UNCRC Strategic Implementation board minutes: May 2024 - Summary

Attendees and apologies

Members of the board

• Andrew Watson (Chair), Director for Children and Families
• Dragan Nastic, UNICEF UK
• Gina Wilson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYCPS)
• Juliet Harris, Together Scotland
• Nicola Anderson (LIT), replacing Noel Rehfisch, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• CI Steve McKinnon of Police Scotland, deputising ACC Gary Ritchie
• Ben Farrugia, Social Work Scotland
• Helen Fogarty, Social Security Scotland
• Ashleigh Pitcairn on behalf of Kay McCorquodale, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Eleanor Kerr, Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Laura Caven, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Laura Pasternak, Coalition of Care and Support Providers (CCPS)
• Michael Cameron, Scottish Housing Regulator
• Craig Morris, Care Inspectorate

Scottish Government officials

• Ian Donaldson, Deputy Director: Children’s Rights Protection and Justice
• Dean Snape, UNCRC Project Manager
• Andrew Preston, UNCRC Programme Assistant
• Carola Eyber, Children’s Rights Reporting and Monitoring Lead
• Gita Sharkey, Joint Unit Head, Children’s Rights Unit
• Liz Levy, Joint Unit Head, Children’s Rights Unit
• Lyndsey Saki, Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Programme Lead
• Paul Gorman, Empowered Children and Young People Lead
• Shona Spence, UNCRC Bill Lead
• Lesleyann Russell, Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services, Children’s Rights Unit
• Anna Munro, SGLD

Apologies

• Chloe Riddell, The Promise
• ACC Gary Ritchie, Police Scotland
• Norma Ruettiman, Care and Learning Alliance
• Margaret Gibb, Parenting Across Scotland
• Margo Williamson, SOLACE
• Kay McCorquodale, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Richmond Davies, Public Health Scotland

Guests

• Kavita Chetty

Items and actions

What is the Strategic Implementation Board?

The Strategic Implementation Board (or SIB, for short) is a group of people that meet every two months. They support the Government to make the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) part of Scots law. They put in place support for organisations, children and young people, and their families to help ensure that children’s rights are made real. They discuss if the work is on track and help to fix any problems in trying to make this happen. There are people on the SIB from Police, Education, Health, Social Work, children’s rights organisations, and the Scottish Government.

What was discussed at this meeting?

Highlight Report
A member of SIB shared the Programme Update on 21 May 2024. The report explained what had been done, what’s coming up in the next two months, and how things are going with the programme. Everyone was asked to read the report before the meeting. Finished projects were moved to a new section for completed tasks.

Support for Public Authorities
Updates were shared on how the government is helping local authorities and health boards get ready for the new children’s rights laws. This includes guidance on the UNCRC Act and a framework to help train staff.

Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework Contract
The contract for the Skills and Knowledge Framework was extended by six months because the work wasn’t fully completed by 31 March 2024. The framework should be finished and approved by June. There may be a “soft launch” with PDF versions before the full interactive version is available later in the year.

Support for Local Authorities and Health Boards
The government will continue to fund support for local authorities and health boards in 2024-25. This includes training and guidance to help local authorities understand and meet the requirements of the Act. Health boards will also get help to improve how they respect children’s rights in all their services, not just children’s services.

Strategy for Identifying and Addressing Rights Issues
It was explained that the government is working on a plan to find and fix situations where children’s rights are not being respected. They’re working with organisations like the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland to keep track of rights issues. Every six months, they will share a list of these issues with government teams and create a priority list of about five issues to focus on each year.

Raising Awareness of Children’s Rights
A SIB member talked about plans to raise awareness of children’s rights. Instead of focusing on legal action, they’re creating resources to help children understand what to do if their rights aren’t being respected.

Since 2021, awareness has been raised through projects like:
• UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Award—by the end of 2024, 80% of schools in Scotland are expected to take part.
• A booklet for parents and families about children’s rights on the ParentClub website.
• A postcard from the Children’s Parliament sent through the Book Trust’s Bookbug bag.
• Videos by young people from a Young Scot social media campaign.

There are more than 100 unique examples of awareness-raising materials, and the UNCRC Awareness Raising Network will continue to support organisations in spreading the word.

Risk Register
It was mentioned that the government recently reviewed its risk register. Some changes include considering new opportunities to improve children’s rights protections after the next UK government election and updating how they promote the UN’s recommendations for children’s rights in Scotland.

The next meeting of the SIB will be held on Tuesday 25 June 2024 from 15:30 to 17:00