UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 - part 3: statutory guidance

3. Overview of Part 3 of the Act

Part 3 of the Act sets out the following.

• Duties on Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish a Children’s Rights Scheme
• Duties on Scottish Ministers to produce Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments (CRWIAs), in certain circumstances
• Reporting duty of listed authorities (see Section 4 of this Guidance for detailed information)
• Reporting duty of the Scottish Parliament
• Amendments made to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, including the repeal of the reporting duties under Part 1 (Rights of Children)

3.1 Children’s Rights Scheme

Section 14(1) of the Act places a duty on Scottish Ministers to make a Children’s Rights Scheme (‘the Scheme’).

The Scheme is an important part of the UNCRC Act, providing regular consideration and scrutiny of the steps which Ministers take to ensure that children’s rights are realised in practice and deliver improved outcomes for all children in Scotland.

With the Scheme, the Scottish Government seeks firstly to promote a proactive culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights, and secondly to establish a transparent mechanism for further embedding children’s rights in decision-making by Ministers.

3.2 Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments

As set out in section 17 of the UNCRC Act, the Children’s Rights Scheme must include setting out the arrangements that are in place, or are to be put in place by Scottish Ministers, to prepare and publish CRWIAs (defined in section 17(1) of the Act) in certain circumstances.

There is no obligation within the Act on anyone other than Scottish Ministers to undertake CRWIAs, therefore, public authorities and any other bodies have discretion over whether they choose to do so as part of their child rights‑based practice. Further information and resources to support organisations wishing to undertake a CRWIA can be found in section 4.2.1 on decision-making in non-statutory guidance on taking a children’s human rights approach and in CRWIA guidance and templates.

3.3 Reporting duty of listed authorities

Section 18 of the UNCRC Act replaces section 2 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 with a new child rights reporting duty for listed authorities.

The required content of the reports is set out in section 18(1) of the Act. This requires a listed authority to publish, as soon as practicable after the end of each reporting period, a report every three years which addresses the following four areas:

1. action taken during the reporting period to ensure compatibility with the UNCRC requirements as defined by the Act.

2. action taken to secure better or further effect of children’s rights.

3. actions it intends to take in the next three-year reporting period to ensure compatibility with the UNCRC requirements as defined by the Act.

4. actions it intends to take to secure better or further effect of children’s rights.

Both the standard report and a child friendly adaptation must be published, and a copy of the report must be submitted to Scottish Ministers.

Section 19(1) of the Act details the listed authorities subject to the requirement to produce reports. Bodies who meet the definition of a public authority in sections 6(5), (6), (7) and (8) of the Act (please see Part 2 Guidance, section 3.2.1 for a definition of public authority under the Act) but are not listed in section 19 are not subject to reporting duties.

The Scottish Ministers may by regulations add a public authority or a description of public authorities, or remove or amend an entry for a listed authority in section 19(1). Scottish Ministers must consult the public authority or authorities concerned, and such other persons as they consider appropriate.

3.4 Reporting duty of the Scottish Parliament

Section 21 of the Act places a duty on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to publish a report that covers the actions taken by the Parliament and its committees during the period covered by the report, and the action they intend to take during the next period, to secure better or further effect of the rights of children.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body must publish its report in such a manner as it considers appropriate and the main report must be accompanied by a version of the report that children can understand.

3.5 Consequential amendments to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

The Act repeals Part 1 (Rights of Children) and Schedule 1 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 that creates and defines reporting duties in relation to the UNCRC.

Public authorities listed in Schedule 1 of the 2014 Act still have a duty to complete outstanding reports for the periods 2017-20 and 2020-23 as per section 2. Further information on arrangements to transition reporting from the requirements in the 2014 Act to section 18 of the UNCRC Act can be found in section 5 of this guidance.