The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) has sharply criticised the UK Government for refusing to adopt the Covid‑19 Inquiry’s recommendation to make Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) a legal requirement, the only recommendation in the report focused specifically on children.  

The organisation says the decision ignores clear evidence from the Inquiry’s Module 2 findings, which showed that children experienced severe and avoidable harm during the pandemic because their rights were overlooked in major government decisions. CRAE, a core participant in the Inquiry, argues that statutory CRIAs would have helped prevent these failures by ensuring children’s needs were assessed early and consistently.  

Louise King, Co‑Lead at Just for Kids Law and CRAE, said the UK Government’s response represents a missed opportunity to embed child‑centred decision‑making across departments. She emphasised that CRIAs are not bureaucratic hurdles but essential tools for identifying how policies may help or harm children and are widely supported across the children’s sector.  

CRAE says it ultimately wants to see the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child fully incorporated into UK law, with statutory CRIAs as a crucial first step. 

Read CRAE’s full statement  

Read UK Government’s response to on placing Child Rights’ Impact Assessments on statuatory footing 

Read Together’s previous article on the Wellbeing and Schools Bill Amendment 221