Impact of Brexit on children and young people – Wales briefing

Date: 20th February 2017
Category: General measures of implementation

An important new report for devolved nations and messages for Scotland on the impact on children and young people of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The event and report were organised to raise awareness of the priorities for children in the Brexit negotiations.

Despite the long-term impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, children and children's rights seem to have been forgotten in Brexit discussions, including in Wales. The event addressing this issue was organised to raise awareness of the priorities for children in the Brexit negotiations and in a post-Brexit Wales. Participants included representatives from the Welsh government, local government, the NGO sector, children and young people's groups and academics. The participants explored the priorities for children and children's rights in Wales through discussion and workshops and developed a series of recommendations to the Welsh Government.

Recommendations

The following recommendations were collated from the event and are directed to the Welsh Government, National Assembly for Wales, Public Bodies and NGOs.

** indicates that the recommendation is directed to the Welsh Government.

1. Provide more opportunities, and coordinate activities for CYP to respond to Brexit and feed into the debates about a post-­Brexit Wales; making use of formal and informal mechanisms, including social media.
2. Involve CYP directly at the earliest possible stage and as many CYP as possible from a range of backgrounds, do this via organisations that provide a platform for CYP to participate, but also with all CYP e.g. through schools.
3. Ensure that CYP are properly informed about how their views will feed in to the debate about Brexit, and what the possible outcomes might be.
4. Take a lead on providing information and education suitable for CYP of all ages on the possible consequences of Brexit, so that CYP can meaningfully participate in any debate about priorities.**
5. Undertake curriculum reform to ensure that today's CYP, and CYP of the future, are properly educated about issues which proved divisive during the run-­up to Brexit so that a post-­Brexit Wales; including issue based education on issues such as immigration.**
6. Provide feedback to CYP on how their contributions to the Brexit debate have been taken into account by the Welsh Government.**
7. Support a Youth Summit to bring together CYP to discuss and make recommendations on priorities for a post-­Brexit Wales.**
8. As a matter of urgency, review services to ensure they fully meet the needs of CYP and are delivered most effectively.
9. Work together to ensure that services are arranged and delivered in the most efficient way in order to limit the impact of any withdrawal of EU funding.
10. Urgently prioritise securing a guarantee of funding from the UK government equivalent to funding lost as a result of Brexit.**
11. Take all necessary steps to safeguard education and well-­being services for children.**
12. Be clear about the objectives for children and children's services in a post-­Brexit Wales and the contribution anticipated from all sectors, providing a stronger lead where services are supported by public funds.**
13. Carry out CRIA on any change to services as a result of Brexit.**
14. Introduce Children's Rights Budgeting, especially where services are likely to be affected by Brexit.**
15. Lower the voting age in Wales to 16 as soon as possible.**
16. Preserve international youth mobility, e.g. Erasmus.**
17. Provide a 'social guarantee' to all people in Wales, including migrants, asylum seekers and refugees; this should guarantee that all people in Wales will be entitled to rights regardless of their country of citizenship.**
18. Take a lead on positive narratives about migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.**

• Access the general information page here.
• Read the report 'Brexit: Implications for Children in Wales' here.