Appendix
THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THE COMMITTEE'S NINTH
REPORT OF SESSION 2002-03: THE CASE FOR A CHILDREN'S COMMISSIONER
FOR ENGLAND
Establishment, Role and Powers of a Commissioner
for England
Committee Recommendation 1
Existing arrangements for the promotion and protection
of children's rights and interests are insufficiently independent
from Government to ensure that the rights and interests of all
children in England are fully protected and promoted at all times.
That independence is the key value that a Children's Commissioner
would add to existing mechanisms, which do not in themselves obviate
the need for a commissioner. (Paragraph 14)
AND
Committee Recommendation 2
An independent voice for children could significantly
improve the consideration given to children in many areas of policy
development. (Paragraph 19)
AND
Committee Recommendation 7
The Government's starting point for the terms
of reference of the proposed commissioner should be that its main
function is one of investigation and reporting on matters affecting
the rights and welfare of children. These functions should be
supported by appropriate powers, and in exercising them the commissioner
should be required:
to safeguard and promote the rights and best interests
of children and young persons
to give paramount consideration to the rights
of the child or young person;
to have regard in particular to the ascertainable
wishes and feelings of the child or young person (considered in
the light of his or her age and understanding);
to have full regard to the importance of the role
of parents and those with parental responsibilities in the upbringing
and development of their children; and
to take into consideration any relevant provisions
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Paragraph
36)
AND
Committee Recommendation 8
The Government should declare now its commitment
to the principle of establishing a children's commissioner for
England. (Paragraph 43)
AND
Committee Recommendation 9
We recommend the establishment of a children's
commissioner who would be a champion for the children of England,
independent from but working closely with central government and
other agencies. The commissioner would use the principles of the
CRC as a guide and measure in considering delivery of services
to children by government and public authorities, and would involve
children as much as was appropriate in its work. The commissioner
would pursue children's interests by promotion, advocacy and investigation.
The commissioner would carefully select issues for investigation
where it was felt these could make a difference to children, in
partnership with NGOs, experts and service providers. The commissioner
should not be empowered to investigate complaints from individual
children but would be able to work with existing advice and assistance
services maintained by other organisations to monitor policy implications
of issues raised by children. (Paragraph 44)
AND
Committee Recommendation 10
We favour a separate, identifiable champion for
children, The work of the commissioner should be grounded in the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but it is clear that
those who advocate the establishment of this office want it to
go wider than a purely rights-based approach, operating as a spur
to better co-ordination of children's services and an advocate
within Government of the child's viewpoint. (Paragraph 45)
Government Response
The Government announced its intention to establish
an independent Children's Commissioner in the Green Paper Every
Child Matters, which was published in September 2003 (see
www.dfes.gov.uk/everychildmatters). It is committed to the principle
of a separate, identifiable and visible children's champion—someone
who will be a voice for children and young people, particularly
those who are most vulnerable. The Commissioner will play a crucial
role in raising the profile of the issues that affect children,
and helping others to put children at the forefront of policies
and practices.
The overarching aim of the Commissioner will be to
monitor and stimulate progress towards the key outcomes the children
identified as most important to them during the development of
the Green Paper:
being healthy
staying safe
enjoying and achieving
making a positive contribution
economic well-being
The key role of the Commissioner will be to understand
the experiences and views of children and young people and to
feed them into the development of policies and practices that
affect them, as well as encouraging and helping others to do the
same The Commissioner will speak for children in adult settings—reflecting
their views both locally and nationally.
The Government thinks it essential that the Commissioner
retains a strategic focus and does not become over-burdened by
dealing with individual complaints. The Commissioner's role will
be to work with the relevant Ombudsmen and statutory bodies to
ensure that complaints procedures are quick and easy for children
to assess, and that they are effective. The Commissioner will
carry out investigations into individual cases only where there
are wider ramifications for children, as identified by the Secretary
of State.
In order to conduct this work effectively and to
help others put children at the top of the agenda, it is envisaged
that the Commissioner will engage and work with a wide range of
people including the Government, statutory bodies and service
providers as well as voluntary organisations, business, the media
and parents and carers. The Commissioner will need to develop
effective ways of working with Children's Commissioners in Wales,
Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The Commissioner will be required to report his findings
in an annual report to Parliament, to which the Government will
respond. This is an essential part of the Commissioner's independence.
It will be for the Commissioner to decide their own work programme,
based on what children are telling them, and the report will summarise
and reflect this.
The Government is currently consulting on the proposals
set out in the Green Paper (consultation ends on 1 December 2003)
and has announced legislation for the establishment of a Children's
Commissioner in light of this. The Department for Education and
Skills will be looking to introduce this legislation at the earliest
opportunity.
