UNCRC Strategic Implementation board minutes: April 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Juliet Harris (JH), Together Scotland
• Gina Wilson (GW), Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYCPS)
• Charlotte Wilson (CW), Care Inspectorate
• Kay Tisdall (KT), The Observatory of Children’s Human Rights in Scotland
• Laura Pasternak (LP), Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland
• Amy Woodhouse (AW), Parenting Across Scotland
• Jennifer Davidson (JD), Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures
• Jennifer Cannon (JC), Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Caitlin Fitzgerald (CF), Scottish Human Rights Commission

Scottish Government supporting officials

• Ian Donaldson (ID) (Chair), Deputy Director Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice
• Liz Levy (LL), Unit Head, Children’s Rights Unit
• Lyndsey Saki (LS), Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Programme Lead
• Joe Smith (JS), Right Reporting and Monitoring Programme Lead
• Paul Gorman (PG), Empowering Children and Young People Programme Lead
• Aqeel Ahmed (AA), Children’s Rights Unit
• Dean Snape (DS), Children’s Rights Unit
• Andrew Preston (AP), Children’s Rights Unit

Guests

• Maria Doyle (MD), Together
• Nick Targontsidis (NT), Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland)
• Jo Smith (JSm), PSD Scotland

Apologies

• Rachel Fox, UNICEF UK
• Lucinda Rivers, UNICEF UK
• Laura Caven, COSLA

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies 

ID welcomed board members to the meeting of the UNCRC Strategic Implementation Board. He noted that CW was in attendance as the new Care Inspectorate lead for the UNCRC SIB, replacing Craig Morris. ID also advised members the meeting would be joined by NT and JSm from National Health Service (NHS) Education for Scotland for agenda item 4, and MD from Together for item 5.

Minutes and actions from last meeting

DS informed members that the minutes of the last meeting were circulated on 3 February. No amendment requests were received. Members were reminded that, once agreed, the minutes would be published on the UNCRC Strategic Implementation Board webpage on the Scottish Government website.

There were four new actions raised at the January meeting, but no outstanding actions from previous meetings. The new actions raised were as follows:

• LL to review the Terms of Reference for the review commissioned from Professor Norrie and update members on whether UNCRC scope issue is sufficiently reflected
• Children’s Rights Unit (CRU) to follow up with the grants team on whether children’s rights wording in grant letters can be made mandatory
• PG to present at a future SIB meeting on how priority groups for awareness-raising are identified
• UNCRC sketch note and CF’s slide to be shared with SIB members along with the minutes

With the exception of the action about the presentation at a future SIB meeting, all actions are now complete.

AW highlighted that, at the previous meeting, there had been discussion about whether there was scope to provide an update on the work that had been commissioned via the Participation Framework. This had not been captured in the action log. DS apologised for this oversight and added this as an action. 

Action: CRU to consider if there is scope to provide an update on the work that had been commissioned via the Participation Framework.

Highlight report 

DS noted that the programme highlight report was shared with members on 21 April in the papers for the meeting. He flagged that there was a mistake in the circulated report with regards to the Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Act. JS advised that the commencement and implementation dates for the Act will be a matter for the new Government. This is not expected to be as soon as August 2026, as stated in the highlight report, but SG will keep board members updated.

Members were invited to raise any questions about the Highlight Report.

KT queried whether the awareness raising plan being developed would be shared with the board or if it would be possible to have some discussion around it at a future meeting. PG confirmed that he planned to present to the board on this, hopefully at the next meeting. This would include a discussion of the groups prioritised for focused awareness raising. 

Action: PG to present at future meeting on plans for awareness raising, including groups to be prioritised

JH asked if there were plans to develop guidance on Part One of the Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Act 

Action: JS to ask the policy team leading on Part One of the Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Act if and how children would be involved in developing guidance on this. 

