Carolyne Willow's presentation from the 2010 CROA Conference

1. CROA conference 2010
Children’s Rights Tour

2. Outline
• Key developments in law and policy over the
past 12 months
• Opportunities ahead for strengthening
children and young people's rights, as well as
the threats

3. Political context
• Conservatives last in power 1997
• Liberal Democrats last in power 1915

4. Political context cont/
• Conservatives ratified the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child December 1991
• Conservatives first required children's
services to use the UNCRC as ‘a foundation
of values, principles and objectives’
(Department of Health guidance, 1996)

5. Political context cont/
• Liberal Democrats 2010 election manifesto
‘Incorporate the Convention on the Rights of
the Child into UK law, ending the detention of
children for immigration purposes’

6. 1. Will a senior Minister have responsibility for co-ordinating Government
action on implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child in England?
2. Will you publish an implementation plan for children’s rights in England
in response to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the
Child’s latest recommendations?
3. Will Government departments have to consider children’s rights
whenever they make proposals for law or policy affecting children?
4. Will you champion the importance of listening to children and taking
into account their views – within Government as well as in all public
services?
5. Will you support children’s rights training for all those that work with
children, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child being
taught in schools?
6. Will your Government promote positive images of children and
childhood?

7. Minister of State for
Children and Families
Children’s centres; Childcare; Early learning and
development, curriculum 0-5; Voluntary and comm
sector; UNCRC; Families; Health (obesity, drugs and
alcohol, teenage pregnancy); Child poverty;
Children’s services commissioning and market
development; Local authority funding/local
government policy; Government offices and field
forces; School food/Healthy Schools; SEN and
Disabled children; Young carers

8. Government reviews
• Alternatives to child detention
• Childhood and families task force
• Child protection
• Children's Commissioner
• Counter-terrorism
• Early intervention
• Early Years Foundation Stage

9. Government reviews cont/
• Key Stage 2 SATs
• Music education
• Poverty and life chances
• Special educational needs and disabilities
• Vetting and barring
• Vocational education for 14 to 19 year-olds

10. Significant policy developments
• Revised Working Together (March 2010)
• Release of Physical Control in Care manual
(July 2010)
• Academies Act 2010 (July 2010)
• Kennedy report on NHS (September 2010)
• Children’s Trust Boards regulations revoked
• Equality Act 2010 (October 2010)

11. Financial context
Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills,
Children and Learning Act 2009 came into
force on 12 January 2010.
• Children's residential care ranges from £11 to
£358 per capita (average £82)
• Adoption services range from £0 to £66 per
capita (average £20)

12. Financial context cont/
Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills,
Children and Learning Act 2009 came into
force on 12 January 2010.
• Leaving care support services range from £0 to £162
per capita (average £19)
• Child protection expenditure ranges from £0 to £44
per capita (average £11)
• Advocacy for looked after children ranges from £0 to
£22 per capita (average £1)

13. Human rights context
• October 2008 – third set of concluding
observations on UK from UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child
• November 2009 – 20 years since UN adopted
Convention on the Rights of the Child
• October 2010 – 10 years of the Human
Rights Act
• December 2011 – 20 years since UK ratified
CRC

14. Convention on the Rights
of the Child
Article 12
• Express views freely
• Given due weight
• Heard in any judicial or administrative
proceeding – directly or through a
representative

15. Convention on the Rights
of the Child cont/
Article 9 (parental separation)
In any proceedings all interested parties have
the right to participate and make their views
known
Article 21 (adoption)
All persons concerned have given informed
consent

16. Convention on the Rights
of the Child cont
Article 28(2) (right to education)
School discipline must be administered in a
manner consistent with child’s human
dignity

17. Children’s Commissioner Review
Michael Gove letter to John Dunford,
12 July 2010:
The Government is committed to the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and
believes it is vital that children and young people
have a strong, independent advocate to champion
their interests and views and to promote their
rights.

18. Munro Review of Child
Protection
Social workers act as advocates and at
the core is the preservation of human
rights for children, and their families, when
these are not in conflict.

19. Munro Review of Child
Protection cont/
It may seem self-evident that children and
young people are the focus of child
protection services but many of the
criticisms of current practice suggest
otherwise.

20. Munro Review of Child
Protection cont/
Treating children and young people as people
not objects requires spending time with them to
ascertain their views, helping them understand
what is happening to them, and taking their
wishes and opinions into account in making
decisions about them.

21. Freedom Bill
Nick Clegg’s three steps to new politics:
• Sweeping legislation to restore the hard won
liberties that have been taken, one by one,
from the British people: Britain must not be a
country where our children grow up so used to
their liberty being infringed that they accept it
without question.
• Drag Westminster into the 21st century
• Redistribution of power from the centre

22. Equality Act 2010
Public sector equality duty
From April 2011, public authorities must have due
regard to the need to:
• Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation
and any other conduct unlawful under this Act
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who
are protected under this Act and others
• Foster good relations between people who are
protected under this Act and others.

23. Equality Act 2010
Advancing equality of opportunity:
• Remove or minimise disadvantages associated with a
protected characteristic
• Taking steps to meet the needs of individuals who
share a protected characteristic
• Encouraging persons who share a protected
characteristic to participate in public life or in any
other activity where participation by that group of
people is disproportionately low.
Fostering good relations:
• Tackle prejudice, and
• Promote understanding.

24. CRAE
• Tel 020 7278 8222
• info@crae.org.uk
• www.crae.org.uk
• What future for children and young
people’s civil rights – 19 November
2010