Role of a Commissioner in Relation to Specific
Policy Areas
Committee Recommendation 3
A commissioner for children could occupy an extremely
valuable role in seeking a solution to the growing problem of
school exclusions which seeks to reconcile competing rights and
needs-including those of the non-disruptive majority. (Paragraph
21)
Government Response
The issue of school exclusions is one that the Government
takes seriously. There are no national targets for the number
of exclusions from school, but the Government wants to keep that
number to a minimum by helping schools manage disruptive behaviour.
The Government has made it clear that Heads can permanently exclude
pupils who are very disruptive or violent, but believes that apart
from these extreme cases, exclusion should be avoided wherever
possible. Excluded young people are more likely to become involved
in crime; nearly two thirds of school-age young offenders sentenced
have been excluded from school, or have truanted significantly.
The Government is investing nearly £470m in
measures to improve behaviour and attendance, including some to
help prevent the behaviour that leads to exclusion. Good-quality
behaviour management audit and training materials supported by
expert ad ice are being made available to all secondary schools.
Similar materials for primary schools are being piloted in 25
local education authorities. In addition, the Behaviour Improvement
Programme is providing intensive support for schools facing the
greatest challenges. This programme, which is already operating
in 61 LEAs, includes multi agency teams to help pupils with the
greatest problems, their schools and police offices based in schools.
Good practice from the Behaviour Improvement Programme will be
disseminated widely and will help to inform future policy on exclusion.
Since September 2002, Local Education Authorities
have been required to provide full time education for all permanently
excluded pupils. All LEAs except two, are meeting this requirement.
The Department is working with advisers to support these two LEAs
to meet this target and to ensure all other LEAs are sustaining
it.
Additionally 34 of the 61 LEAs around the country,
piloting the Behaviour Improvement Programme, are currently required
to ensure full time, supervised, education is available for all
excluded pupils from BIP schools, from the first day of exclusion,
and the majority of these LEAs are meeting this requirement. The
remaining 27 BIP LEAs will be required to deliver this provision
with effect from January 2004.
The Department has funded over 1,100 learning support
units (LSUs) to tackle indiscipline and disruption in schools.
LSUs are school-based centres for pupils who are already disaffected
or at risk of exclusion. They provide separate short-term teaching
and support programmes tailored to the needs of such pupils. The
aim is to keep them in school and working while their problems
are addressed, helping to re-integrate them into mainstream classes
as quickly as possible. Evaluation shows that they reduce exclusions
and disruptive behaviour, and they are cost-effective.
A project began during the 2001-02 academic year
to share good practice from on-site Learning Support Units with
other schools and teachers. A good practice document was launched
in April 2002. The good practice project has continued throughout
2002-3 with a series of regional conferences to share good practice
and a newsletter. During 2003-4 a training programme for LSU staff
is being devised.
The Government is also tackling one of the causes
of disaffection in schools by making the curriculum on offer more
varied and flexible in order to meet the needs and interests of
a wider range of pupils. We have already introduced more vocational
courses into schools through the launch of the GCSEs in vocational
subjects in 2002. We have also made provision of more vocational
opportunities via the £120m 'Increased Flexibility for 14-16
Year Olds' programme. Both initiatives have made encouraging progress
according to independent sources. In the future the changes the
Key Stage 4 curriculum that will come into force from in 2004
will offer pupils even greater choice and flexibility We expect
these initiatives to have a positive impact on pupils' attitudes
and behaviour,
The Government agrees that the Children's Commissioner
has a valuable role to play in raising the profile of—and
helping others to find solutions to—the problems that are
affecting children. The Commissioner will develop their own work
programme, based on the issues that children and young people
are concerned about. If school exclusions were identified as one
such issue, the Commissioner could engage with national government
and local authorities to ensure children's views on this were
fed into the development of any initiatives, as well as raising
the profile of the issue, engaging with others such as parents/carers
and the voluntary sector and promoting best practice in dealing
with exclusions from a child's viewpoint.
Committee Recommendation 4
The persistence of the experience of mental and
physical violence by children against children in our schools
needs to be tackled with at least as much attention and vigour
as has been given to the problems of adults within the workplace.
A commissioner for children could play a catalytic role in encouraging
the greater participation of children in developing effective
anti-bullying strategies and in disseminating best practice within
schools. (Paragraph 26)
Government Response
The Government is pleased to note that its school
anti-bullying strategy is already having an impact on the areas
highlighted by the Committee, but agrees that the policies need
to be consistently implemented and regularly reviewed. There should
be practical measures to prevent and deal with all forms of bullying.
