Children’s rights remain central to Council business

North Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet has noted the good progress being made across its services when it comes to ensuring children’s rights are respected.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) became part of Scots law in summer 2024, highlighting that everyone has an ongoing responsibility to protect the rights of our children.

The Convention is the gold standard for children’s rights and the blueprint for the Council. It details how we must protect, listen to and nurture our children aged up to 18, ranging from them being given a name at birth through to protection from neglect.

The Council follows and respects the UNCRC to ensure that all children’s rights are respected and that they are free to learn, play and develop.

At a Cabinet meeting on 28 April, a report was presented to provide the Council’s first statutory update under the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which places new duties on public bodies.

Public bodies must act compatibly with the Act and report every three years on steps being taken to bolster children’s rights.

The report covers activity between 2024 and 2026, and demonstrates that the Council has taken significant steps to strengthen how children’s rights are embedded across services.

Key developments include:

• establishing a cross‑service governance group to coordinate activity and drive improvements
• increasing workforce awareness and skills through campaigns, guidance and mandatory training
• offering staff training and practical resources that support rights‑based decision‑making
• the creation of a Youth Voice Toolkit to help young people understand their rights clearly and explain how they can raise concerns if they believe their rights have not been upheld and
• providing clearer tools and guidance for staff, including support on responding to complaints from children and young people.

The report also illustrates some of the positive work that is being done in Council services, and also with partner organisations.

Highlights of this work include:

• North Ayrshire’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Funding initiatives and services - with 94 per cent of those who received support reporting a positive change in their lives
• The Winter Warmer Breakfast initiative, which has delivered - on average -more than 1,000 breakfast items per day during winter periods in the last two years in North Ayrshire secondary schools and
• All schools taking part in the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) programme, showing a strong commitment to children’s rights in education. As of December 2025, 24 schools had a Bronze award, 29 had Silver and 18 had Gold.

The Council’s UNCRC Steering Group developed the statutory report, which recognises the key role children and young people have in shaping their own experiences through forums such as Executive Youth Council, Champions Boards, Joint Cabinet and targeted engagement in education and community settings.

Cabinet noted the progress, approved the statutory Children’s Rights Progress Report for 2024–2026 for publication and noted that future reporting will be aligned within the new joint Children and Families Plan 2026-2029, covering Children’s Services, Child Poverty and Children’s Rights.

A child‑friendly version of the statutory report will also be produced – in partnership with local young people through engagement forums - to ensure accessibility.

Published: 11 May 2026