East Lothian Council has been actively embedding Children's Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments (CRWIA) within its structures to ensure the rights of children are at the forefront of policymaking and service delivery. This case study explores the Council's approach, challenges, and future steps in implementing CRWIA.
East Lothian Council participated in a collaborative project facilitated by Children’s Parliament with Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) and the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland to involve children in child rights impact assessments and integrate children’s rights into local governance. This provided the groundwork for advancing CRWIA in strategic planning. You can read more about the project here.
Implementation process
Awareness and Leadership
Senior leadership played a crucial role in maintaining focus and ensuring CRWIA was a priority. They prioritised raising awareness across the organisation by forming a UNCRC Working Group to co-ordinate work on children’s rights across the Council. You can read more about the UNCRC Working Group in East Lothian here.
Integration into Existing Frameworks
The CRWIA was added to the existing Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) framework to use a familiar approach, ensure consistency and promote a more holistic approach to impact assessments.
The IIA addresses legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010, including the Fairer Scotland Duty, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2024, Corporate Parenting responsibilities, statutory climate change duties, emissions reduction obligations, and contributions to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The guidance covers Human Rights and Children’s Rights, focusing on the Human Rights Act 1998 European Convention on Human Rights and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It encourages the adaptation of the PANEL Principles for a human rights-based approach and emphasises the importance of applying CRWIA to all new projects and policies impacting children, beyond children’s services.
Resource Development
Guidance was developed to support the completion of CRWIAs to meet the requirements of the UNCRC and it is available to colleagues alongside the guidance on integrated impact assessments. It includes comprehensive information on children’s rights, the legal aspects of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, and practical tips for a rights-based approach based on existing guidance from the Scottish Government to ensure both legal and procedural compliance. Additionally, a mandatory training module is now available on children’s rights, ensuring staff engagement with children’s rights and understanding of statutory duties.
The guidance outlines the CRWIA preparation process, paying particular attention to the importance of engaging children and young people, utilising the Lundy model of participation. After refreshing their knowledge on children’s rights, staff answer screening questions to determine if a CRWIA is necessary. Screening evaluates the potential impact on vulnerable groups pf children, the extent of children affected, resource commitments, and potential policy or practice changes. The screening template needs to be sign off by Head of Service if full CRWIA is not carried out. However, if significant impacts are identified, a full CRWIA is recommended. The process uses detailed templates to guide staff in assessing potential impacts. These templates consider direct and indirect effects on children, stakeholder consultations, and alignment with UNCRC articles. The CRWIA require final sign off from Head of Service followed by publication.
The resources can be accessed below:
- Children’s Rights and Well-being Impact Assessment Completion Guidance and Template
- Integrated Impact Assessment Form
- A Guide to Integrated Impact Assessment
Feedback
The initial roll-out was completed by October 2024, with services encouraged to start utilising the CRWIA processes and provide feedback for improvements.
Challenges
Data Collection and Analysis
Identifying and collecting data on children with protected characteristics pose challenges, particularly when it comes to balancing sensitivity and privacy. The Council highlighted the need for more guidance on how to reach vulnerable groups of children whose rights are most at risk.
Staff Engagement and Understanding
Ensuring staff across varied departments like transport and waste fully grasped and applied CRWIA requires ongoing communication, training, and support which are resource intensive.
Participatory Challenges
Engaging children meaningfully while considering ethical implications and safeguarding present ongoing challenges. There is a need for clear protocols and guidance on ethical engagement with children and young people.
Key Outcomes
Development of Tools and Resources
The Council has successfully developed CRWIA tools integrated within existing procedures, creating a more seamless approach to impact assessment.
Increased Awareness and Capacity
Through leadership commitment and structured training, awareness of children's rights within council operations has increased.
Future Steps
- The Council plans to continue evaluating the CRWIA process through feedback from services and regular review meetings.
- The Council plans to explore better strategies for collecting and using data on children with protected characteristics, working closely with stakeholders.
- They seek to further develop their participatory work to ensure the inclusion of diverse child voices in impact assessments while addressing ethical considerations.
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