Schools in England have been offered the free anti-bullying
pack Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence which offers suggestions
on how to draw up and implement suitable anti-bullying policies,
as required by law in England and Wales, and implement them. All
members of the school community should be involved in this process—teachers,
non-teaching staff, governors, parents and pupils. Many schools
involve trained pupil counsellors or mediators in their strategies
to tackle bullying, by offering bullied youngsters someone other
than an adult to confide in if this would be easier.
The March 2003 report commissioned by ChildLine outlined
the results of research that was funded by the Department for
Education and Skills (DfES). The research examined young people's
views on bullying and how to tackle it. It underlined the importance
of starting with young people's experiences when drawing up and
reviewing anti-bullying policies. It recommended that schools
develop more direct work with children on anti-bullying, that
they listen to pupils' views on the problem in School Councils
or more informally, and that consultation with pupils on anti-bullying
strategies should be an on-going commitment rather than one-off.
A copy is on the DfES website at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/.
The Government has ensured that the momentum is maintained
in highlighting the issue of bullying so that all schools will
take the problem seriously. In September 2003 Ivan Lewis the Minister
with policy responsibility announced plans for an anti-bullying
charter for schools. The charter is being drawn up in consultation
with professional associations and voluntary sector partners,
and was launched in November 2003. There will also be a series
of regional conferences arranged by DfES—involving schools,
local education authorities and voluntary organisations to highlight
the issue of bullying and share good practice n tackling the problem.
The Minister also launched a new information film
aimed at children and young people. The film encourages pupils
who are experiencing bullying to tell someone who can help so
they do not suffer in silence. A copy is also on the DfES website
at www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying.
Tackling bullying is also covered in new behaviour
advice, training and audits for secondary and middle schools in
England, launched in September 2003 The Key Stage 3 behaviour
and attendance strategy includes a training module on preventing
bullying In addition, the primary school behaviour pilot schemes
in 25 local education authorities are focusing in part on bullying
as part of the wider strategy on behaviour and attendance.
OfSTED inspectors should examine schools' anti-bullying
policies, and whether parents and pupils know what to do if they
are affected by bullying, during their regular inspections. OfSTED
plan to re-issue late in 2003 their previous advice for inspectors
on evidence to look out for to ensure that anti-bullying policies
are effective and are being properly implemented.
DfES sometimes makes similar checks—in cases
where a parent has complained formally and specifically to the
Department after exhausting the local avenues of grievance.
We seek to work closely with organizations such as
ChildLine, the Anti-Bullying Alliance and Parentline Plus in taking
forward the anti-bullying policy. Ivan Lewis spoke at ChildLine's
March 2003 conference, and the Minister for Children Margaret
Hodge, has recently met representatives from both ChildLine and
Kidscape.
The message that bullying should not be tolerated
is one that the Government endorses, though exactly how this will
work out in practice is for individual schools to determine. We
recommend that as appropriate they also consult the local education
authority, or a voluntary body with suitable expertise, or perhaps
DfES.
Some local education authorities have plans to develop
accreditation schemes for the anti-bullying policies of their
schools. DfES hopes these can be publicised via weblinks from
www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying.
The Government envisages that the Children's Commissioner
will have a crucial role in encouraging others to involve children
in the development of policies and practices across a wide range
of issues that affect children, including bullying. However, it
is important that the Commissioner does not take the onus away
from others to ensure that children participate in policy making.
Rather, the Commissioner will help them to do so by promoting
good practice and encouraging them to understand children's views
and to approach issues from a child's viewpoint. Although the
Commissioner will only investigate individual cases identified
by the Secretary of State, they will be an advocate for all children
on issues such as bullying.
Committee Recommendation 5
An independent commissioner could make a significant
difference to the work of teachers in seeking to ensure that all
children are taught about their rights under the UN Convention
in schools. (Paragraph 28)
Government Response
Following the recommendations of the UN Committee
on the Rights of the Child in October 2002 regarding the UK's
implementation of the Convention, the Government is working to
develop a structured approach to the co-ordination, implementation
and monitoring of the Convention across the UK as a whole.
This includes proposals for an improved process for
systematic consideration of recommendations and reservations,
involvement of NGOs and children and young people and improved
coordination across the countries of the UK. The Government is
also working on a communications strategy, including a new child
rights website, to improve the dissemination of the contents of
UNCRC direct to children themselves, their parents and to other
adults concerned with children The presentation of the website
will be tailored to meet the needs and understanding of both younger
and older children, as well as that of adults. It should go on-line
next year.
The Government has co-hosted two seminars on the
UNCRC with the Children's Rights Alliance for England, involving
other relevant Government departments, the devolved administrations,
NGOs, and children and young people. The first focused on developing
a strategy for the UNCRC over the next five years, the second
covered dissemination of the Convention. We intend to hold a number
of further seminars focusing on specific policy issues in 2004.
