UNCRC Strategic Implementation Board minutes: November 2024 - summary
- Published
- 24 January 2025
- Directorate
- Children and Families Directorate
- Date of meeting
- 26 November 2024
- Date of next meeting
- 28 January 2025
A summary of the minutes from the Strategic Implementation board meeting.
Attendees and apologies
- Andrew Watson, (Chair) Director of Children and Families
- Lucinda Rivers, UNICEF UK
- Juliet Harris, Together
- Amy Woodhouse, Parenting Across Scotland
- Norma Ruettiman, Care and Learning Alliance
- Laura Caven, COSLA
- Jennifer Davidson, Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures
- Gina Wilson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYCPS)
- David Gregory, Education Scotland
- Clare Wilson, Social Work Scotland
- Leanne Blacklaw, Police Scotland (Deputising for CI Elaine Tomlinson)
Scottish Government supporting officials
- Ian Donaldson, Joint Deputy Director, Children’s Rights Protection and Justice
- Liz Levy, Unit Head, Children’s Rights Unit
- Gita Sharkey, Unit Head, Children’s Rights Unit
- Lyndsey Saki, Embedding Children’s Rights in Public Services Programme Lead, Children’s Rights Unit
- Paul Gorman, Empowered Children and Young People Lead, Children’s Rights Unit
- Joe Smith, Right Reporting and Monitoring Programme Lead, Children’s Rights Unit
- Dean Snape, UNCRC Project Manager, Children’s Rights Unit
- Andrew Preston, UNCRC Programme Assistant, Children’s Rights Unit
- Ceri Hunter, Children’s Rights Capacity Building Manager, Children’s Rights Unit
- Kavita Chetty, Deputy Director, Human Rights Division
Guests
- Katelin O'Neill, COSLA
Apologies
- Laura Pasternak, Who Cares? Scotland
- Eleanor Kerr, Healthcare Improvement Scotland
- Chloe Riddell, The Promise
- Eleanor Kerr, Healthcare Improvement Scotland
- Nicola Anderson, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
- Michael Cameron, Scottish Housing Regulator
- Craig Morris, Care Inspectorate
- Helen Fogarty, Social Security Scotland
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
The Programme Highlight Report was shared with the group on November 19, 2024. Members were asked to look at it before the meeting.
- Future Horizons Work: A member of SIB asked if the project involving children and young people is just about UNCRC (children's rights) or other issues as well. It was confirmed that it’s about broader issues affecting young people’s lives, not just children’s rights.
- Resumption of Paused Projects: It was asked if projects paused due to budget cuts would start again in the new financial year. A member said that some work is moving forward without a budget, while others will have to wait until the new budget is confirmed for 2025/26.
- Awareness Raising with ParentClub: Amy Woodhouse (AW) asked for an update on the awareness raising work with ParentClub. PG mentioned that he hopes some of this work will resume soon.
- Report on Children’s Rights: A member congratulated the Scottish Government on releasing a report called "Progressing the Human Rights of Children in Scotland," published on World Children’s Day. It was well-received by many groups. They pointed out that one group had concerns about the claim that advocacy services are available for all care-experienced children across Scotland. It was agreed that someone would look into this issue.
Support for Public Authorities on UNCRC Act
Another member of SIB shared that the report on the Consultation for the UNCRC Act has been published. The child-friendly version and a document explaining what has been done with feedback will be available soon.
- Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework: The launch of the Framework to help public authorities implement children’s rights has been delayed. While the interactive version is not ready, a PDF version is being developed. It is expected that the digital version will be launched next year, depending on the budget.
- Support for Health Boards: The Scottish Government is funding NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to help Health Boards with implementing children’s rights. NES has also held meetings about how adult services can adopt child-friendly approaches.
- Support for Local Authorities: The Improvement Service (IS) is helping local authorities raise awareness about the UNCRC Act. They are providing training and guidance to local leaders and offering tools for assessing how well local authorities are implementing children’s rights. Local authorities are also looking for more support in areas like budgeting for children’s rights and making sure participation models are effective.
- Embedding Children’s Rights: The group that works on embedding children’s rights in public services met in November. They agreed that the group’s purpose is still important, and they will now focus on sharing experiences about implementing the UNCRC. They also discussed how to support partnerships like Community Planning Partnerships and Health and Social Care Partnerships.
Update on Proposed Amendments to the UNCRC Act
SIB was reminded that there were discussions about changes to the UNCRC Act. Currently, only one change is being moved forward: an exemption to the compatibility duty.
- CRWIA (Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments): A member of SIB gave an update on possible changes to CRWIAs. The idea is to exclude temporary road orders from needing a CRWIA and to only require them for SSIs (secondary legislation) that impact children’s rights. Some sections of the CRWIA template have been updated to make it quicker for people to mark sections as not relevant.
- Exemption to the Compatibility Duty: It was explained that the Scottish Government is working on a change to the UNCRC Act, which will allow public authorities to act in a way that may not be fully compatible with children’s rights when required by other laws. The aim is to help public authorities deliver services while working on making their actions compatible with children’s rights.
Update on the development of the Children’s Rights Scheme
Everyone was updated on the Children’s Rights Scheme (CRS). After getting feedback, the Scheme was updated. There will be further consultation with children and young people (CYP) soon.
- Engagement with CYP: A survey will be launched in January 2025 to get feedback from children and young people aged 9–18 in Scotland. There will also be in-person sessions to talk about the Scheme in more depth.
- Next Steps: After getting feedback, the Scheme will be revised and published. There will also be a meeting to discuss it before it is presented to Parliament in April 2024.
Terms of Reference / Future of SIB
Members were asked to think about the future role of the SIB (Strategic Implementation Board). Some members feel that SIB should continue its work, especially to help guide public authorities in the right direction and ensure children’s rights are prioritized. However, some believe that the role of SIB should be reconsidered now that the Children’s Rights Scheme has its own statutory consultees.
Suggestions for SIB’s Future:
- SIB could help make sure the government’s efforts align with children’s rights.
- SIB could organize training on children’s rights.
- SIB could support discussions about how to improve the implementation of children’s rights across services.
The next meeting of the SIB will be held on Tuesday 28 January 2025 from 15:30 to 17:00
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