Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Child poverty

After further pressure on Scottish Government to double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week, the First Minister has announced that this change will commence in April 2022.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category:

The final set of regulations to increase the age of criminal responsibility to 12 has been commenced as of the 17th of December 2021. These regulations will also switch on powers within the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable the police to investigate incidents. Whilst raising the minimum age to 12 years old is a starting point, it still remains below the internationally acceptable minimum age of criminal responsibility.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Incorporation

Sarah Boyack MSP has asked the Minister for Children and Young People, Claire Haughey, whether she can provide an update on Scottish Government’s plans to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots Law. This comes after the Supreme Court Judgement on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill which deemed parts of the bill out with Scottish Government’s competence.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: General principles, General measures of implementation

The Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner (CYPCS) have laid their annual reports before Scottish Government. In a year that was deeply affected by COVID-19, there was a sharp rise in demand for the their expertise and input given the serious human rights considerations arising from the pandemic.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Education, including vocational education

Professor Ken Muir is currently conducting a consultation on education reform for Scottish Government. We have been working to involve children and young people in this consultation, by sharing toolkits and an online survey.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Child poverty

The First Minister has officially confirmed plans to launch free bus travel for under 22s on 31 January 2022. The transformational policy aims to embed sustainable travel behaviours early on and is essential in helping Scotland to tackle the climate emergency and meet the ambitious target to become net zero by 2045.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Social security

The results of the Scottish Childminding Association’s (SCMA) Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Audit, which was conducted from August – September 2021 in 30 local authority areas, have been published. The SCMA ELC Audit 2021 presents both a snapshot of where we are in 2021 and a report on progress of over five years of national and local implementation activity to support ELC expansion.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Child poverty

includem has launched its Voices Report, which focusses on families’ experiences of poverty and services and calls for children, young people and families having a say in what services are needed, how they are developed and how they can be delivered.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Freedom of association and peaceful assembly

Police Scotland wants to hear from children and young people who have attended a protest or event, live near to where events take place or have any thoughts to share in general. Police Scotland wants to hear what children and young people think about its approach to keeping people safe to shape how it responds to events and protests in the future.  

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

Young people are encouraged to share their key issues in relation to health and wellbeing and to support discussions with young people, a conversational guide has been created.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Child justice system

A new initiative has been launched to support the design of rights-based services for and with children and young people on the cusp of or in conflict with the law. To do this, CYCJ will work with local authorities and organisations across Scotland to design and develop services based on the best available evidence about how to respect and uphold children’s rights and deliver on The Promise.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

To ensure everyone in Scotland lives in a healthy environment, we must be able to hold public bodies and polluters to account. To do this, a petition has been launched which includes recommendations to Scottish Government to make sure the right to a healthy environment is enforced by law.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Other human rights treaties and mechanisms

The proposed changes to the Human Rights Act set out by the UK Government run counter to the recommendations made by the Independent Panel on the Human Rights Act Review. These changes would create barriers to accessing justice and redress, courts would no longer be able to ‘read in’ interpretations to legislation.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Refugee , migrant and asylum-seeking children

Just Right Scotland and the Scottish Refugee Council have obtained a legal opinion from Christine O’Neil QC on the devolved implications of the UK Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which recently passed through the House of Commons.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category:

UK Parliament has voted on a new bill proposed to raise the legal age for marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Incorporation

Jersey’s Council of Ministers has now approved the Draft Children’s (Convention Rights) Law 202- which means that the draft Law can be lodged and debated in the States Assembly.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

Child Rights International Network (CRIN) has published its perspective on the recent decisions made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its first climate change case.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Armed conflict

The number of children living in conflicted regions has increased from 162 to 193 million children in just one year, which is the highest number in more than a decade and 20% rise from the previous year. Following these findings, this report examines the trends and issues these children face, and calls States to protect these children.

Date: 16th December 2021
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

Closing date: 3rd – 17th January 2022 (depending on group)

Date: 16th December 2021
Category:

Closing date: 16th February 2022