UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 - part 2 and 3 (section 18) - statutory guidance: consultation analysis

Feedback from children and young people

Introduction

As noted above, four partner organisations undertook activities, interviews and focus groups with children and young people to gather feedback in relation to the UNCRC Act statutory guidance. A standard topic guide, designed by the Scottish Government, was used to provide coordinated feedback. The topic guide focused on six key topics:

1. Introduction and overview of children’s rights;

2. What public authorities need to know about children’s rights and the UNCRC Act to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights;

3. Identify and address any situation where a child’s rights are (or are at a significant risk of) not being fulfilled;

4. Ensure that children have effective access to justice;

5. Reporting requirements for listed public authorities; and

6. Inclusive communication.

Two organisations conducted focus groups, one of these worked directly with children between early years and up to the age of 14, while the other worked with those aged 11 to 26. Another organisation conducted interviews with children and young people aged 12-18 who had additional support needs. These organisations gathered views from children and young people from across Scotland, on all of the above topics. The fourth organisation worked with a primary school to conduct group activities with Primary 1 pupils in order to elicit feedback on the consultation issues. These activities focused on the first two topics only. Feedback was provided by 55 children and young people .

This chapter sets out the findings from these engagement activities. As these were conducted independently of the Scottish Government and the consultation analysis team/authors of this report, quotes have not been taken from these sessions in order to avoid any issues related to informed consent and privacy permissions. The feedback was analysed to identify common themes and issues.

Awareness of children’s rights

Across all groups, children had a reasonable awareness of their rights, or the rights bestowed by the UNCRC. Older children tended to be more aware of the UNCRC Act in general and/or have an awareness of some of the rights under the Act, although they may have been more informed than their peers due to their prior involvement with the organisations hosting the events. Indeed, some respondents suggested that most of their friends/peers would not be aware of the UNCRC Act or the current legal status of children’s rights. While a few indicated that their school and/or parents had discussed the issue with them, others generally felt that much more education and awareness raising was needed around children’s rights and the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scottish law, as general levels of awareness were perceived to be low. Younger children (i.e. those in the Primary 1 groups) were not aware of the UNCRC but were able to identify and understand a wide range of children’s rights as they progressed through the activities. They were able to develop a better understanding of the issues when they considered rights which may be taken away rather than thinking about more abstract concepts of ‘rights’.

In particular, aspects which children and young people felt were either particularly important, or were identified as rights included: the right to a family life, and to be loved and cared for; safety/protection against harm; education; play; choice; communication and being heard and understood; food/healthy food; shelter/ housing; access to medical care; identity, self-expression and art; the right to life and to grow up; to socialise, be active, have friends, and be happy; religious practice and expression; privacy; and extra support for disabled children. Even young children understood that their own actions could also impact other children’s rights.

Children and young people also understood and stressed that adults have a role in both fulfilling and protecting children’s rights. As such, it was considered vital that both children and adults needed to be aware of children’s rights. They felt that children and young people, as well as their families, other adult supporters, and service providers needed to know what the legal rights are to ensure all children are treated equally/equitably, and to recognise when rights are not being fulfilled.

What public authorities need to know

Children and young people wanted public authorities to know that they were legally required to comply with the UNCRC Act and children’s rights - they were expected to make change happen, and that they would be responsible for delivering this. They would need to implement and uphold children’s rights, and to translate awareness of children’s rights and the UNCRC Act into action.

Implementation needed to be across all sectors of society, they felt, across all public services, and in many private sector services as well. However, it was also felt that wider understanding needed to be developed among the adult general public, as parents, neighbours, and others would be impactful in advocating for children’s rights.

Respondents felt that public authorities would need to educate themselves and their staff, as well as other adults and children and young people, about children’s rights. It was suggested that awareness, education and training around children’s rights was needed for public authorities and all those with a public facing role that might engage with children and young people. Respondents also suggested that public authorities should create an action plan detailing how they would meet children’s rights and develop an accountability mechanism.

