Housing (Scotland) Bill: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Post Assessment Review and sign-off

Communicating impact to children and young people

Rented Sector Reforms

It is recognised the details of the proposed rented sector reforms will need to be communicated in a way which takes into account the differing needs of equality groups, including children and young people. This is because ensuring tenants are aware of their rights and responsibilities will be crucial to the effective implementation of these measures, and to support the delivery of better outcomes for people and communities. All of which is in line with Scottish Ministers' commitments.

We will therefore engage with organisations who support and work with children and young people to explore the most effective ways of communicating these changes. That work will build on previous campaigns such as the New Digs campaign carried out with YoungScot which communicated information to young people about the changes brought about by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016.

Homelessness Prevention Duties

Stakeholders, including those that work specifically with children and young people, were engaged with and consulted throughout the development of the prevention duties, including in workshops with frontline workers working with children and young people held by Crisis in late 2022. It was as a result of engagement with stakeholders that the PRG recommendation relevant to children and young people mentioned earlier in this assessment was not taken forward.

Ahead of implementation the changes, we will continue to engage with stakeholders, via the Homelessness Prevention Strategy Group (HPSG), whose membership includes Rock Trust, ALACHO and COSLA as well as directly with third sector organisations and local authorities, to consider the impact on children and young people.

Comprehensive training and guidance will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders to support the implementation of the changes including ask and act.

Planning for the review of impact on child rights (CRWIA - Stage 3)

Rented Sector Reforms

The Scottish Government anticipates working with stakeholders to develop a coordinated programme of monitoring and evaluation of the impact of rented sector reform alongside other measures in the Bill. This work is still in the early stages of development but will include monitoring the impact of the measures on child rights. There are several approaches to evaluation being considered as part of this programme including analysis of routinely collected internal data, learning from external data and research, and bespoke new research (which could include surveys and mixed methods research).

The CRWIA will be kept under regular review to support implementation of the measures. Stage 3 will, however, be undertaken once the measures have become operational.

Homelessness Prevention Duties

The Scottish Government will work with stakeholders to consider appropriate monitoring and evaluation measures. This will take account of on-going work to review homelessness data collections, which includes looking at existing data and considering what changes may be required for future iterations. Additionally, this work will also be informed by the recommendations of the Outcomes and Measurement Task and Finish Group^[37], set up by the HPSG.

The statistical data collected will continue to be an important source of information which demonstrates the impact of any changes however, consideration will also be given to supplementing this with appropriate qualitative data.

The CRWIA will be reviewed in order to assess the intended or unintended effect the legislation has had on children’s rights after a period of time in which the legislation has been implemented. Subsequent to this, Stage 3 of the CRWIA will be completed.

Compatibility sign off statement

This proposal has been assessed against the UNCRC requirements and has been found to be compatible.

Deputy Director Signature & Date of Sign Off:

Alice Hall
Deputy Director Better Homes

21 July 2024