Introduction
Aberlour is Scotland’s Children’s charity. We have adapted our services in response to the changing needs of vulnerable children, young people and their families for over 130 years. Working today with over 6000 children and their families across Scotland, we provide a broad range of services to, among others; children with disabilities, looked after children, children affected by drug and alcohol misuse, parents in need of positive parenting skills, young runaways and those who are excluded and disengaged from their communities.
We have dealings with the office of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People on an almost daily basis. Our head of Policy Alex Cole-Hamilton currently sits on the Commisioner’s ‘Safe, Active, Happy’ Advisory group.
Summary of Aberlour’s position:
It is our firm belief that the office of the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People represents very much a ‘Rolls Royce’ standard in Europe and is a bench mark to which other nations aspire. The office enjoys a level of independence which allows the commissioner to act as a critical friend both to Parliament and Government and to pursue issues and campaigns without pre condition.
We are deeply concerned that evidence submitted to the Ad Hoc committee by the Corporate Body itself belies an intent to merge the commissioner’s office with the greater functions of the nascent Scottish Human Rights Commission. There is very little in the way of elaboration of this position and the SPCB refers to the establishment of a ‘single rights body’ based on the respective advocacy functions of the Human rights commission and the SCCYP without any indication of how the other functions of the commissioner would be discharged under such an arrangement. We are firmly of the belief that absorption of the commissioner’s office would critically undermine the focus on children’s rights, needs and interests that has been built up over the 4 years since the offices inception. We have attempted to demonstrate the significant areas of work currently undertaken by the SCCYP as we encounter them in an effort to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a separate and independent Children’s Commissioner in Scotland.
SCCYP and the UNCRC reporting process
Scotland has just received the concluding observations of the UN committee charged with monitoring the implementation of the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. The Children’s Commissioner played a key role in the scrutiny process, and held a lead role in the oral evidence sessions in Geneva. The establishment and independence of Children’s commissioner’s office both in Scotland and in other devolved administrations was commended by the UN reporters as real progress towards meeting the UK and thereby Scotland’s obligations to the implementation of the UNCRC. Any attempt to diminish the office therefore, by amalgamation or eradication would be seen as a retrograde step both at home and internationally.
The UN reporting process identified a broad range of points on which the UK and Scotland must demonstrate significant improvement. The Children’s Commissioner will need to play a lead role in helping the government to deliver progress against these obligations and such efforts will form a significant part of the new commissioner’s workload. Diminishing the role of the SCCYP in any way at this critical time would send the wrong signal to the international community regarding Scotland’s commitments to delivering on our obligations to the UNCRC.
SCCYP’s activity beyond the human rights perspective
Contrary to the assertion in the Corporate Body’s submission of evidence advocating the formation of a ‘Single Rights Body’ based on the fact that the function of both the Human Rights Commissioner and the SCCYP are based ‘primarily around advocacy’, we would contend that the Children’s Commissioner, whilst fulfilling a crucial advocacy role, discharges a range of other duties and roles which would arguably be lost by amalgamation with a single rights body.
Consultation and participation among young people:
On establishing the office, the Commissioner embarked on one of the largest consultations of children and young ever undertaken in Scotland to determine the direction and priorities that her office should work towards. By a considerable degree the children and young people who participated in the process cited ‘things to do’ as their key priority for the work of the commissioner. This inspired further participatory and consultative work as the commissioner enlisted the help of hundreds of children across Scotland to audit the availability of pass-times and facilities specifically directed at children and young people.
Research and publications
The SCCYP also undertakes a significant amount of research and publication in support of its advocacy role and with the intention of better informing decision making in Scotland. This has led to significant bodies of work relating to subjects such as the moving and handling of children and young people. This research function is perhaps best exemplified in the report Sweet 16? The Age of leaving care. This highlighted a serious issue in terms of the way in which Local Authorities discharge their responsibilities towards care-leavers. The report has sparked a national debate on issues effecting care leavers and has brought a depth of information regarding the reality of the situation which did not exist before.
Legislative scrutiny
The commissioner also currently exercises a level of scrutiny which has informed and continues to inform a range of emergent legislation. The ‘Safe, Active, Happy’ advisory group which helps to steer the current commissioner’s work load has determined following a consultation of the sector that promoting proportionate child protection should represent a priority for the commissioner in the consideration of emergent legislative developments. Since that time the SCCYP has sparked a national debate around the dangers of over legislating in attempt to enhance child protection at the expense of an element of freedom and managed risk in childhood.
Other UK Jurisdictions:
All other jurisdictions in the UK currently enjoy a Children’s Commissioner which works with, but independently of, the respective human rights institution for that country. There are currently no plans to change that situation. Until this point the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People has enjoyed a greater degree of independence than other UK counterparts, reporting directly to parliament and not attached to a particular minister or government department. As such the SCCYP has been regarded as the gold standard to which other commissioners both in the UK and overseas have aspired.
The SCCYP is something of which Scotland should be justifiably proud. To in anyway diminish that office would be to diminish Scotland’s overall standing in the global community with regard to how we accommodate the rights and needs of Scotland’s children and young people. Furthermore, should the functions of the SCCYP be merged with those of the Human Rights Commission, as proposed by the corporate body, then Scotland would become the only nation in the UK without a dedicated Children’s Commissioner. This would then lead to a quality gap, both real and perceived, in the standard of advocacy, scrutiny and research that a child in Scotland could expect against that which a child could experience any where else in the UK.
A constructive way forward
This position should not suggest that Aberlour is closed off to a periodical review of Scottish Public appointments or their functions. Indeed a rationalisation of some back office functions, such as IT or Administrative support could actually free up existing staff to focus more keenly on other areas. We recognise the wish of government to follow the recommendations of the Crerar Review which called for the simplification of government infrastructure and the SNP’s own manifesto commitments to simplify and streamline government, however we feel that the need to sustain and protect an independent and separate office of the Children’s Commissioner should supersede a simple attempt to meet a new quota of the total number of public appointments in Scotland.