Housing Cladding Remediation (Scotland) Bill: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment - easy read

Housing Cladding Remediation (Scotland) Bill - Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) - Easy Read Version

This document looks at the impact of this bill on the rights and wellbeing of children. It should be read with the Equality Impact Assessment.

The Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 showed how dangerous some cladding on UK buildings are.

A lot of changes have been made in Scotland because of this. This included changing Fire Safety laws to ban certain cladding.

Cladding is an outside cover on buildings. Lots of buildings have different cladding.

Scottish Ministers set up a group in 2020. This was to look at problems owners and residents faced about their buildings.

The group wrote a report in 2021 that suggested creating assessments on whole buildings. This would assess the risk of fire.

The government department set up to do this is called the Cladding Remediation Programme.

The programme will help find out what buildings have dangerous cladding. It will also help people remove the cladding.

It will help make a list of buildings that have been assessed. It will also list any changes that need to be made.

The programme will let Ministers arrange for buildings to be checked.

It will also let Ministers arrange for the changes that need to be made.

The programme will need information about the building to be given to Ministers.

It will also set up a Responsible Developers Scheme. This will make sure developers help make buildings safer.

An assessment can be made without the owner agreeing. This can be done if the work is urgent or if they have been told.

Parts of the bill will affect children and young people. They may live in or rent buildings that are within the programme.

They may need to know their rights and obligations about this bill.

Scottish Ministers will be given the power to enter buildings for assessments. People may need to leave if there is a big risk to safety.

Children and young people will need to understand how this might affect them.

It is important to remember the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

They are:

• Article 3: Considering the child’s best interests
• Article 6: The right to life of a child
• Article 12: The right for a child to express their views on matters that affect them
• Article 27: Providing a child with a suitable standard of living

Any changes to the building should not disrupt residents. Residents should not have to leave while changes are being made.

The aim should also be to address any fire risks and make the building safer for everyone.

There may have to be bigger changes. Anything that might affect a child must be in their best interests.

The programme will listen to what residents think during the changes. This includes children. It might not be possible if the risk is too big.

There are a lot of things that might affect people.

These could be things like:

• Schooling
• Disabilities

Moving out of your home must only be used as a last resort.

The proposal will affect children and young people who live in the buildings in the programme.

We will know soon how many buildings are affected.

This will help us to understand how this could affect children and young people.

The Scottish Government want to make sure their wellbeing is considered in this programme.

Declaration

Is a Stage 2 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment required? (Tick relevant requirement)

CRWIA required - No explanation required, please complete questions 5 and 6

CRWIA not required x - Please explain why below and contact the children’s rights unit to discuss this decision

Explanation why CRWIA is Not Required

This Bill is proceeding on an expedited basis and as such a partial Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment has been undertaken. This impact assessment will be reviewed on an ongoing basis but particularly after Stage 1 of the parliamentary process for the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill. The Scottish Government will also embed within the Programme a wider commitment of assessing the impacts on children.