Calling all Play Supporters in Scotland ..... The Education and Culture Committee Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill - Call for written evidence The Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee is seeking written evidence on the general principles of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 17 April. The Committee have written directly to Play Scotland asking for us to submit further evidence. We are urging our supporters to submit a response asking for Play to be included in the Bill: Play is at the heart of wellbeing. This is especially true for children and young people, but sadly in Scotland play is largely dismissed as frivolous or marginalised. Up until now Play Scotland has relied on United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child to promote the Child’s Right to Play in Scotland, and it also is covered under SHANARRI (Safe, happy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, included) specifically within the Active Principles. We believe this is wholly inadequate. Play underpins the four principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child – non-discrimination, survival and development, the best interest of the child and participation. Play Scotland are working to develop child-friendly communities in Scotland supported by play-friendly neighbourhoods where children can: • Meet friends and play • Walk safely in the streets on their own • Have green spaces for plants and animals • Participate in family, community and social life We urge you to respond to this request for evidence giving example and anecdotes and research to show that the SHANARRI principles underpin play and that ‘Getting it Right for every Child’ means that there shouldn’t be postcode lottery for play opportunities in Scotland. A Statutory Duty for Play would ensure that all children and young people in Scotland have access to play friendly neighbourhoods. A copy of the Bill and accompanying Policy Memorandum and Explanatory Notes can be found here: scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/62233.aspx Objective of the Bill The Bill’s Policy Memorandum states that “It is the aspiration of the Scottish Government for Scotland to be the best place to grow up in. The objective of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill is to make real this ambition by putting children and young people at the heart of planning and delivery of services and ensuring their rights are respected across the public sector.” Specifically, the Bill aims to: • Ensure that children’s rights properly influence the design and delivery of policies and services by placing new duties on the Scottish Ministers and the public sector and by increasing the powers of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People; • Improve the way services support children and families by promoting cooperation between services, with the child at the centre; • Strengthen the role of early years support in children’s and families’ lives by increasing the amount and flexibility of funded early learning and childcare; • Ensure better permanence planning for looked after children by improving support for kinship c arers, families and care leavers, extending corporate parenting across the public sector, and putting Scotland’s National Adoption Register on a statutory footing; and • Strengthen existing legislation that affects children and young people by making proced ural and technical changes in the areas of children’s hearings support arrangements, secure accommodation placements, and school closures.” The Education and Culture Committee would welcome your views on any or all of these provisions, and their possible impact. The Committee would also welcome views on relevant issues that are not included in the Bill, but which you consider could be included. The Committee expects to take oral evidence on the Bill in September. How to submit written evidence Written evidence must be submitted by no later than 26 July 2013 Before making a submission, please read the Parliament’s policy on treatment of written evidence by subject and mandatory committees Where possible, written submissions should be • submitted electronically in word format to: [email protected] • limited to around 4 sides of A4 • in Arial 12 font •set out in numbered paragraphs. Where the submission refers to existing published material, it is preferable to provide hyperlinks or full citations (rather than extensive extracts). The Committee welcomes written evidence in English, Gaelic or any other language. Hard copy written submissions should be sent to: Education and Culture Committee, Room T3.40 Scottish Parliament Edinburgh EH99 1SP
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:30:30 +0000
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