One of the ways the Commissioner protects the rights of children and young people is to comment on proposed policies and legislation that may affect them. He does this by:
- giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament around issues that affect children and young people
- responding to consultations around issues that affect children and young people.
Parliamentary evidence and consultation responses given by the Commissioner since 2012 can be downloaded in PDF form below.
Parliamentary evidence
2015
May 2015. The Commissioner's response to Stage 1 consultation on the Bill.
March 2015. The Commissioner's evidence to the Joint Committee for Human Rights gives an overview of key achievements and concerns in Scotland around children's rights, then focuses on the state of children's rights for groups highlighted by the Committee.
February 2015. The Commissioner's evidence focuses on issues around child trafficking he feels the Scottish Parliament's Bill must address.
2014
March 2014. The Commissioner's evidence covers children's rights, early years policy interventions, the impact of poverty, and barriers and challenges to reducing health inequalities.
2013
September 2013. The Commissioner's written evidence focuses on the rights and treatment of child suspects, the removal of the requirement for corroborated evidence in children’s hearings court proceedings and the statutory aggravation relating to human trafficking offences.
July 2013.The Commissioner’s written evidence discusses UNCRC incorporation, children’s rights impact assessments and specific provisions made by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.
April 2013. The Comissioner's evidence on the proposals contained in the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Bill that will implement EU Directive 2012/29/EU in relation to minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime and forms part of the wider justice reform programme aiming to support victims and witnesses.
August 2013. The Comissioner's evidence on the Tribunals (Scotland) Bill focuses on the future of the Additional Support Needs Tribunal for Scotland (ASNTS) and the children’s hearings system.
2012
August 2012. The Commissioner’s evidence to an inquiry by the Scottish Parliament Education and Culture Committee into the decision-making processes involved in determining whether a child should be taken into care and whether these processes are delivering the best outcomes for children and their families.
January 2012. In this response the Commissioner comments on the legal position on school uniforms; the Equality Act 2010 and the duties it places on public bodies to prevent indirect and direct discrimination against those with protected characteristics; and alternatives to a strict uniform / dress code.
Consultation responses
2015
September 2015. The 4 UK children's commissioners' joint response to a Home Office consultation.
May 2015.This submission to the Public Petitions Committee consists of:
- a child rights impact assessment on the registration process for youth football in Scotland from a rights perspective
- a research report exploring the views of young players.
April 2015. The Commissioner responds to Petition PE1548 at the Public Petitions Committee.
February 2015. The Commissioner responds to the draft guidance around the Act from a perspective explicitly based on children's rights.
February 2015. The Commissioner responds to the Law Society of Scotland's discussion paper on legal assistance, focusing on the potential impact of its proposals on children and young people.
January 2015. The Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government's proposals from a rights-based perspective.
2014
December 2014. The Commissioner's comments take in Part 9 (Corporate Parenting), Part 10 (Aftercare) and Part 11 (Continuing Care) of the 2014 Act.
October 2014. The Commissioner's response to the Smith Commission, which will look at further devolved powers for Scotland.
September 2014. The Commissioner gives his response to the public consultation around the National Care Standards.
August 2014. The Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government's proposals from a perspective based on children's rights.
August 2014. The Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government's proposed regulations.
June 2014. The Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government's proposals for amendments to the Act.
April 2014. The Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government’s proposals to improve the identification and support of all carers in Scotland.
March 2014. The Commissioner gives his response to the Scottish Government's consultation on extending the rights of children with capacity under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) and repealing Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
January 2014. The Commissioner comments on Jenny Marra MSP's proposal for a Human Trafficking (Scotland) Bill.
2013
November 2013. The Commissioner's responds to a consultation process put in place by the Scottish Government on this draft guidance.
September 2013. This response comments on proposals to amend the the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 following on from follow on from the recommendations of the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education.
August 2013. The Commissioner comments on proposed measures to ban smoking in cars whilst children are present.
May 2013. In this written evidence to the Justice Committee, the Commissioner considers the potential effects to children and young people of Scottish Court Service recommendations on a future court service.
