CHILDREN & SOCIETY VOLUME 17 (2003) pp. 71–74Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/CHI.755

SoHowAreWeDoing? A Reviewof the Concluding Observationsof the UN Committee on theRights of the Child:United Kingdom

On 4 October 2002, the United Nations (UN) Commit-tee on the Rights of the Child issued its response tothe UK government’s submission on the progress

made in respect of the implementation of the UN Conventionon the Rights of the Child (CRC). Signatories to the CRC arerequired to present a periodic report every five years.However, due to delays in the work of the Committee itself,this is the first independent scrutiny of developments since theUK’s initial submission in 1995, which means that thissystematic analysis of policy initiatives and legislative changeboth predates and covers the entire period in which the Labourgovernment has been in office. In a sense, it can be presented asa children’s rights report card for New Labour.

As such, it carries a mixed message: praise for improvedperformance in specific areas and for a genuinely participativeapproach from senior government officials in the reportingprocess; a thoughtful welcome to some innovative proposalsattached to questions about delivery; and serious concernabout areas in which the government has either failed to makeprogress or has stated its intention to bypass the standards setout in the CRC.

The children’s rights report card

‘Has achieved a high standard’

The report welcomes several pieces of legislation and newpolicy initiatives including the Human Rights Act 1998; theestablishment of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commis-sion; new race relations legislation in the different nations; thecreation of the Children and Young People’s Unit in Englandand complementary structures in the devolved nations; theabolition of school corporal punishment in England, Walesand Scotland; and the promotion of children’s rights in theUK’s international aid policies.

Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Policy

Review

Lisa PaynePrincipal Policy Officer,National Children’sBureau

Correspondence to: Lisa Payne,

Principal Policy Officer, National

Children’s Bureau, 8 Wakley

Street, London ECIV 7QE.

These are positive moves which rightly receive recognition. However, in a 17-pagedocument, referral to these substantive measures is squeezed into a single paragraph, andthe remainder of the UN Committee’s report focuses on its principal concerns—the chiefof which is the government’s failure to address similar (and sometimes identical) concernsand recommendations made in 1995.

‘Satisfactory but needs improvement’

Legislation:

� Having acknowledged the Human Rights Act, the report notes that there has been noattempt made to incorporate the CRC into domestic law, nor to introduce a formalprocess to ensure that new legislation fully complies with the CRC through, forexample, child impact assessment or compliance statements. Instead, legal reform hasbeen piecemeal with occasional efforts made to slot individual CRC articles into specificBills: such as, the article 12 provisions in the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000.

� The report notes that, while child care and child protection legislation use a childwelfare framework, significant areas fall outside this focus and fail to prioritise the bestinterests of the child. Both youth justice and immigration law and practice are ofprofound concern.

Resources:

� The report recognises that the government is trying to improve departmental budgetanalysis to reveal how much we spend on children and young people. In particular, thePrime Minister’s pledge to eradicate child poverty is welcomed, but the Committeeadds a warning that any evaluation of the success of this and other strategies ishampered by the UK’s inability to prove that it is using ‘the maximum extent ofavailable resources’ to follow through full implementation of the Convention.

Structures:

� Regardless of the establishment of the various children’s units, the issue of coordinationacross departments and nations is highlighted. The report recommends that ‘the Stateparty assign coordination of the implementation of the Convention to a highly visibleand easily identifiable permanent body’ which works across the devolved nations andalso looks at activity at local government level. Additionally, the recommendation forChildren’s Commissioners is repeated, with concern expressed at the limited powers ofthe Welsh Commissioner and dismay at the lack of any real consideration of aCommissioner for England.

Delivery:

� Although some government documentation refers to the provisions of the CRC, the lackof any systematic dissemination programme or education/training on the CRCprovisions to children and parents, other members of the public, and all sectors andlevels of government continues to be a major issue.

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Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 17, 71–74 (2003)

‘Has not reached a satisfactory standard’

� Corporal punishment—the government’s preference to limit rather than removethe defence of reasonable chastisement constitutes ‘a serious violation of the dignity ofthe child’, and implies that some forms of physical punishment are acceptable. TheCommittee recommends that the law is changed as a matter of urgency.

