Two years of the UNCRC Act: our letter to the incoming Prime Minister

Date: 16th July 2026
Category:

---

Today marks two years since the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act came into force. To mark the anniversary, we have written to Andy Burnham, as incoming Prime Minister, asking him to close the gap that stops the UNCRC Act reaching much of the law affecting children and young people's lives.

On 16 July 2024, children and young people in Scotland were told that their rights are part of the law, and that the public bodies making decisions about their lives could be held to them. The Act, passed unanimously and on a cross-party basis by the Scottish Parliament, made Scotland the first devolved nation to bring the UNCRC into domestic law. It was a moment worth celebrating, and our members worked for years to bring it about.

Two years on, that promise reaches only part of the law that shapes children and young people's lives.

Why the Act cannot reach everything

Because of the way the UK Supreme Court has interpreted section 28(7) of the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Parliament cannot apply a general children's rights duty to legislation passed at Westminster, even where the subject matter is fully devolved. To comply with that judgment, the UNCRC Act had to be narrowed before it was passed. Its duties now reach Acts of the Scottish Parliament, but not the many UK statutes that still govern devolved life in Scotland, including much of education law, homelessness law, and the law on children's participation in family proceedings.

The result is that whether a child can enforce their rights can turn on which Parliament happened to pass the relevant law, rather than on whether their rights were respected.

Through our Rights Empowered project with Clan Childlaw, we see what that means in practice:

School transport

Children contacted us about the withdrawal of school transport and the safety of alternative walking routes to school. They felt children's views had not been sought and were concerned about the impact on their safety and access to education. While education and transport are devolved matters, the relevant powers are set out in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, a pre-devolution Act of the UK Parliament. The children therefore had no route to challenge the issue under the UNCRC Act.

"I now need to walk for two hours each day to get to school along a busy main road. There are no traffic lights to cross the road. I am scared to do this walk. I don’t think I can walk two hours a day every day either. I will be so tired and fed up. The council says my parents need to walk me to school and back now. I know they can’t do this because they work and I am worried about it...I learned that children’s rights are now part of the law in Scotland – so it’s wrong that no one is listening to us."

(Gerald, age 10, State of Children's Rights Report 2024)

Our letter asks the incoming Prime Minister to restore the understanding of devolved powers that applied in 1999, when it was taken for granted that the Scottish Parliament would have practical control of the law in devolved areas. The quickest route is a section 30 Order. It needs no primary-legislation time, it leaves the sovereignty of the UK Parliament completely intact, and it asks the UK Government to take no view at all on human rights incorporation.

It would restore accountability, so that the Scottish Government can be held to the standards its own Parliament has set, right across the areas it is responsible for.

The direction of travel is already agreed. The Scottish Government has committed to seek the removal of these restrictions, and to act itself if there is insufficient progress by November 2026. The one government that has not yet moved is the UK Government. Andy Burnham has said that devolution is his mission, and this is a chance to show it early.

Read the letter

• Read our open letter to Andy Burnham

• Read our full briefing on section 28(7) and devolved competence

How you can help

Share our letter and help us make the case in the new Prime Minister's first weeks in office.