United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): Child Rights Regulation and Improvement Action Group minutes: February 2025

Attendees and apologies

Aqeel Ahmed (Chair), Scottish Government – AA 
Gita Sharkey, Scottish Government – GS 
Lyndsey Saki, Scottish Government – LS 
Ezhilarasi Mahadevan, Scottish Government – EM
Aileen Nicol, Care Inspectorate – AN 
Brian Johnston, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS)–BJ
Clare McGuire, NHS Education for Scotland–CM
Fraser McCallum, Education Scotland – FM
Joanna Smith, NHS Education for Scotland – JS
Josh Barnham, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) – JB 
Linda Mckenna, Scottish Housing Regulator – LM
Neil Macleod, Scottish Social Services Council – NM
Nina Miller, Audit Scotland – NMR
Stephen Bermingham, Children’s Hearings Scotland – SB 
Tricia Meldrum, Audit Scotland – TM 

Apologies
Eleanor Kerr, Healthcare Improvement Scotland 
Helen Dawson, Mental Welfare Commissioner for Scotland 
Jillian Matthew, Audit Scotland 

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

AA welcomed attendees and noted apologies. 

Scottish Government update/members to share any updates

AA referenced the recent children’s rights webinars on disabled children and young people (CYP), hosted and led by NHS Education for Education (NES) and a session on homelessness hosted by the Improvement Service (IS), noting that some members on the call attended these. 

AA informed the group that the Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework and accompanying Training Plan will be published soon. 

JB informed the group that the SPSO launched an online self-led training on child-friendly complaints and are developing additional guidance to support complaint processes, in particular for parents and carers. SPSO will continue to identify key trends in complaints and responses to these, with a focus on improving accessibility and understanding of child-friendly complaints among staff, parents/carers and CYP. 

AA informed the group that JB will present a session at the next meeting on the new child-friendly complaints process and the emerging themes and trends. 

 

Framework paper 

 

AA invited comments from members regarding the framework paper in addition to the comments sent via email. The paper aims to set out the role of members in relation to their commitment to implementing a Children’s Human Rights Approach. 

SB supported the paper but suggested that the group should consider compliance and case law relating to the UNCRC Act during meetings. AA agreed to consider whether this was appropriate. 

TM found the paper helpful and made a number of suggestions including 1) clarifying the role of scrutiny bodies in relation to holding public authorities accountable, clarifying what the term ‘key document’ means, 2) that the Principles of Community Empowerment publication may be useful in supporting the development of the framework paper, 3) that the paper should ensure language throughout is inclusive taking into account the varying roles of members and levels of engagement with CYP, 4) suggested the term ‘scrutiny body’ better captures the full breadth of the roles members undertake and 5) suggested that the paper should reflect the fact that members will be at different stages of implementing a children’s human rights approach (CHRA). 

AA clarified that ‘key documents’ refer to those defining the role of scrutiny bodies and that set out key rules governing the sectors they support e.g. codes of conduct. 

LM suggested that a flexible supporting resource would be more beneficial instead of a formal agreement allowing members to engage with relevant sections of the paper. 

AN was keen for the document and work of the group to take a collaborative, community of practice approach to implement a CHRA. She also emphasised the diversity of scrutiny bodies and maximising external impact. 

The group agreed it was important to highlight both internal and external impacts of implementing a CHRA. 

FM suggested that the point around learning and development should reflect the point that this could include promoting and sharing best practice.

Action 1: AA agreed to reflect on feedback and circulate a revised version of the Framework. 

 

Future priorities / focus of the group

 

The group discussed future priorities that they may wish to explore. 

SB highlighted the importance of the right to remedy, particularly in relation to children with additional communication needs, such as neurodiversity. He emphasised the need to increase awareness of children's rights to remedy and ensure systems are in place to support children to raise concerns. AA highlighted that the Scottish Government’s Children’s Rights Unit is developing a supporting resource for CYP to enable them to understand their rights and explain the action they can take if they feel their rights are not being respected. 

Action 2: AA will invite colleagues to present on this resource once it is developed. 

LM suggested it was challenging for some scrutiny bodies to consult with CYP due to the lack of a wider understanding among the public, including cyp, about the role of scrutiny bodies. There may also be a lack of understanding and experience on engagement with cyp within scrutiny bodies. The group agreed it was important to share learning and resources to support each other to avoid overburdening CYP and support scrutiny bodies. 

TM and JB have experience of working with consultants and groups of CYP from various demographics to drive forward recent projects, including child-friendly complaints and offered to support members. 

BJ suggested it was important to strike the right balance when engaging with young people, particularly on sensitive matters. He emphasised that it was important to work collaboratively, leveraging ideas and practice from other scrutiny bodies, in particular when designing their scrutiny plans.

NM suggested it was important to explore the expectations of public authorities in relation to their scrutiny functions through the lens of a CHRA. She also noted that there is growing interest in child rights budgeting, in particular around how future audits are conducted. She suggested developing a shared methodology. 

LS highlighted the importance of Article 13 (the right for children to access child-friendly information) alongside Article 12 (the right to express a view). She suggested the group explore creating accessible versions of key materials for children. 

AA suggested the group could start to explore this by identifying and compiling a list of different child-friendly approaches used by public authorities already and exploring what type information CYP would value most in better understanding. 

The group agreed to explore child-friendly information at a future meeting. 

Action 3: AA to arrange for this item to be discussed at a future meeting. 

 

AOB & date of next meeting 

 

The next meeting is scheduled for 11:00 – 12:00, Tuesday 8th April 2025.