Children's Rights

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 23 October 2018.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 2:04, 23 October 2018

Leader of the house, I've argued before, of course, that our and Welsh Government's due regard for children's rights in our policy and legislation needs to be extended to public bodies, really, in order for the effect of what we do here to be felt locally. I don't think a three-page web consultation, as we've seen with Swansea Council recently on a school closure—which might be suitable for 17-year-olds but actually isn't for 5-year-olds—is particularly helpful. But, actually, the Welsh Government needs to look closer to home occasionally as well. The children's rights impact assessment on the most recent school code changes didn't mention article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at all. So, I'm just asking: do you think it's a good idea that all CRIAs should contain a statement of the reasons why article 12 hasn't been observed? I mean, there may be very, very good reasons for that—just impractical or genuinely unhelpful. But I think it would be helpful if they did include a statement as to why children's voices haven't been particularly sought on an occasion.