UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Monday 16th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, as I outlined, the UK Government take seriously the input from the United Nations. Children’s rights impact assessments have been devised in accordance with the recommendation in 2016 and are valuable in enabling civil servants—who have also undergone training—to consider children’s rights in policy and legislation. So the recommendation has been enacted, but it will not be put on a statutory basis. We have taken other measures that were advised, such as updating in 2018 the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD) [V]]

My Lords, the Civil Service training on children’s rights that was introduced in England in 2018, to which the Minister has just alluded, was a welcome step but was not mandatory. Can she say how many civil servants have now completed the training and whether it is available in all departments, and is the Department for Education actively monitoring the take-up of the training and its effectiveness?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the training was one of the recommendations from 2016. I will have to write to the noble Baroness on her specific questions.