In addition, the Government is already supporting
teachers to deliver the Citizenship curriculum in school. Teaching
pupils about the legal, human rights and responsibilities underpinning
society and how they relate to young people is a required element
of the citizenship curriculum in secondary schools. They are also
taught about the institution of the UN and its role.
However, we believe that pupils should not only learn
about their rights, but that rights and responsibilities go hand
in hand. The Citizenship curriculum reflects this and provides
a flexible framework allowing teachers to explore the issues in
the most appropriate way to their pupils.
All schools have been sent detailed guidance on teaching
citizenship, including a number of specific units aimed at addressing
the HR elements of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools.
For example, Children's rights - human rights is aimed
at helping 5-10 year olds learn, among other things, about every
human's basic rights, that with rights come responsibilities,
about the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child and how HR
apply in their school and the wider community. Another unit—Human
rights aimed at 11-16 year olds helps them to extend the ideas
developed primary schools by encouraging them to relate their
learning to their own experiences. They examine the role of the
Human Rights Act in protecting the rights of everyone in society.
They also develop an understanding of human rights and responsibilities
within local, national and global contexts. These units are available
to be viewed at: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes.
The Children's Commissioner will play an important
role in raising awareness and encouraging progress on all issues
that affect children. This will mean engaging with a wide range
of people and bodies, including schools. However, decisions about
the best way to teach a particular curriculum subject are a matter
for individual schools. The Department provides good practice
case studies in citizenship on the citizenship website which is
available to all teachers. See www.dfes.gov.uk/citizenship.
Committee Recommendation 6
A children's commissioner could make a significant
difference by helping children and young people make an appropriate
contribution to consultation by public authorities, and could
provide useful guidance to all levels of government and public
services on the effectiveness of meaningful consultation with
children and young people about decisions that affect them. (Paragraph
33)
Government Response
The Government agrees with the Committee's conclusion
and will expect the Commissioner to consult children and young
people, to work with Government and public authorities both nationally
and locally to ensure they are consulting children and young people
effectively, to offer advice and promote best practice and to
reflect findings in an annual report to Parliament.
The Government is committed to ensuring that children's
and young people's voices are heard at every level of decision-making.
It believes that real and lasting improvements to the services
that children use can only be achieved if Government listens to
children and young people. That is why the Government has a participation
programme to increase the number of opportunities for children
and young people to have a real say, for example by supporting
mechanisms through which children's and young people's voices
can be heard.
The Learning to Listen programme provides
the foundation for this work across Government. It sets out core
principles and practical measures for meaningful dialogue between
Government and children and young people. Various Government Departments
have appointed lead officials on children and young people's participation,
and regular meetings are held to share examples of good practice
and exchange ideas and experience of involving children and young
people in policy making. In June 2003 ten Government departments
published action plans showing how they are involving children
and young people in their work. A cross-Government report
setting out progress by departments was published in October 2003.
Both the report and action plans are available at: http://www.cypu.gov.uk/corporate/participation/index.cfm.
The Government is also making a case for participation
through qualitative research, which underlines how the involvement
of children and young people helps organisations become more effective.
A report on this research and a handbook setting out practical
steps that organisations can take will be launched at a conference
in December to be attended by practitioners of participation,
both adults and children, and by Government officials across Whitehall.
The Government is increasingly involving children
and young people directly in shaping policy. A recent example
is the young people's version of the Green Paper on Children Every
Child Matters, This has been supported by local events with
young people to stimulate their interest in the consultation and
ensure that they have the opportunity to contribute to decisions
which may affect their lives.
Children and young people are major users of key
public services and the Government is keen that they should have
the opportunity to influence them.
The Education Act 2002 (s.176) places a duty on local
education authorities and governing bodies of maintained schools,
in the exercise of their functions, to have regard to any guidance
from the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on consultation
with pupils in taking decisions affecting them.
We want the guidance to provide a basis for schools
to decide how best to involve children and young people in all
aspects of the life of the school, with examples of good practice
for them to use and adapt. The consultation on the draft guidance
document, Working Together: Giving Children and Young People
a say, ran until 21 November 2003
An advisory group of young people worked alongside
adults in developing the guidance, which offers examples of a
whole range of ways of listening to pupils' opinions. A children
and young people's version of the consultation document was also
published enabling young people of all ages to be involved in
the development of the guidance.
The Government has made funds available to support
children and young people's participation. The Consultation
Fund (£0.5m this year) enables children and young people
to participate in consultative activities, particularly targeting
organisations trying to deal with those who are hard to reach,
The Government is also currently supporting the UK Youth Parliament,
providing core funding of £110,000 for 2003-04 to consolidate
and build on the progress made so far and an additional £55,000
to support the development of work of the UKYP at a regional level.
December 2003
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