� Control and restraint—statistics presented to the Committee indicate that, over a two-year period, 296 children sustained injuries in prison service establishments followingthe use of control and restraint techniques. The report recommends that the governmentreview the use of restraint and solitary confinement in all settings including prison,education, health and welfare institutions.

� Child deaths—several recommendations are made, including proposals to: introduce asystem of statutory child death inquiries; develop a strategy to reduce the number ofchild deaths and all forms of violence against children; carry out public awarenesscampaigns; improve the recording of crimes committed against children; devote greaterattention to the care, recovery and integration of child abuse victims; and strengthen thereporting system across the various agencies and professions working with children.

� Sexual exploitation and trafficking—the Committee welcomes the publication of theDepartment of Health’s National Plan for Safeguarding Children from CommercialSexual Exploitation (Department of Health and Home Office, 2001) but seeksreassurance about government action. In particular, it recommends that research beundertaken on the scope, causes and background of child prostitution; and that thegovernment review the legislative base to ensure that children who are sexuallyexploited are not criminalised.

� Child and adolescent mental health—the report notes the high rate of suicides amongyoung people, and the numbers of children suffering from mental health problems. TheCommittee recommends that the government take all necessary measures to strengthenits mental health and counselling services, ensuring that these are accessible andsensitive to adolescents, and undertake studies on the causes and backgrounds ofsuicide.

� Social security benefits and the minimum wage—a specific issue relating to benefits foryoung mothers under the age of 16 is raised, but there is also a wider recommendationthat the government review legislation and policies on benefits and allowances for 16 to18-year-olds. The Committee proposes that the minimum wage apply to under 18s, whootherwise are at risk of economic exploitation.

� Education—the report notes the continuing (and increasing) rates of both temporaryand permanent exclusions from school, and expresses concern at the disproportionateeffect on children from black and minority ethnic groups, travellers, children withdisabilities, and asylum seeking and refugee children. A reference to widespreadbullying in schools links into other recommendations made which support a greaterfocus on and promotion of anti-violence. The absence of human rights education in thecurriculum is noted, and the government is pushed to evaluate the impact that theprivatisation of schools might have on a child’s right to receive an education.

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Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 17, 71–74 (2003)

The most critical and substantive sections in the report relate to the administration of theyouth justice system, and to the immigration system.

� Youth justice—fundamental change is required to comply with the articles of the CRC.First, legislation should be redrafted to incorporate the principles of the Convention andseveral other international instruments ratified by the UK, and court orders should bemade compatible with the CRC. The government should ‘considerably raise the age ofcriminal responsibility’ (currently eight in Scotland, and ten in England and Wales). Nochild should be tried as an adult, and their right to privacy should be respected.Detention, or the use of custody, should be used as a measure of last resort. Theconditions of the juvenile secure estate should be reviewed as a matter of urgency toensure that all basic statutory rights to education, health and child protection are met.

� Asylum seeking and refugee children—the UK government has a reservation on theCRC in respect of the primacy of UK immigration policies and laws. But this lengthysection stipulates that unaccompanied asylum seeking children should not be held indetention; should have access to basic services like education and health; upon reachingthe age of 18, should not normally be dispersed; should not be placed in temporaryaccommodation; and should have appropriate access to legal representation andindependent advocacy.

This may seem an impossibly ambitious list to which to respond, but the governmentcould make a huge advance if it was to begin by incorporating the provisions of the CRC ina single, cross-departmental, cross-nation piece of legislation. Additionally, Children’sCommissioner offices in each nation could act as a ‘critical friend’ by providingindependent scrutiny of government and working as children’s champions. From thesebasic changes would flow many of the detailed amendments required by the UNCommittee, and the UK could at last shed some of its doubts and make a reality of the ideathat children too have and should enjoy human rights.

References

United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. 2002. Consideration of Reports Submitted by StatesParties under Article 44 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of theChild: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Available: http://www:unhchr:ch/html/menu2/6/crc/doc/co/United20 : KingdomCO2:pdf [19 November 2002]

Department of Health and Home Office. 2001. National Plan for Safeguarding Children from CommercialSexual Exploitation. Available: http://www:doh:gov:uk/qualityprotects/info/publications/exploitation:pdf [19 November 2002]

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Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 17, 71–74 (2003)