Hansard

I welcome the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s support for the incorporation of UNCRC into Scots law, which is long overdue, and its work on the stage 1 report. I also congratulate and thank the children and young people, and all the campaigners, who have worked tirelessly to arrive at a point where children’s rights will be enforced instead of being an option.

Presiding Officer, you may recall that my first members’ business debate, on 3 February 2000, was about the UNCRC and the work being done by statutory and voluntary bodies at national and local levels to uphold the UN convention. I focused at the time on the child’s right to play. I also called for full implementation of the statutory role of the children’s commissioner to be introduced in Scotland, and I am glad that we now have that.

In that speech I highlighted a local project in Kirkshaws, Coatbridge, where parents, mainly women, worked against the odds to transform a local derelict site into a multipurpose play area suitable for all from toddlers to teenagers. Their motivation was the apparent connection at that time between the lack of facilities for play and leisure in Kirkshaws and young people becoming involved at an early age with alcohol, drugs and vandalism. I am happy to say that the project, Parent Action for Safe Play, has been positive for many children and young people over the years; such a project shows what respecting the rights of children looks like in practice when the abstract legal position may seem more difficult to grasp.

The right to play and have safe places to play is one of the many children’s rights that have been seriously affected by the current pandemic. Access to something as fundamental as fresh air and a small piece of open space has been denied to many children, particularly those living in poverty. During the pandemic, vulnerable children have been included with the children of key workers among those who can still attend school, but to fulfil our obligations to those children, we need to identify that they are actually attending. I know that NSPCC Scotland is concerned that, given the low attendance by vulnerable children last lockdown, there will be a similar pattern this time.

The Scottish Government’s report in April recognised that the number of vulnerable children will increase because of the additional pressures that are being placed on families and communities by the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope that the Government is doing its best to standardise how schools encourage vulnerable children to attend and to contact children and families when they are not attending. Vulnerable children must be visible in the data to ensure that families who are struggling can access the help that they need. Eradicating poverty is key to children’s rights but the soaring levels of poverty coupled with the ending of the £20 increase in universal credit will drive more families into poverty.

The ethos running through the UN convention is that of provision, protection and participation. The three key principles that should be applied through Scottish law and policy are those of non-discrimination, the child’s best interests being a primary consideration in all actions concerning children and the child’s view being given due weight. As I said in that first debate more than 20 years ago, mindsets need to change and the mainstreaming of the interests of children must become second nature. The pandemic has shone a light on all inequalities and the incorporation of the UNCRC into law will ensure that authorities have to take it into account when developing policy, not only in response to an emergency but at all times.

Fundamental to respecting the rights of children is understanding that some groups of children find it harder than others to have their voices heard, which some members have already mentioned—in particular, children who are looked after in a variety of situations by local authorities, those with disabilities, those living in poverty and those whose parents have no recourse to public funds.

Another area where we can show our commitment to children’s rights is in the provision of meals to children out of school, the nutritional standard of those meals and whether it is better to give parents cash payments. We are talking about the most fundamental right for children not to suffer hunger, which is why my proposed right to food (Scotland) bill is very much part of the debate on how we treat children. My previous member’s bill, which became the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005 was also focused on children’s rights and was aimed at protecting the child’s right to be breastfed in public.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has stated that

“Incorporating international human rights treaties into domestic law is a critical component of securing their realisation.”

I note that the committee has responded to the requests from many stakeholders including Together Scotland to amend the commencement provision at stage 2 to ensure that the bill commences six months after royal assent, and I note the cabinet secretary’s comments on that. I hope that sufficient help will be given to public authorities to prepare for that and that the Government agrees to look into it, as outlined at the start of the debate by John Swinney.

The financial memorandum focuses on the costs of awareness raising about rights, but I am not convinced that it fully addresses the situation that our councils find themselves in. We know that they are struggling to deliver an ever-increasing number of services that the Scottish Government has passed on without sufficient funding.

From nurseries and schools to decent housing, reliable and preferably free broadband, suitable devices for study and the space and opportunity to play, we need to commit to what incorporation will look like in practice. We need the political will, together with the essential funding, to ensure that Scotland truly becomes a world leader in protecting the rights of children and young people.