Progressing the Human Rights of Children in Scotland - action plan: progress report 2020

Impact Assessment

We will evaluate the Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) process to further support and promote its use.

The Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) aims to ensure that all areas of the Scottish Government consider the possible direct and indirect impacts of proposed policies and legislation on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. The views of children and young people are integral to the CRWIA process. 

The CRWIA, which is currently non-statutory, is assisting the Scottish Government and other relevant organisations who choose to use this resource, to take a rights-based approach to the development of policies and services. A list of CRWIAs prepared by the Scottish Government is available on the website. The CRWIA is also supporting and informing the Scottish Government’s approach to the current coronavirus pandemic, ensuring that the human rights of children and young people, particularly the most vulnerable, are at the heart of our response to the crisis and ongoing considerations around renewal and recovery. 

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Bill (the Bill) will place the CRWIA on a statutory footing, requiring the Scottish Ministers to prepare a CRWIA for new Bills introduced by the Scottish Ministers or Scottish statutory instruments made by Scottish Ministers. It will also require the Scottish Ministers to prepare a CRWIA for decisions of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children, as they consider appropriate. Provisions in the Bill will also require the Scottish Ministers to include in the proposed Children’s Rights Scheme, a statement setting out the circumstances in which it would be appropriate for them to prepare a CRWIA. The Bill is discussed in more detail in the Incorporation section of this Report. 

The Progressing the Human Rights of Children in Scotland: An Action Plan 2018-21 included the commitment to evaluate the CRWIA process and to further support and promote its use. The CRWIA guidance, templates and training tool were updated in March 2019. These materials, which are available on the Scottish Government website, were shared widely with public authorities and third sector organisations. Moving forward, we will continue to raise awareness and understanding of the CRWIA process across the wider public sector. 

Work began in September 2020, to determine the scope of a full review of the CRWIA. This will seek to evaluate the procedures and outcomes of the CRWIA to ensure an efficient, effective and accessible process. It is expected that the evaluation will be completed by April 2021.