May 2013. In this letter, the Commissioner comments on the Scottish Government’s proposals for a Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill.
March 2013. In this letter, the Commissioner focuses on the matters raised by the Scottish Government in relation to education in Annex C and on matters relating to parenting raised in the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) at Annex K.
March 2013. The Commissioner welcomes this opportunity to contribute to Scotland’s National Action Plan for human rights. He sees the Plan as a potentially powerful mechanism to facilitate progress on improving Scotland’s human rights record, and on closing the gap between rhetoric and reality in terms of human rights in Scotland.
January 2013.Evidence submitted by the Commissioner to the Health and Sport Committee Inquiry into teenage pregnancy. Scotland has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe, with some geographical areas consistently higher than the Scottish average.
January 2013. In this response the Commissioner welcomes the intention of the Scottish Government to introduce a separate Bill to the Scottish Parliament to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds for the referendum on independence.
The Commissioner focuses his comments on the importance of education and awareness raising activities to ensure that young people can engage fully in the democratic process and the 'Register of Young Voters' as a means of extending the franchise whilst safeguarding young people's rights to privacy of their personal data.
2012
November 2012. The Commissioner is delighted to comment on the Scottish Government's draft tobacco control strategy.
In this response the Commissioner underlines the issues raised in his submission to the Department of Health consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products and reiterates his support for plain packs and for continued vigilance over attempts to market tobacco to young people. He is also of the view that addressing tobacco use should be everyone's responsibility and is keen to explore how to best identify pathways for cessation for young people and their parents.
September 2012. The Commissioner broadly welcomes the proposals in respect of children's rights however notes that they fall short of implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in law. The Commissioner strongly encourages the Scottish Government to work towards this as a longer-term goal as he believes incorporation will afford all children and young people in Scotland the protection they deserve.
September 2012. The Commissioner welcomes the aspirations and policy intentions of the proposals. Since the publication of this consultation the Scottish Government has published 'A Scotland for Children: a consultation on the Children and Young People Bill'. Both will significantly affect children and young people and there is likely to be critical interaction between the two and yet, this is not sufficiently taken into account in either document. The Commissioner suggests that the two sets of proposals have to be assessed as to their potential impacts on children and young people and family services in the round to ensure better results and minimise any potential unintended consequences.
August 2012. The Commissioner endorses the Government's explicit public health goal of reducing the uptake of smoking by young people. He welcomes the proposals to help reduce the opportunities available to tobacco companies to promote and target their product at children and young people; all of which should reduce tobacco use and promote the health of children in Scotland and across the UK.
June 2012. In this response the Commissioner limits his comments to two areas in which his office has a particular interest and expertise; the Additional Support Needs Tribunal of Scotland (ASNTS), and the children's hearings system.
June 2012. It is the Commissioner's view that the draft code must be strengthened so that it contributes to a robust scheme which helps ensure that solicitors who undertake children's hearings work are best able to fulfil the particular requirements inherent in this work.
January 2012. In this submission the Commissioner comments on two key areas of the larger topic of women and the criminal justice system on which his office has done specific pieces of work in the last few years.
The first is the detention of girls and young women who offend, and the conditions under which they are detained. The second is the impact on children of their parent's imprisonment.
January 2012. In this response the Commissioner suggests that the four year strategy could be strengthened with a clearer priority given to the improvement of children and young people's mental health; and that this needs to go beyond CAMHS, taking a universal and targeted approach. Mental health and wellbeing should be incorporated into early years education, early intervention programmes and throughout a child and young person's life.
January 2012. This petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reform School Uniform Policies by stopping gender-specific uniforms and changing clothes worn for uniforms to more comfortable, less physically-restrictive, more affordable and practical garments.
In this response to the petition the Commissioner comments on the legal position on school uniforms; the Equality Act 2010 and the duties it places on public bodies to prevent indirect and direct discrimination against those with protected characteristics; and alternatives to a strict uniform / dress code.