Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights)

From Theory to Practice: Strengthening Child Rights Impact Assessments in Scotland

Introduction

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) is delighted to be launching two new reports which provide valuable insight for embedding a children’s human rights approach in decision-making. The reports conduct a comparative analysis on the use of Child Rights Impact Assessments in Scotland and Wales and find that both countries are making steady improvements in their CRIA practices – yet still have a lot to learn from each other.

The reports are the result of a partnership between Together and the University of Edinburgh who have co-delivered the 2024 LLM Human Rights Clinic course. The aim of this year’s Human Rights Clinic was to support the development and enhancement of Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) in Scotland as we count down to the commencement of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.  Under the guidance of Together’s Director, Juliet Harris, and the Programme Director of the LLM in Human Rights, Dr. Kasey McCall-Smith, students conducted an intensive semester-long project. They presented a preview of their findings to key decision-makers on 9 May 2024, including representatives from the Scottish Government, UNICEF UK, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, and leading Together members.

Together would like to extend a huge thank you to the students who led this important research: Bhavika Rose Shaju, Claire Pizzuro, Maria Pirvu, Sreshta Madhavaram, Benedetta Riciputi, María José Flores Ramírez, Niharika Goel, and Shubhangi Bist and wish them all the very best in the next stage of their children’s rights careers!

From Theory to Practice: Strengthening Child Rights Impact Assessments in Scotland

Scotland is counting down to an important milestone: the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)[1] into Scots law.[2] One of the many positive changes this encompasses is making the implementation of Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) mandatory for Scottish Ministers from July 2024.[3] CRIAs are an essential tool designed to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of a particular policy, programme, or bill on children and young people’s human rights. To provide insight into what is working well and what could be upgraded in current CRIA practices in Scotland, the Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) has joined efforts with The University of Edinburgh to develop this study.

With the guidance of Dr. Kasey McCall-Smith and Together, students from the Human Rights Clinic 2024 have conducted a review of 72 national and 10 local authorities-led[4] CRIAs implemented from 2018 to date.[5] Four elements deemed as essential for CRIAs’ effectiveness underpinned the analysis:

  1. That the CRIAs’ process and the examination of the public decision are founded on an HR-based approach.
  2. The process involves an inter-sectoral dynamic.
  3. It promotes meaningful participation and empowerment of children and young people.[6]
  4. And it ensures authorities’ accountability.

Additionally, the study compared Scottish with Welsh CRIA practices, considering the latter’s advanced learning curve in implementing this tool.

Quantitative analysis demonstrated encouraging evidence of Scotland’s strong commitment to guaranteeing children and young people’s’s rights, with a significant increase in CRIAs conducted from 2014 to date. Qualitatively, a noticeable improvement was identified concerning the Scottish Government’s use of the ‘language of children’s rights’[7] (i.e., UNCRC) as the underpinning framework for conducting CRIAs, overcoming the focus on wellbeing indicators[8] or an equality approach[9], which predominated in previous years.

However, there is always room for improvement. The study illustrates critical areas for improvement to strengthen Scotland’s compliance with the UNCRC using this tool. These include:

  • Strengthen CRIAs’ publishing criteria by developing precise and uniform parameters.
  • Effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms should be included, with clear timelines and assigned responsibilities.
  • Acknowledging differential impacts on diverse children and young people of public decisions, which should be reflected in consultation processes.
  • Enhance data availability throughout the CRIAs’ consultation stage.
  • Reinforce a child-friendly approach for conducting and publishing CRIAs to enable children and young people’s involvement and empowerment.
  • Enhance an objective and substantive evaluation of policies’ potential impacts on each UNCRC-protected right.
  • Development of an ex-post CRIE methodology for scrutinising Scotland’s law and public policy implementation processes.
  • Providing an accessible and robust redressal mechanism for children and young people concerning CRIAs’ implementation processes.
  • Enhancing children and young people’s meaningful and direct participation in CRIAs, by building capacity across all government levels and sectors.

In collaboration with civil society and human rights experts, the Scottish Government has made significant progress in scrutinising the impacts of its public policy on children and young people as a voluntary measure to implement the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. However, as CRIAs become mandatory for Scottish Ministers from 16th July, there is a need for enhanced effectiveness. Best practices identified by this study, such as the CRWIAs conducted for the ‘Coronavirus (Covid-19) Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan (2022)’,[10] the ‘UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill (2020)’,[11] and the ‘Scottish Prison Service Policy on the Management of Transgender People in Custody (2023)’,[12] can serve as a guide. Local practices, such as East Renfrewshire Council’s ‘Gaelic Language Plan 2023-2028 (2023)’[13] assessment, may also offer valuable insights.

Ultimately, Scotland’s incorporation of the UNCRC represents an opportunity to establish uniform (substantive and procedural) requirements to implement CRIAs at the national level and gradually replicate these to enhance voluntary current local practices. This report aims to bridge the gap between UNCRC’s theory and CRIA practices, encouraging Scottish and Welsh Governments to collaborate in building capacity and complementing each other’s experiences to provide a better life to present and future generations of children and young people.

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[1] United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (adopted 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990) 1577 UNTS 3.

[2] The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was approved in the Scottish Parliament on 7 December 2023, and granted royal assent on 16 January 2024.

[3] UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill 2024, Section 14.

[4] I.e., Aberdeen City, East Renfrewshire, Dumfries & Galloway, The City of Edinburgh, and North Lanarkshire.

[5] These were selected through a non-randomized criterion, which may abide for a possible bias in the results.

[6] In accordance with UNCRC art. 12 and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) General comment No. 12.

[7] Scottish Government (ScotGov), Observatory of Children’s Human Rights, et al, ‘Theory of Change for Making Children’s Rights Real in Scotland’ (June 2022) <https://www.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/atoms/files/cys-theory-of-change-full-report-june-2022.pdf&gt;, p. 15.

[8] See ScotGov, ‘GIRFEC wellbeing resources (SHANARRI)’ (16 May 2023) <https://www.gov.scot/publications/shanarri/documents/&gt;; and ScotGov, ‘Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment guidance’ (19 November 2021) <https://www.gov.scot/publications/childrens-rights-wellbeing-impact-assessment-guidance/&gt;, p. 2.

[9] E.g., underpinned by the UK Equality Act 2010.

[10] Scottish Government (ScotGov), ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan – Children and Young People Mental Health’ (2022) <https://www.gov.scot/publications/child-rights-wellbeing-impact-assessment-crwia-covid-19-mental-health-transition-recovery-plan-children-young-peoples-mental-health/&gt;.

[11] ScotGov, ‘UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill’ (2020) <https://www.gov.scot/publications/united-nations-convention-rights-child-incorporation-scotland-bill-child-rights-wellbeing-impact-assessment-crwia/&gt;.

[12] ScotGov, ‘Scottish Prison Service Policy on the Management of Transgender People in Custody’ (2023) <https://www.sps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/CRWIA_-_SPS_Policy_for_the_Management_of_Transgender_People_in_Custody.pdf&gt;.

[13] East Renfrewshire Council, ‘EFRA: Gaelic Language Plan 2023-2028’ (August 2023) <https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/media/9479/East-Renfrewshire-Council-Gaelic-Language-Plan-2023-2028-Equality-Fairness-and-Rights-Impact-Assessment/pdf/GLP_2023-2028_EFRIA.pdf?m=1693921333947&gt;.

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