Members of the House of Lords debated proposals to strengthen children’s rights at the Report Stage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Amendment 221, which was supported by Humanists UK and 160 other organisations, sought to require the UK Government to create a statutory duty for ministers to prepare and publish a child rights impact assessment (CRIA) for ‘any proposed legislation, policy, budgetary or other strategic decision’ affecting children. This would have made sure that children’s rights were considered at the beginning of any decision-making process.
Introducing the amendment, Baroness Lister argued it would strengthen children’s rights by making sure they are considered from the outset, and by improving transparency about how government choices affect children. She said that while CRIAs exist in principle, the current voluntary approach to CRIAs had been too inconsistent, with ‘no guarantee’ that they are even published.
Responding on behalf of the Government, Baroness Blake of Leeds said ministers agreed that impacts on children should be assessed, but argued a statutory requirement would be a ‘significant undertaking’, and that departments would continue to complete CRIAs ‘where necessary’. This was echoed by the Conservative spokesperson, the Earl of Effingham.
The amendment was ultimately withdrawn. In closing, Baroness Lister noted that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ‘regularly recommends that we produce CRIAs’, adding that it was ‘simply not enough just to have signed up to the convention’.
Responding to the debate Humanists UK’s Policy and Campaigns Manager, Lewis Young, said:
‘Strengthening children’s rights should be at the heart of decision-making, and mandatory CRIAs would have created a practical way to make sure children’s voices and rights aren’t an afterthought. Humanists UK was proud to support this amendment, and we’re grateful to Baroness Lister for her work in championing the rights of children in Parliament.’
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Read more about our work on children’s rights.
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