UNCRC Strategic Implementation board minutes: September 2023 - 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
• Helen Fogarty, Social Security Scotland
• Jennifer Davidson, Institute for Inspiring Children’s Future’s
• Craig Morris, Care Inspectorate
• Chloe Riddell, The Promise
• Laura Pasternak, Who Cares? Scotland
• Michael Cameron, Scottish Housing Regulator
• Laura Caven, COSLA
• Norma Ruettiman, Care and Learning Alliance
• Superintendent Christine Boyd, Police Scotland (Deputising for TACC Faroque Hussain)
• Nicola Anderson(LIT), Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Eleanor Kerr, NHS
• Katy Kelman, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Ben Farrugia, Social Work Scotland
• Robert Foster, COPFS

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
• Kavita Chetty, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Ashleigh Pitcairn, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• ACC Gary Ritchie, Police Scotland

Guests

• Elaine Park, Scottish Government (observing)

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?

Feedback on amendments

The Scottish Government told SIB that the Scottish Parliament had agreed to reconsider the UNCRC Bill.

The changes to the Bill were sent to Parliament on 18 September, and it is now for Parliament to decide the next steps. The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee will help with this.

The changes to the Bill will be voted on during a discussion in Parliament, which is hoped to happen this year.

SIB had a discussion on the proposed changes made to the Bill. The group spoke about some potential challenges:

1. The difficulty for children and young people to understand the UNCRC Bill. The Scottish Government provides funding to make sure children have access to free legal advice and is delivering a raising awareness programme.

2. The ability to use the courts in some circumstances but not others could cause problems for some children and young people. A SIB member said the aim of the Bill was to promote a cultural change so that rights are upheld without the need to raise a legal case. Another member said that experience from other countries had shown that awareness of children’s rights was more important than legal remedies in making positive change.

3. Children and young people may be expecting a bigger impact on their rights. The SIB were reminded that the Bill, as changed, will provide children with more protection than they currently have. It will support wider cultural change by promoting a children’s rights approach in all public services.

The Innovation Fund

The Scottish Government told the SIB about the projects that received funding through the Innovation Fund. The Fund has a budget of £500,000 to support innovation and improvement projects led by local authorities and public bodies.

A Young People’s panel from Youth Scotland helped review and agree the shortlist. The panel had seven members who brought their lived experiences from groups prioritised in the Fund.

The Children’s Rights Scheme

A member of SIB spoke about the Children’s Rights Scheme. The Scheme will ensure Ministers tell children what they have put in place to make rights real for them.

Ministers will need to report annually on actions taken and new actions proposed for the next reporting cycle. The Scheme requires Ministers to speak with children and young people on actions to be taken in the next reporting period before the report can be published.

Another member stated that the Scheme would be important for creating cultural change. It is therefore important to get the template for the first scheme right. They would prefer to see this done well and comprehensively rather than being rushed.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the SIB will be held on Tuesday 28 November 2023 from 15:30 to 17:00