Meetings

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed that there appears to be little further that it could achieve at this time, given that the Welsh Government has ruled out introducing new duties. The Committee therefore agreed to close the petition and thank the petitioners for bringing it forward.

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed to write to the Minister for Health and Social Services to ask:

·         for a further update from the on the work underway led by the Strengthening and Advancing Equality and Human Rights in Wales Working Group; and

·         express the Committee’s support for the petitioners call for a statutory requirement to include children and young people in the commissioning of children and young people’s services.

The Committee considered further correspondence from the Minister for Health and Social Services and agreed to seek the views of the petitioner on the response received from the Minister and particularly whether they are content with the commitment to identify a young person to act as a representative on the Group, before considering whether to take further action on the petition.

The Committee considered further correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         write back to the Minister for Health and Social Services to:

o   accept the offer of a further update on the work underway;

o   ask for this by the start of the autumn term; and

o   share the concerns of the petitioners that the working group does not appear to include representation from children and young people; and

·         consider whether it is possible to engage with the Assembly’s Youth Parliament on the issues raised.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the petitioners, and agreed to:

• write back to the Welsh Government to ask for a response to the latest evidence received, in particular the Commissioner’s call for new duties to be placed on public bodies to ensure that they are required to follow the requirements of the UNCRC when making decisions and commissioning services, and to ask whether the Minister will write to remind public bodies that they are expected to follow existing guidance; and
• request a further legal briefing in relation to whether existing legislative requirements in this area could be strengthened and extended to all public bodies.

The Committee considered a response from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services together with further comments from the petitioner and agreed to:

·         write to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales to ask for her views on:

o   current practices in relation to ensuring young people are able to participate in and inform the commissioning of services; and

o   whether the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 is effective in ensuring the participation of young people when commissioning local services; and

• request a research brief on the application of the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 in relation to the commissioning of local services for young people.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to write back to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services to share the petitioners’ comments and to ask him for a detailed response.