Child Protection Improvement Programme: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

CRWIA Stage 1

Screening - key questions

1. What aspects of the policy/measure will affect children and young people up to the age of 18?
This CRWIA is being carried out pursuant to the Child Protection Improvement Programme (hereinafter " CPIP") All aspects of CPIP will potentially affect children and young people up to the age of 18.

2. What likely impact - direct or indirect - will the policy/measure have on children and young people?
CPIP will directly affect children and young people who come into contact with child protection systems in Scotland, broadly conceived, as a result of concerns being raised about their health and wellbeing.

Service delivery within child protection systems in Scotland is largely vested with Local Authorities, which encompass children's services (including child protection and children's social work services) and education services. The overarching national architecture is, in principle, non-statutory, though the guidance draws together statutory provisions from a range of sources, both domestic and international, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and Data Protection Act 1998. National policy guidance ("The National Guidance") was substantively re-issued in 2014; policy responsibility sits with the Child Protection Team, which sits within the broader Directorate for Children and Families. Concerns about the health and wellbeing of children, including suspected child neglect, may be raised by any member of the general public.

CPIP emerges from the commitment of Scottish Ministers to launch a programme of action on child protection; its core objective is: to deliver recommendations for sustainable improvement, building upon the observable improvements in practice that have already taken place in recent years and to seek to further embed Scotland's unique approach to child wellbeing: Getting it Right for Every Child. This objective is premised expressly upon the Scottish Government's vision for a child protection system that keeps children safer from abuse and neglect, by placing the wellbeing of Scotland's children at the heart of everything it does. This programme supports a range of national outcomes identified within the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework.

3. Are there particular groups of children and young people who are more likely to be affected than others?
Child protection issues can affect children and young people from all backgrounds and from all communities.

Research has demonstrated that there is a contextual relationship between the experience of child neglect and the experience of broader social, economic and health inequalities; this relationship is cyclical and mutually-reinforcing, producing significant intergenerational effects. Accordingly, the experience of poverty and social inequality makes it materially more difficult to meet the spectrum of development needs of a child or young person. Having experienced one or more forms of neglect is directly attributable to poorer health and social outcomes in later life, which itself compounds the likelihood that victims of neglect continue to experience poverty and social disenfranchisement across the life course.

4. Who else have you involved in your deliberations?
Both the Children's Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment and the Equalities Impact Assessment will be reviewed by the CPIP Programme Management Team, the Internal Advisory Group (i.e. intra-Scottish Government stakeholders) and the External Advisory Group, comprising broader sectoral interests.

5. Will this require a CRWIA?
Yes. CPIP and any recommendations emerging will affect the provision of child protection services across Scotland for our children and young people.