Issue - meetings

The Panel will receive a presentation on this item from Penny Hay and colleagues involved in this project.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care introduced this item by saying that following the September meeting of the Panel he had met with Penny Hay and agreed a basis for ongoing discussion regarding this initiative.

Penny Hay, Child Friendly City Steering Group addressed the Panel, a copy of her statement will be available on the Panel’s Minute Book and online as an appendix to these minutes. A summary is set out below.

 The Child and Youth Friendly Community initiative has been driven by a diverse range of creative and cultural organisations across B&NES. Our vision involves the right of every child and young person to experience a safe, healthy and happy childhood, with an emphasis on respect and engagement.

The Child Friendly City Initiative Steering Group are keen to work with the Unicef Child Rights Partners Team alongside the Council and young people. Child Rights Partners is a ground-breaking programme - systematically embedding children’s rights in public services at both policy and practice level.

In B&NES, we want all children and young people to have equal life chances with positive mental health and well-being, with higher aspirations. B&NES has identified health and socio-economic inequalities and is working towards reducing these; this project would actively support the Council’s work.

We are inviting the Council to be a Unicef Child Rights Partner and asking the Scrutiny Panel to consider making a recommendation to Cabinet to support this initiative. We are keen that there is a political commitment to this initiative, with co-operation across the Local Authority together with robust engagement and cross-Council participation.

Naomi Danquah, Programme Director, Child Rights Partners addressed the Panel, a copy of her briefing will be available on the Panel’s Minute Book and online as an appendix to these minutes. A summary is set out below.

Unicef UK, a registered UK charity, runs programmes to protect and promote the rights of children and young people in the UK, working with national and local government and institutions to implement and advocate for lasting change.

Our Child Rights Partners programme builds on and is a part of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative, an international programme aiming to translate Unicef’s mission into practical commitments and action at the local level. Child Rights Partners (CRP) brings Unicef UK and local authorities together to put children’s rights at the heart of public services and ensure all children have the same opportunity to flourish.

During the course of a three year pilot, launched in November 2013, Unicef UK has been supporting 5 local authorities to use the UNCRC as a framework to transform local policy and practice in a range of areas, from developing area-wide children and families’ plans, to training elected members to embedding a child rights-based approach in corporate parenting strategies.

In 2017, Unicef UK is incorporating learning from the pilot into a developed programme model and is inviting up to 5 local authorities to join the programme.

Over the course of 3 –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55