Date: 2nd February 2016
Category: Family Environment and Alternative Care

The First Minister has announced that the Scottish Government will fund a series of early learning and childcare trials, working with stakeholders to finalise the approaches that will be tested.

Date: 2nd February 2016
Category: Children in situations of exploitation

'CSE - The Signs' was launched on 28th January 2016 to raise awareness of the risks and warning signs of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and is centred on a new interactive website.

Date: 27th January 2016
Category: Non-discrimination, Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

On 27th January 2016 the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the 'bedroom tax' was unlawful and discriminatory in two specific cases regarding victims of domestic violence and disabled children.

Date: 19th January 2016
Category: Reporting to and monitoring the UNCRC, General measures of implementation

On 14th January 2016, Together's Director & Chair met with the JCHR in Edinburgh to discuss the landscape & culture of children's rights in Scotland & across the UK.

Date: 19th January 2016
Category: Awareness-raising, Scotland-specific monitoring and reporting

Together is pleased to notify subscribers that we have successfully obtained a £2000 grant from the Castansa Trust in order to hold our annual State of Children's Rights report seminars for 2016.

Date: 19th January 2016
Category: Care Experienced children

While the benefits of sibling contact are widely recognised, children and young people often encounter barriers when trying to keep in touch with family members after they are taken into care. Clan Childlaw's recent publication 'Promoting Sibling Contact for Looked After Children' examines how this situation can be improved.

Date: 19th January 2016
Category: Non-discrimination, Disabled children

Keep Safe works in partnership with Police Scotland and a network of local businesses to create 'Keep Safe' places for disabled, vulnerable, and elderly people when out and about in the community. In Mid-December, it was decided that this initiative would be rolled out across Scotland in 2016.

Date: 12th January 2016
Category: Policies & procedures

On 12th January 2016 the Scottish Government published its response to the public consultation on complaints concerning functions relating to the Named Person and Child's Plan, which are covered in Part 4 and 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: General measures of implementation

As part of Unicef's blog series featuring partner local authorities to mark 2015's anniversary of the UNCRC on International Human Rights Day (10th December), Glasgow Councillor Stephen Curran released a blog on why local leaders must lead the way in advancing children's rights.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Family Environment and Alternative Care, Child poverty, Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

The Cost of the School Holidays study was designed to inform a Glasgow Life feasibility study exploring ways in which holiday provision could better meet the needs of families living in poverty and ensure uptake by children and young people from low income households.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: General measures of implementation

The final draft statutory guidance for the GIRFEC provisions in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 was released on 1 December.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms

Research about the experiences of ethnic and religious minority young people was conducted by Newcastle, St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities from 2013-2015 and was recently published.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Family Environment and Alternative Care

'Secure Care in Scotland, a scoping study' is published and is designed to help identify evidence gaps regarding the outcomes experienced by children and young people placed in secure care in Scotland.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Care Experienced children

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) to carry out the research report - 'Permanence Planning and Decision Making for Looked After Children in Scotland', the aim of which was to assess progress in delivering improvements since the implementation of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Children in situations of exploitation, Special protection measures

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 4 November 2015. One of the things the Act does is to place a duty on Scottish Ministers to publish a Strategy to tackle human trafficking and exploitation. Neil Rennick, Director for Justice in the Scottish Government has published a blog providing discussion on this.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Child poverty

The UK government plans to give up on its own targets to end child poverty. The Welfare Reform and Work Bill will scrap the child poverty targets and introduce new measures of 'life chances' instead, including worklessness and educational attainment. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) have launched a new campaign with Rebecca, a mum of two who describes how, despite her and her husband both working full-time, they still struggle. She's started a petition asking the House of Lords to hold the government to account on child poverty. Nearly 50,000 people have signed the petition, you can also do so below.

Date: 6th January 2016
Category: Other human rights treaties and mechanisms

Eurochild carried out the assessment of the 2015 European Semester with the help of its member organisations. The work draws on the experience of the past four years' (2011 - 2014) analysis of the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) of EU Member States, with an extended scope in 2015. In the 2015 analysis, Eurochild particularly assessed the extent to which the European Commission 'Recommendation on Investing in Children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage' (2013) has been implemented across the EU and whether the European Semester process is helping or hindering the achievement of positive outcomes for children.

Date: 5th January 2016
Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms

In July 2014, Together responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on Scotland's electoral future - these views have been included in the summary of responses.

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Protection from abuse or neglect

CPC Scotland promotes policy and best practice for the protection of children across Scotland. It plays a leading role in the development and promotion of agreed common standards and effective procedures. The group informs national child protection policy, working alongside the Scottish Government in order to make a positive difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

Date: 8th December 2015
Category: Protection from abuse or neglect

"Neglect is a complex issue but art can help, so let it" - this was one of the key messages to come out of the first of four Scottish Universities Insight Institute funded seminar sessions organised by WithScotland and the University of Dundee, exploring how arts-based techniques can be used in research and practice when interacting with neglected children.