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Children’s rights in Wales
Report
On
11 August 2020, the Committee published its report
on Children’s Rights in Wales. A child-friendly
version is available.
On
the 23 September 2020 the Welsh Government responded
to the report.
The
report was debated in
plenary on 20 January 2021.
On
14 October 2020 we wrote
to those stakeholders who provided oral evidence to this inquiry to gather
their views on the Welsh Government’s response to the Committee’s
recommendations, and any significant updates relevant to the report since the
Committee took evidence. We received views from the Children
Commissioner for Wales, Children
in Wales and Noah’s
Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales Children and Young Adult’s Research Unit
(NACH), supported by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for
Wales.
Inquiry
The
Children, Young People and Education Committee undertook a short inquiry on
children’s rights in Wales to review the impact of the Rights of Children and
Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011.
Terms
of Reference
To
consider:
- the extent to which the Rights of
Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011 has influenced the Welsh
Government’s decision making, including its financial allocations and
whether it has fulfilled the Convention’s ‘general measures’ of
implementation;
- evidence of whether the Measure has led
to improved outcomes for children and young people;
- whether the duties within the Measure
have been embedded effectively across Welsh Government cabinet portfolios
and policy;
- the extent to which the Welsh Government
has sought to ensure that its duties within the Measure are translated
into the work of the public bodies it provides funding to, including local
authorities and NHS bodies;
- the extent to which the Welsh Government
has implemented its duty to promote knowledge and understanding of the
UNCRC amongst the public, including children and young people;
- how the duty to have ‘due regard’ to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child is being implemented in practice and
whether Child Rights Impact Assessments are being used as a meaningful
tool;
- the effectiveness of the Children’s
Right’s Scheme and the most recent Welsh Government compliance report, and
the extent to which they evidence sufficient action on the part of Welsh
Government to ensure full implementation of the Measure;
- how effectively the Welsh Government
responds on a strategic basis to the Concluding Observations of the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Blog
Senedd
Research produced blogs with more information on this topic:
Children’s
rights: high on the political agenda again
Coronavirus:
children’s rights
Evidence
gathering
The
Committee held a number of evidence sessions to inform its work, details of
which can be viewed in the table below. The Committee also consulted on this
topic. The consultation responses have been published.
Evidence
Grid
Evidence session |
Date, Agenda and Minutes |
Transcript |
Video |
1.
Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group Sean O’Neil, Policy Director, Children in Wales Tim Ruscoe, Public Affairs and Participation Officer, Barnardo’s Cymru Dr Simon Hoffman, Associate Professor, Swansea University |
|||
2.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for
Wales Dr Phillip Connor, Consultant in Paediatric Haematologist, Directorate Research and Development Lead, The Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales Rhian Croke, Children’s Human Rights Advisor, Human Rights Wales Rhian Thomas Turner, Senior
Operations Manager, Children’s Hospital for Wales |
|||
3.
Equality and Human Rights Commission Melissa Wood, Senior Associate Hannah Wharf, Principal |
|||
4.
Children’s Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland, Children’s Commissioner for Wales Rachel Thomas, Head of Policy and
Public Affairs |
|||
5.
Welsh Government Julie Morgan AM, Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services Karen Cornish, Deputy Director, Children & Families Division – Welsh Government David Pearce, Head of Children's
Branch – Welsh Government |
|||
6.
Youth Parliament representatives Betsan Angell Roberts, Welsh Youth Parliament Member for Cardiff North Todd Murray, Welsh Youth Parliament Member for Bridgend Ffion Griffith, Welsh Youth Parliament Member for Islwyn Maisy Evans, Welsh Youth Parliament
Member for Torfaen |
- |
Public engagement
In addition to formal evidence gathering, the Committee sought the views of the children and young people through engagement initiatives, a summary of the activities can be viewed below.
Meeting in a Box
As part of this inquiry, the Committee developed a “meeting in a box” engagement activity. This was a resource pack aimed at empowering children and young people to share their views on children’s rights followed by a short survey in order to share what was learnt and feed into the wider inquiry.
A short video was produced to explain more about the resource, how it was used across Wales, and the other ways the Committee has engaged with children and young people.
Meeting in a Box – engagement summary
Lleisiau Bach / Little Voices
Working in partnership with Lleisiau Bach / Little Voices, the Committee met children from two primary schools to gain an understanding of how children’s rights are helping them.
Business type: Committee Inquiry
First published: 09/07/2019
Documents
- Letter from the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services to the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee regarding the Committee's inquiry into children's rights in Wales - 17 December 2020
PDF 309 KB
- Letter from the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee to the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services regarding the Committee’s children’s rights report: next steps - 4 December 2020
PDF 229 KB
- Letter to the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee from the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services regarding a revised Children's Rights Scheme - 27 November 2020
PDF 286 KB
- Additional information from Children in Wales regarding the Welsh Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendations – 5 November 2020
PDF 121 KB
- Additional information from Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales Children and Young Adult’s Research Unit (NACH), supported by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for Wales regarding the Welsh Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendations – 5 November 2020
PDF 566 KB
- Additional information from Children’s Commissioner for Wales regarding Welsh Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendations – 5 November 2020
PDF 472 KB
- Letter from the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee to stakeholders regarding the Welsh Government’s response to the Committee’s report on children’s rights Wales - 14 October 2020
PDF 208 KB
- Welsh Government response - 23 September 2020
PDF 718 KB
- Child friendly version - 11 August 2020
PDF 276 KB
- Letter from the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales regarding Children's Rights - 8 January 2020
PDF 216 KB
- Letter from the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services - Children's Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) - 10 December 2019
PDF 315 KB
- Supplementary evidence from Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services – 25 November 2019
PDF 263 KB
- Supplementary evidence from Noah’s Ark, Children’s Hospital for Wales – 20 November 2019
PDF 224 KB
- Supplementary evidence from the Observatory on Human Rights of Children and Children in Wales – 15 November 2019
PDF 115 KB
- Letter from the Chair to the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services on Children’s Rights Impact Assessments – 13 November 2019
PDF 109 KB
- Evidence Paper from the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services - 6 November 2019
PDF 970 KB
- Supplementary evidence from Equality and Human Rights Commission - 18 October 2019
PDF 23 KB
- Letter to the Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee - 18 October
PDF 67 KB
- Letter to the Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee - 18 October
PDF 67 KB
- Supplementary evidence from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales - 1 October 2019
PDF 3 MB
- Letter from the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services - 23 August 2019
PDF 325 KB
- Letter from the Chair to the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services - 24 July 2019
PDF 87 KB
Consultations
- Children’s rights in Wales (completed)