It was stressed that service providers needed to think about and recognise children’s rights and put them into practice, otherwise children and young people may lose trust in practitioners and the UNCRC Act more generally. Respondents felt that failing to uphold children’s rights would mean that children cannot do things, cannot fulfil their potential, and would detract from the quality of their childhood.

Respondents also stressed that children and young people needed to be informed about their rights if they are to be empowered to ask for them to be upheld. They highlighted that children and young people needed to be involved, listened to and respected. Children and young people wanted to engage with and be involved in the development and implementation of their rights, in how and what decisions are made that might affect them, and for decisions to be explained to them. However, it was also stressed that engagement needed to include a wide range of children and young people, including those who are seldom heard and those whose rights were most likely to be at risk. It was argued that involving children in decision-making processes would help to develop them into adults who remain active citizens.

A culture change was said to be needed - public authorities needed to consider how their actions and services impact on children as people.

Identifying where rights are (or are at risk of) not being fulfilled

Certain groups of children and young people were identified as being more at risk of not having their rights upheld than others. These included: children living in poverty; those living rural areas; disabled children; children with additional support needs; children who are care experienced; young carers; ethnic minorities; refugees; those who experience language barriers; home schooled children and those not in education; young children; those with difficult home lives; those involved with the justice system; and those not living at home or who are living in secure accommodation. It was felt that those who were most at risk of having their rights breached were also the least likely to know about or be able to access their rights. As such, it was considered important for the Scottish Government (and public authorities) to know which groups these are and address the risks.

Consistent with views expressed in the main consultation, it was suggested that adults and service providers needed to understand a child’s capacity (and evolving capacity), autonomy and agency. It was felt that generalisations should not be made around the age at which a child or group of children should be engaged and asked for their views. Adapting to different communication needs should allow children to express their views. Similarly, it was felt that guidance was needed for public authorities on how to balance competing rights. Respondents recognised that there may be situations where rights cannot be delivered to an equal degree so understanding how to balance these would be important.

There were concerns about the power imbalance between children and adults. It was felt that this needed to be acknowledged and addressed if children and young people were to feel comfortable highlighting problems. Some respondents were also concerned that there could be conflicts of interests when expecting public authorities to support children and young people to tackle failures, as these would typically stem from the public authority’s policies, practices, or staff.

Other potential barriers to children and young people accessing and asking for their rights included a lack of knowledge or understanding of their rights; a lack of confidence to speak up as well as a lack of knowledge about the process or how to do this where to go, or who to seek help from; a lack of confidence in the process/ that anything would change; and concern about possible negative consequences.

Respondents felt it was important for the Scottish Government (or another impartial body) to be able to investigate/find out where children are at risk of not having their rights met, and they wanted the guidance to make it clear that public authorities are expected to fix any problems or issues relating to children’s rights. Some sessions considered help that could be provided to ensure rights were met/upheld. It was suggested that mechanisms needed to be developed to allow children and young people to report problems. More information for young people was needed, and potentially ‘youth empowerment centres’ or collaboration spaces to allow young people to exercise their rights. Others suggested schools would be a useful avenue to ensure children and young people know about their rights and how to ask for them. Advocacy and support workers were also seen as highly influential in this respect, particularly for more vulnerable children and young people.

Ensuring children have effective access to justice

It was considered crucial to inform children and young people about what to do, who to contact, and where to go if they were worried about not being able to access their rights, or when they felt these may be at risk. They needed information about the process, how long it would take, what would happen, and what support would be available. Access to impartial advice, legal aid, solicitors and advocacy workers was seen as necessary, along with the provision of appropriate support. It was stressed that practitioners needed to listen to, trust and believe children and young people, and that they should not stereotype them.

