Annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people takes place

Date: 28th March 2018
Category: Respect for the views of the child

The second annual Cabinet Meeting with children and young people has taken place between Scottish Government Ministers and representatives from the Scottish Youth Parliament and Children's Parliament.


The meeting was held at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh on 6th March 2018. Seven Members of Children's Parliament (MCP) joined seven Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) to highlight issues that affect children and young people and push Ministers to take action on these issues.


MCPs spoke to the Cabinet about a range of issues including equality of gender, sexuality, age and care experience. They made several recommendations to the Cabinet such as:

  • Involving children in teacher and social work education
  • Treating boys and girls equally
  • Encouraging more people to be Unfearties and children's human rights defenders
  • Representatives from Scottish Youth Parliament also addressed a wide range of topics affecting the rights of young people in Scotland. These included:
  • Opting out of religious observance in schools
  • Period poverty
  • Young people's rights and Brexit

Both MCPs and MSYPs spoke to the Cabinet about the need to raise awareness of children and young people's rights, with the Scottish Youth Parliament highlighting the work of their current campaign 'Right Here, Right Now'. The children and young people at the meeting stated the importance of incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law to protect children's rights.


The Cabinet will publish a formal response that will set out the actions that the Scottish Government will take forward over the coming year. The Cabinet have committed to meeting annually with representatives from Children's Parliament and the Scottish Youth Parliament to ensure the views of children and young people are heard by decision makers.