The Scottish Government held the third annual Cabinet meeting with 14 children and young people

Date: 14th March 2019
Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms, Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities, Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

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Last week, the Scottish Government held the third annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people at Bute House, Edinburgh.

Seven members of the Children’s Parliament (MCPs) and seven members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) raised key issues affecting children and young people with the First Minister and Cabinet Secretaries. Discussions included the impact of poverty on children, bullying in schools and attitudes of teachers. Some of the MCP’s recommendations made to the Cabinet were:

• Include children in teacher training especially in approaches to bullying;
• Make school uniforms more affordable;
• Change social worker visibility in schools.

MSYPs discussed issues including cuts to youth work services and music tuition in local authorities, the legacy of the Year of Young People (YOYP) and the need for action on incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law. Recommendations to the Cabinet included:

• Commitment to continuing participation and valuing children and young people’s voices post-YOYP;
• The publication of a timeline for UNCRC incorporation due to concerns over the length of time in which it could happen, members raised concerns incorporation was not likely to happen if for example, incorporation was set to happen over a period of 10 years;
• Support for SYP’s latest campaign on public transport ‘All Aboard’.

Children and young people’s rights were a common thread throughout all of the contributions from MCPs and MSYPs.

The Cabinet has 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 taken into account. This commitment includes the Cabinet reporting on the action undertaken on the recommendations from each meeting, the 2019 report will follow shortly.

• Children’s Parliament and SYP have published blogs on their experiences at this year’s Cabinet meeting, they can be found here and here.
• Children’s Parliament showed a film to Cabinet members at the meeting which can be viewed here
• Click here to read SYP and Children’s Parliament’s joint press release on the 2019 Cabinet meeting.
• See the report on progressing children and young people’s recommendations from the 2018 Cabinet Meeting here.

To help them prepare for the meeting, the Children's Parliament worked to create a short film and a briefing booklet to share with the First Minister and the attending Cabinet Ministers. View the video here.