstances which did not exist at the relevant time, which is the time or event that the Scottish Ministers had to consider when determining the person’s entitlement, for example the date of application. If an appeal were to consider a later change in a person’s circumstances, this would mean that the young person, or the person acting on behalf of the child, would not have access the full range of challenge rights on the Tribunal’s determination in relation to those new circumstances.

For example, if the Tribunal were to take account of a change of circumstances and make a determination for that later period, the young person, or the person acting on behalf of the child would only have a right to ask the First-tier Tribunal to review its own decision or to ask for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, on a point of law, against that decision.

The Scottish Government’s objective in proposing to recognise DWP appointees is to strike the right balance between the rights protected by Social Security Scotland’s appointee process, and the rights of the client in regards to receiving their social security assistance without delay. Whilst this provision will ensure an appointee can temporarily remain in place to ensure payments can continue, as soon as is reasonably practicable, the views of the child and the people with parental rights and responsibilities will be taken into account. This will ensure that the appointee continues to be in the best interests of child or young person.

Article 6 – Life, survival and development

Article 20 – Children unable to live with their family

Article 23 – Children with a disability

Children with disabilities have the right to live a full and decent life with dignity, self-reliance, and participation in the community. The Scottish Government recognise that children with disabilities or long-term ill health conditions are more likely to experience poverty and can experience barriers to benefit take-up.

Social Security Scotland are committed to removing barriers to accessing services, both for those with disabilities and for those supporting children with disabilities, through inclusive communications and simple application processes.

The re-determination and appeals provisions go a step further in aligning the challenge process with this ethos, and are designed to positively impact all people accessing social security benefits by promoting a person-centred approach. They aim to positively impact disabled children by allowing for greater flexibility and further ownership when challenging a decision made by Social Security Scotland, and by ensuring that young disabled people have re-determination and appeal rights in relation to a decision following a change in their circumstances for a later period.

Some disabled young people lack the capacity required to interact or complete the tasks required by Social Security Scotland, and therefore require an appointee to act on their behalf. There are also children under the age of 16, who are entitled to social security assistance, but because of complex family situations require an appointee to act on their behalf. Both of these groups have a fundamental human right to social security, as enshrined in the 2018 Act . The provision to recognise DWP appointees ensures that such children and young people can continue to have someone to act on their behalf in accordance with their needs, enabling them to continue receiving crucial social security entitlements without potential interruption or delay.

Article 26 – Social Security

Article 27 – Adequate standard of living

Every child has a right to benefit from social security, taking into account the resources and circumstances of those who have responsibility for the child. The Scottish Government is committed to the principle that social security is a human right. The provisions in the Bill do not prevent children or young people from receiving any social security payment due to them. The proposal to recognise DWP appointees will ensure that children and young people continue to receive social security payments without potential delay or interruption.

The re-determinations and appeals provisions align with the Charter and the social security principles by improving user experience for all people accessing Social Security Scotland through embedding further flexibility and choice when bringing a challenge. These policies more generally will allow for a more cohesive challenge rights process, promoting additional accessibility to social security and greater understanding of challenging decisions made about entitlement, which will positively impact children's lives both directly and indirectly.

Article 42 – knowledge of rights

Some of the policy proposals are designed to clarify in legislation re-determinations and appeal processes. The intention is to offer clarity to stakeholders and clients, which may lead to increased knowledge about people's rights, in order to support them to challenge decisions.

By enhancing choice and introducing greater flexibility for people who wish to bring a challenge about their benefit entitlement, the rights-based approach is embedded in the Scottish social security system and people could gain a greater understanding of the process of challenging decisions made by Social Security Scotland.