Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 19 January 2021
I am delighted to find myself closing the debate for the Labour Party, because incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law is a policy that we have long supported and believe to be overdue. Looking back, I saw that Kezia Dugdale was pressing for it 10 years ago, when I was her leader, and it also featured in our manifesto for the last Scottish Parliament elections. I am therefore delighted that the Government has introduced the bill and that it has support across the chamber.
Support for incorporation has also grown outside Parliament over the years, especially in Scotland’s youth and third sectors, which include the very organisations that understand the real impact that incorporation into Scots law will have on the lives of our young people.
Several members have referred to Together, the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights. It is an unprecedented alliance of 50 member organisations that welcome the introduction of the bill as a step forward for Scotland in helping to ensure that a comprehensive approach is taken to children’s rights. Alex Cole-Hamilton was right to say that the bill has lived up to the sector’s expectations.
Incorporation of the UNCRC will finally provide a proper framework for the provision of children’s rights in every part of Scotland and at every level of government. It will lead to greater consistency in children’s rights—in particular, as many members have referred to, their right to be heard and to take part in decision making that affects them. A number of committee members have said that listening to children and giving them a part in decision making, for which the committee should receive credit, has been an important part of the process.
Wales, like Scotland, has previously passed legislation requiring ministers to have regard to the UNCRC. Indeed, the Children’s Commissioner for England is required to have regard to and monitor the implementation of the convention. However, the Deputy First Minister was quite right when he said that the bill will make Scotland the first country in the UK to make the convention and the rights under it fully legally enforceable. We can be proud of that.
Of course, we are not the first country in the world to take this step, and Alison Harris was right when she said that international evidence shows that in countries where incorporation has taken place and the UNCRC has formal status, outcomes for children have clearly improved. Incorporation does that by becoming an influential touchstone for decision makers that is effective across legislation, policy and practice. That results in a culture change that directly impacts on the application of children’s rights principles in national law and policy.
Ross Greer made the important point that incorporation of the UNCRC through the bill that is before us could be seen as a dry legislative process, but the fact of the matter is that incorporation will affect the real, daily lives of children across Scotland.
The passing of this legislation may be a necessary condition for the culture change that we want to see but, as a number of speakers have said, it is not sufficient. We and our successors will have to show ourselves as being up to the challenge of making these rights real.
Our track record is not always the best. Mr Cole-Hamilton was right to point out that it is years since we passed a law to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 and patted ourselves on the back for doing so. However, that law has never been commenced and, by the standards of the UNCRC, would not be enough: the age of criminal responsibility should be 14. Today, our age of criminal responsibility remains eight.