Statutory Child Rights Impact Assessments

The government agrees with the importance of considering children’s rights in policy making. Children’s rights impact assessments (CRIAs) are used as a tool to identify how decisions taken, including those made during emergencies, could impact children. The Department for Education (DfE) will continue to build awareness and understanding of children’s rights and the use of CRIAs across government.

The government does not intend to introduce legislation to make CRIAs a statutory requirement at this time. It is not evident that mandating CRIAs would necessarily lead to better outcomes for children. The risk of making CRIAs mandatory would be that it becomes a mechanical recitation of points, rather than a tool to ensure a meaningful focus on the interests of children and how to best support and mitigate negative impacts on them. The Module 2 report itself acknowledges the challenge of preparing a CRIA in a crisis response scenario, indicating that “many decision-makers might have felt there was insufficient time to conduct formal impact assessments”.

With Module 8 hearings on the impact of the pandemic on children and young people now concluded, the government is considering how the voice of the child and the education and care sectors can be better incorporated into crisis planning and response. The government will consider the findings set out in the Module 8 report next year, as part of our work to strengthen this area.

In the meantime, DfE is working closely with the Cabinet Office and other government departments to better incorporate children and young people’s interests into overall risk planning, including for pandemics. The government is also looking at how the impact of pandemic measures and other civil emergencies on children’s education, childcare and safeguarding can be better considered in crisis prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and decision making.

Remains under consideration

Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) are welcomed as a useful tool in embedding the rights of children in strategic planning, policy making and decision making. Their use is already encouraged across government and the wider public sector. Use of CRIAs is promoted in policy making across the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and training courses have been developed and provided to support this, working alongside the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY). Content is based around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

CRIAs exist to ensure that due consideration is given to children’s rights in policy making, early in the policy and decision-making process. The CRIA allows the structure of the UNCRC to support a consistent framework for assessment, complementing the existing statutory equality assessment process.

It is important to note the existing equality landscape in Northern Ireland. The Equality Act 2010 does not apply, given that the prior Northern Ireland Act 1998 includes a statutory duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity across nine grounds. One of these protected categories is age. Therefore, whilst CRIAs are welcome in complementing these arrangements, relevant existing statutory duties already apply.

In addition, the Executive has established arrangements under its Children and Young People’s Strategy, including a network of senior Children’s Champions across departments, underpinned by the Children’s Services Co-operation Act (Northern Ireland) 2015. The primary aim of this is to improve co-operation in delivery of services for children and young people. In addition, the Northern Ireland Youth Assembly has been in place since 2021, providing children with the opportunity to engage with policy makers and voice their opinions and influence decision making.

The Inquiry’s Module 2 Report acknowledges the challenge of preparing impact assessments in a crisis response scenario, indicating that “many decision-makers might have felt there was insufficient time to conduct formal impact assessments”.

In consideration of the above factors, it is not proposed to legislate for CRIAs at this time. It is noted that Module 8 of the Inquiry will further report on impacts on children and young people and may provide further recommendations relevant to CRIAs. As such, this position can be further reviewed at that juncture.

In the meantime, the Executive will also continue to work with partners to bolster arrangements for consideration of the rights of children. This will include continued cross-departmental working through the Children’s Champions network, promotion of the use of CRIAs and relevant training, as a matter of best practice, and exploration of opportunities for enhanced alignment with equality, civil contingencies and policy making arrangements.

The government does not intend to introduce legislation to make Child’s Rights Impact Assessments a statutory requirement at this time.

The department is working closely with Cabinet Office and other government departments to strengthen the consideration of children and young people’s interests within overall risk planning, including in relation to pandemics and other emergencies.