Third annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people

As a result of the third annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people we have agreed a total of 18 actions, which we will take forward in partnership over the course of the year. We will report on progress on these actions, including a final progress report prior to next year’s meeting. 

The film below describes the Cabinet meeting with children and young people:

Agreed actions

Poverty

1. We will work together so that children’s voices are heard in the delivery of our commitments to tackle child poverty. 

2. We will work on making the school day free or affordable for children and young people, such as through the Pupil Equity Fund, Cost of a School Day Project, Free School Meals, Best Start Grant and the minimum School Clothing Grant. This should help towards the costs of meals during school, trips and uniforms.  

Relationships with teachers

3. We will build on our work since the 2017 Cabinet meeting (Action 6), looking at how we can involve children in teacher training.

4. We will build on our work to encourage local authorities and universities to take applicants’ qualities into account during the recruitment process for teachers. 

5. We will continue to liaise with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to encourage the implementation of the review recommendations set out in the September 2018 Review of the Professional Standards: The Experiences of Children and Young People, and ensure the measures for managing unacceptable behaviour by teachers is robust (e.g. swearing). 

Bullying

6. respectme, the national anti-bullying service, will continue to support the roll out of the anti-bullying guidance ‘Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People’. Work will also continue with local authorities and other organisations to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively.  

7. We will support local authorities to implement  the consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools using SEEMiS, the school’s management information service.  

8. We will work with local authorities on prevention and appropriate interventions in response to incidents of bullying being highlighted through the new recording and monitoring process.  

9. We will consider again how we can  encourage social workers to wear visitor badges in schools instead of social work badges, building on last year’s discussions  with the Chief Social Work Adviser, Social Work Scotland and the Chief Social Work Officers Strategic group. For example, this could include gathering good practice examples and disseminating these as widely as possible. 

Meaningful participation/Year of Young People (YoYP) legacy

10. We are committed to listening to children and young people’s views and taking account of their views, as part of the YoYP legacy. This will include co-producing a  youth work strategy that puts children and young people at its core.  

11. We will consider resourcing for participation of children and young people, including examining current funding streams, to ensure that participation is sustainable.  In doing so, we will consider how national approaches to participation are reflected in the local structures which can facilitate participation.

12. We will raise awareness and understanding of children’s rights across all age groups in Scotland (e.g. Article 42) through our co-production programme.  

Public transport

13. We will carry out a comprehensive review of an extension of discounts on public transport currently available to those aged 16-18 and extending it to those under the age of 26. This will incorporate an appraisal of costs and benefits as any changes to the scheme must fully consider the range of impacts that may result and where benefits may accrue.

Bereavement and its impact on young people

14. We will continue to support children and young people to cope with challenges and adversity, which would include bereavement, and consider how the school community can best support children and young people.  

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

15. We will continue to raise awareness around the impact that childhood adversity can have and consider alongside activity on rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In particular, we will support the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) in developing a resource to help raise awareness amongst MSYPs and their constituents.

Music tuition in schools

16. We will continue to work with stakeholders to support the preservation of instrumental music tuition in Scotland. 

Mosquito devices

17. We will give further consideration to the legislative competence of banning the use of mosquito devices, keeping in mind the comments made by Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament.  

Incorporation of UNCRC into Scots law

18. Building on the Programme for Government 2018-2019 commitment, Ministers announced their intention to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.

The rights of children and young people must be embedded in everything we do. This year is the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our plan is that by the end of this Parliament we will have incorporated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. 

On 22 May 2019, we launched our consultation on exactly how to achieve it.

To complement the consultation, the Scottish Government will convene a short-life group, the UNCRC Working Group, to garner relevant expertise from our legal system, children’s rights sector (including the Scottish Youth Parliament), public authorities, parenting organisations and academia.  

The working group will convene during the consultation and into autumn to support the development of a Bill.