The Scottish Government Response To 'A Scotland for Children: A Consultation on a Children and Young People Bill'

Background

On 4 July the Scottish Government launched 'A Scotland for Children: A Consultation on a Children and Young People Bill'.¹ The consultation ran for 12 weeks and closed on 4 September 2012.

The consultation proposed a Bill that will make real the Scottish Government's aspiration for Scotland to be the best place to grow up in. It will do this by putting children and young people at the heart of planning and delivery of services and strengthening our approach to their rights throughout the public sector.

The consultation proposed a Bill that would:

• Further progress the realisation of children's rights through duties on: Scottish Ministers to advance and raise awareness of the rights of children and young people, as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC); the wider public sector to report on what they are doing to advance these rights; and extended powers for the Children's Commissioner to undertake investigations of potential infringements of rights of individual children and young people;
• Improve the way services support children and families by creating a single point of contact around every child and young person through the role of the Named Person and by ensuring that there is single, coordinated planning around all children who require support from services;
• Strengthen the role of early years support in all children's lives by increasing the provision and flexibility of free early learning and childcare from 475 hours a year to a minimum of 600 hours for 3 and 4 year olds and 2 year olds who are looked after; and
• Ensure better permanence planning for looked after children by: extending support to young people leaving care for longer (raising their entitlement age to 25); supporting the parenting role of kinship carers through new legal entitlements; extending corporate parenting across the public sector through a new duty; and making the adoption process quicker and more effective by putting Scotland's National Adoption Register on a statutory footing.

An analysis report outlining the findings of the consultation was published on the Scottish Government website on 4 December 2012.² This Scottish Government response sets out how Scottish Ministers have considered the findings of the consultation exercise and feedback from informal engagement activity, and outlines what will be included in the Bill.

The Scottish Government Response

The Scottish Government is grateful for the time that individuals and organisations have taken to consider the Bill proposals, suggest what could be done differently, submit responses and organise and attend consultation events.

In total, 300 written responses to the consultation were received. In addition to the formal public consultation, a programme of engagement activity with stakeholders, partners and colleagues was also undertaken over summer 2012. The activity included, but was not limited to: national engagement events with over 800 professionals: tailored meetings involving over 150 organisations; and engagement with over 2,400 children and young people. This engagement is continuing throughout the development of the Bill, and will do so throughout its Parliamentary passage and implementation.

Scottish Ministers have considered the views put forward through both the formal consultation and the additional engagement activity, and it is clear from the vast majority of the responses that there is strong support for the Bill. Taking on board all views received, the Scottish Government will proceed with the introduction of a Children and Young People Bill to the Scottish Parliament this year. There were a number of issues raised during consultation and engagement and those are addressed in this document.

Summary of Consultation Responses

Overall, respondents were broadly supportive of all the Bill proposals. The main findings were as follows:

• Most (70%) of those who provided a view considered that the legislative proposals would improve the transparency and scrutiny of the steps being taken by Scottish Ministers and relevant public bodies to ensure the progressive realisation of children's rights.
• There was much support (84% of those who commented) for the proposed definition of the wellbeing of a child or young person based on the eight Wellbeing Indicators known by the acronym 'SHANARRI' (safe; healthy; achieving; nurtured; active; respected; responsible; included).
• 80% of those who provided a view supported the proposal to place a duty on public bodies to work together to jointly design, plan and deliver policies and services and ensure that they are focussed on improving children's wellbeing.
• Most (70%) of those who commented agreed that reporting arrangements should be put in place which make a direct link for the public between local services and outcomes for children and young people, so long as any measures used are meaningful, realistic and measurable.
• The majority (76%) of those who addressed the topic considered that the Scottish Government should increase the number of hours of funded early learning and childcare and a majority (83%) supported an increase in flexibility. Key benefits identified included opening up more employment and education opportunities for parents whilst providing seamless services for children.
• 72% of respondents who provided a view supported the proposal to provide a point of contact for children, young people and families through the Named Person role. This was seen as particularly helpful in cases where children and young people had additional or complex needs.
• Most (76%) of those who commented agreed that a single planning approach would help improve outcomes for children.