Support for public authorities 

LS updated on the work that has been undertaken in the last period to support public authorities to embed a children’s rights approach. LS noted that the Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Reference Group met on 9 March. During the meeting the Improvement Service (IS) updated on the UNCRC local authority conference that was held in February. The conference brought together local authority colleagues and partner organisations to share best practice and progress on implementation. LS highlighted that young people played an active role at the conference, introducing the conference, delivering workshops and contributing insights and enthusiasm.

Some of the key themes discussed during the conference included child friendly complaints processes, empowering children and young people, and building practitioner skills and participation. 

The CRU are currently updating the non-statutory guidance on taking a child’s rights approach, that was published before commencement of the UNCRC Act. Some members have volunteered to help with the update, and LS will issue a draft to them in due course.

LS went on to provide an update on the Child Rights Regulation and Improvement Working Group which is comprised of scrutiny bodies. Recent discussions have focussed on how scrutiny bodies are ensuring they’re supporting children whose rights are most at risk. The group continues to explore how frameworks, guidance and resources that support the work of scrutiny bodies can reflect a children’s human rights approach. The Scottish Housing Regulator is planning to engage with its key stakeholders in the coming months on the impact of UNCRC requirements on social landlords. 

LS also provided an update on the peer support network which aims to support listed authorities, specifically the executive non-departmental public bodies listed in the Act. Recent discussions have focussed on children’s rights reporting and the resources available to support listed authorities. The peer network have also shown a keen interest in offering mutual mentoring to their peers. So far 6 listed authorities have been matched and are providing support to each other to share learning and practice on embedding a children’s human rights approach.  
Separate to the support provided through the network, the CRU have held reflection exercises with two executive non-departmental public bodies exploring how they are implementing a children’s human rights approach. This has allowed the CRU to signpost to further resources.  

LS concluded her update noting that a letter has been issued to listed authorities Chief Executives to remind them of the children’s rights reporting duty and highlight the statutory guidance. The 14 Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies listed in the Act have all opted to take part in a peer review process for their first UNCRC children’s rights reports. We hope this could inform future reporting analysis. 

GW asked if there was any plan to publish any information regarding the peer review process and analysis of the first set of reports. LS noted that the CRU is hoping to gain the support of a research fellow to analyse the first children’s rights reports under the UNCRC Act. If a fellow is appointed, the exact scope and methodology for this work will be finalised with them. Separately there is potential for AI analysis which is currently being tested and discussed within the CRU. We intend to share insights and learning from the reports and their analysis, however, we are not yet able to say how that will be done.

KT noted in the chat that consent/capacity continues to be a major barrier to children's participation, and often people are not accurate on the law. KT along with others, would be glad to help improve understanding, reflecting on their experience of consent for participation in research 

Action: ls to speak to kt about how to improve public authorities’ understanding of the legal obligations in relation to obtaining consent for children’s participation. 

NHS education for scotland project to support health boards to understand their duties in the uncrc act and take a children’s human rights approach

Jo Smith (JSm) and Nick Targontsidis (NT) from PSD Scotland, presented slides on the UNCRC Implementation project which they led for NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The project was commissioned in December 2024 to help health boards across Scotland to increase their understanding of children’s rights and their legal duties under the UNCRC Act. The project ended in March 2026, however, JSm and NT shared how the work has been embedded in health boards and the elements of the project that will continue.

The project provided 1-1 sessions with health boards throughout the two year period, fostering confidence and building positive relationships. The project was initially successful in increasing readiness for implementation, with a particular focus on adult services. A key success was the creation of a UNCRC Peer Leads Network which has representation across health boards. UNCRC Peer Leads have responsibility for other relevant policies such as corporate parenting and Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC). The network is sustainable and will continue to progress children’s rights across health. The new Chair is now a member of the Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Reference Group.

The project also created resources and webinars which are available on the GIRFEC and Children's Rights learning site. This site will be updated with any new UNCRC resources.