While participants in one group felt they had a good understanding of the process at school, they were unsure about any redress systems in place for other services. It was felt that effective complaints procedures were needed, although it was suggested that it may be better to frame this around actions to make things better (rather than complaints which could be intimidating). Further, it was suggested that complaints systems should allow children to raise shared concerns (e.g. where issues affect a group of children or where a child may require peer support). It was highlighted that children currently have a lot of concerns and a lack of confidence about making complaints.

One group of children and young people identified an approach that adults and public authorities might adopt when it comes to providing access to justice. This began with children and young people learning problem solving skills, and preventative, empowering measures such as peer mediation and peer support to problem solve. For more serious issues that children cannot solve themselves, it was said there needed to be consideration of adult/public authority involvement which listens to the child/children and seeks to make improvements.

For issues that reach court, the processes need to be appropriate for children and young people, their voice needs to be heard and taken into account, and support would be needed throughout. However, it was generally agreed that the courts should be the last resort when resolving a rights dispute or complaint.

Some children noted that both children and public authorities need to be adequately informed about the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland powers. Others suggested that a trusted adult, local MSPs, the Scottish Government, or the police could be approached for help in seeking justice.

Reporting requirements for listed public authorities

Introducing a reporting requirement for children’s rights, how rights are being delivered, and how any rights issues are addressed was seen as important. It was suggested that reports should include benchmarking, highlight examples of good practice, and set out the outcomes for children and young people as well as future plans for action on children’s rights.

Respondents agreed that reporting processes must involve children and young people. They wanted a system to be developed which would allow lots of different opportunities for children and young people to be involved and provide feedback. They also suggested that the reports should include information on how children and young people’s views were used and how they impacted decisions and actions.

Children felt that reports needed to avoid becoming a tick-box exercise. Rather, they needed to be honest, meaningful and part of an ongoing and continuous feedback loop.

While it was acknowledged that developing child friendly reports would be difficult due to the different ages and needs of children and young people and the complexity of some of the information they would contain, respondents generally agreed that child friendly reports were both welcome and necessary. These would need to be provided in a range of formats (explored in more detail below), and made available via multiple sources (e.g. schools, libraries, social media and websites).

It was suggested that reporting would be a useful accountability measure, and that listed authorities that were performing poorly needed to be held to account and provided with constructive feedback to support improvement. However, reporting should not be the only accountability measure - respondents also highlighted the need for a Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and/or Scottish Government oversight, as well as for investigations into any breaches to be conducted by an independent body. Respondents also wanted the Scottish Government to use the reports to monitor compliance; to develop a national audit of public services; to identify priority areas for improvements; to inform funding decisions; and to understand breaches and develop robust mechanisms to deal with these.

Inclusive communication and accessible information

While this was the final topic, feedback on the need for accessible communication, information, engagement and reporting was provided throughout the consideration of all topics.

It was stressed that all communication and information for children and young people needed to be age appropriate, jargon free and use concise and accessible language. Respondents advocated for a wide range of alternative formats which may be more suitable, engaging and targeted for children and young people, including: easy read; illustrations, pictures, and graphics; audio and video; video games and quizzes; comic strips/cartoons; posters and leaflets (which could include QR codes for further information/other formats); and information or adverts on television, Instagram and TikTok. It was important to accommodate different communication needs, including non-verbal communication, and it was suggested that consideration of accessible communication should extend beyond published information to consider the environments in which people might access information.

Schools were seen as crucial in providing education and awareness raising among children and young people about their rights, but this needs to be done in a creative, fun, inclusive and engaging way. Other suggested that information sharing and awareness raising could include advertising children’s rights in public spaces, on television, and on social media; the provision of an information booklet; holding workshops and assemblies; and through the development of online courses. The Scottish Government, local authorities, parents/carers and advocacy workers were also considered to be sources of information in this respect.

Finally, it was highlighted again that parents/carers need to be informed about children’s rights as they were seen as key stakeholders in educating their children about their rights, and in influencing and advocating for their child/children.