Support for amendment 221: children’s rights in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

With 22 members from the UK, Eurochild is supporting a joint statement backing Amendment 221, which would require UK Ministers to carry out Child Rights Impact Assessments, closing a critical gap in how children’s rights are considered in law- and policy-making and introducing stronger accountability through regular government reporting.

Considering children’s rights in decisions that may affect them is a simple yet impactful way to improve children’s lives and opportunities, and a failure to do so can expose them to harm. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a stark example. A recent COVID-19 Inquiry report found that child rights were overlooked in pandemic decision-making, leading to profound and avoidable damage to children’s well-being. It is recommended that the UK Government place Child Rights Impact Assessments on a statutory footing to address this glaring gap – a step that other nations in the UK and further afield have already taken with positive results.

We urge Peers to support amendment 221 tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett, which would introduce a statutory duty for Ministers to prepare and publish a child rights impact assessment (CRIA) on any proposed legislation, policy, budgetary or other strategic decision relating to children’s wellbeing, social care or education.

Ultimately, we want to see the full incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law, to transform the way in which children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled and enable children to enforce their rights. Amendment 221 is a first step towards that ambition.

Key reasons to support the amendment:

• Implement a pressing Covid-19 inquiry recommendation: enabling swift action on the Inquiry’s recommendation to place Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) on a statutory footing.
• Close the gap in child rights protections: Children in England (and across the UK with respect to reserved matters) experience less protection of their rights than children in Scotland, Wales, Jersey and other nations, with the UK Government falling increasingly behind the curve in its approach.
• A voluntary approach has failed children, with ineffective and inconsistent practice: Although the Department for Education has developed a voluntary CRIA template, its use across government is highly patchy and inconsistent. There is no central oversight of the number or quality of CRIAs undertaken, nor whether children’s views are considered. A legal duty would drive improved practice.
• Prevent unintended consequences; support joined-up and mission-led policymaking: Evaluations show that CRIAs are effective for ensuring that policy decisions consider implications for children and improve decision-making, as seen in Wales. CRIAs also facilitate proactive and joined-up policymaking, which would support the Government’s mission-led ambitions.
• Give children and young people a voice in decision-making: As they have no formal political voice, mandatory procedures to consider children’s rights and best interests in policy-making are especially crucial. The new National Youth Strategy recognises that “too many young people feel like their voice does not matter”. This amendment supports the Government’s ambitions to improve children and young people’s participation in policymaking.
• Proportionate, easy to implement, meaningful in effect: This amendment is modest, yet would engender real change for children. Experience from nations with mandatory CRIA shows that these can be easily embedded into existing policy-making processes and are a proportionate measure with a clear screening process to identify where a full CRIA is required.