Together’s review of a sample of CRWIAs

Juliet Harris (JH) provided key findings from the review of Scottish Government (SG) Child rights and wellbeing impact assessments (CRWIAs) that Together had undertaken as part of their UNCRC implementation grant. These were sampled to include CRWIAs for bills, Scottish statutory instruments (SSIs) and decision of a strategic nature and to include those where the assessment was that there no relevance for children’s rights, as well as those where there was relevance. Five CRWIAs were selected by Together and five by the Children’s Rights Unit. 

While some CRWIAs explained the policy and context in a clear way, others used language that was hard to understand and not clearly explained. There were mixed findings in relation to the identification of relevant rights that were engaged and enhanced, with some CRWIAs doing this well and others missing relevant articles. JH highlighted that none of the CRWIAs explained whether or not the policy/legislation that was being reviewed was in scope for the compatibility duty in the UNCRC Act. Other key areas for improvement were: explaining the differential impacts across different groups of children and young people; recognising where the policy could have done even more to strengthen access to rights; and explaining if and how CRWIAs are influencing the policy proposals. However, JH recognised that the SG may not be comfortable highlighting where early policy proposals were not giving full effect to children’s rights. Together recommend that CRWIAs are started earlier in the policy development process, and that there is more work to be done to develop consistency in quality. 

Action: CRU to consider the findings from this analysis and how these could inform the training and guidance on producing CRWIAs within SG. 

Key messages on uncrc implementation that sib members would want us to include in briefing to our new/returning ministers

This item was added to the agenda in response to a request from CF.

LL highlighted that, as well as contributing some key points to general induction briefing for new Ministers, the CRU is hoping to provide briefing on 3 specific topics:  

• the draft guidance for policy leads on Scottish Government bill teams on the implications of drafting new provisions by amending UK Acts. The draft of that guidance was shared with SHRC, Together, Children and Young People's Commisoner Scotland (CYPCS) and Unicef UK on 24 March for comment by 20 April. This will be an early opportunity to make Ministers aware of the limitations on the scope of the compatibility duty and seek their approval for the guidance
• subject to the outcome of the election, the opportunities that the Human Rights Bill might present to strengthen protections for children’s rights and their views on this
• the 6 children’s rights issues that are most concerning our key stakeholders. Ministers will be invited to consider whether these can be prioritised for action. A request for these issues was sent to Scottish humans rights commision (SHRC), Together, CYPCS and Unicef UK on 19 March for comment by 8 May

In addition to engagement that the CRU would lead, Constitutional Policy Unit will lead on engagement with Ministers about exploring the removal of any legislative restrictions that currently limit the Scottish Parliament's ability to enhance human rights protections across all areas devolved to Scotland. 

LL invited members to highlight any other key messages about the implementation of the UNCRC Act that SIB members would want the CRU to try to include in briefing to new/returning Ministers, if we got the opportunity. 

JC encouraged the Children's rights unit (CRU) to make Ministers aware of the importance of bringing provisions across all policy areas into scope for the protections in the UNCRC Act and the opportunities to use the Human Rights Bill to strengthen protections for children’s rights and to learn from UNCRC implementation in developing provisions in that Bill.  

GW encouraged the CRU to highlight the need: for a stronger steer, in the draft guidance for bill teams, about avoiding making new provisions by amending UK enactments; to make space for the children’s sector to contribute to learning from the practice of UNCRC implementation; and to make the language of children’s rights more visible in parliament.

LP stressed the importance of prioritising children whose rights were most at risk, which she felt should remain a central focus, and of highlighting the funding crisis within the third sector which is impacting on implementation of children’s rights

All other business and close

JH noted that Together’s 2026 State of Children’s Rights report included 59 case studies of rights-based approaches. Together are working with the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights to shine a further spotlight on some of the case studies and to look at what enables culture change. Further updates will be provided in due course. 

ID invited views from members on postponing or bringing forward the next meeting to avoid a clash with the summer leave period. Members noted no particular concerns about the scheduled date. The next meeting will therefore go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday 30 June.