As part of the public consultation on the review of Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, Children’s Parliament engaged with children to explore their views and ideas on the review’s themes; including parental responsibilities and rights, contact with family members if the family has been separated, sharing views in court, and changing a child’s name on their birth certificate.
Love and protect us forever.
Member of Children’s Parliament
In this consultation, we engaged with 34 Members of Children’s Parliament, aged between 8 and 15 years. 20 boys and 14 girls took part. We worked in four settings in the following local authorities: Edinburgh, Fife, Midlothian and Dundee. We sought to work with children from diverse backgrounds and varied life experiences, so that a range of views could be reflected through our report.
As this consultation builds on previous Children’s Parliament work, we revisited earlier reports with relevant themes, including: The Weight on Our Shoulders (a 2018 consultation report for the Child Poverty Delivery Plan), Happy, Healthy and Safe in Care (a 2018 project report with key messages from children in care to professionals), If an adult just listens… (a 2016 consultation report on the F9 form used to gather children’s views for Sheriff Court), and How Does Your Garden Grow? (a 2014 consultation report on the Children and Young People Bill).