Children and young people's voices matter: progress report - January 2020

Agreed Actions

1 We are committed to listening to children and young people’s views and taking account of their views, as part of the Year of Young People 2018 legacy. This will include co-producing a youth work strategy that puts children and young people at its core.

2 We will consider resourcing for participation of children and young people, including examining current funding streams, to ensure that participation is sustainable. In doing so, we will consider how national approaches to participation are reflected in the local structures which can facilitate participation.

3 Building on the Programme for Government 2018-2019 commitment, Ministers announced their intention to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.

4 We will raise awareness and understanding of children’s rights across all age groups in Scotland (e.g. Article 42) through our co-production programme.

5 We will build on our work since the 2017 Cabinet meeting, looking at how we can involve children in teacher training.

6 We will build on our work to encourage local authorities and universities to take applicants’ qualities into account during the recruitment process for teachers.

7 We will continue to liaise with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to encourage the implementation of the review recommendations set out in the September 2018 Review of the Professional Standards: The Experiences of Children and Young People, and ensure the measures for managing unacceptable behaviour by teachers is robust (e.g. swearing).

8 We will continue to work with stakeholders to support the preservation of instrumental music tuition in Scotland.

9 respectme, the national anti-bullying service, will continue to support the roll out of the anti-bullying guidance ‘Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People’. Work will also continue with local authorities and other organisations to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively.

10 We will support local authorities to implement the consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools using SEEMiS, the school’s management information service.

11 We will work with local authorities on prevention and appropriate interventions in response to incidents of bullying being highlighted through the new recording and monitoring process.

12 We will continue to support children and young people to cope with challenges and adversity, which would include bereavement, and consider how the school community can best support children and young people.

13 We will continue to raise awareness around the impact that childhood adversity can have and consider alongside activity on rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In particular, we will support the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) in developing a resource to help raise awareness amongst MSYPs and their constituents.

14 We will give further consideration to the legislative competence of banning the use of mosquito devices, keeping in mind the comments made by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

15 We will consider again how we can encourage social workers to wear visitor badges in schools instead of social work badges, building on last year’s discussions with the Chief Social Work Adviser, Social Work Scotland and the Chief Social Work Officers Strategic group. For example, this could include gathering good practice examples and disseminating these as widely as possible.

16 We will work together so that children’s voices are heard in the delivery of our commitments to tackle child poverty.

17 We will work on making the school day free or affordable for children and young people, such as through the Pupil Equity Fund, Cost of a School Day Project, Free School Meals, Best Start Grant and the minimum School Clothing Grant. This should help towards the costs of meals during school, trips and uniforms.

18 We will carry out a comprehensive review of an extension of discounts on public transport currently available to those aged 16-18 and extending it to those under the age of 26. This will incorporate an appraisal of costs and benefits as any changes to the scheme must fully consider the range of impacts that may result and where benefits may accrue.