SNP ministers have been told to end “political games” over children’s rights as the Scottish Government finally addresses its revised plans to embed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.
The Scottish Government will deliver a statement on its UNCRC Bill at Holyrood this afternoon 834 days after the initial legislation was passed unanimously by MSPs.
The Bill was backed by Holyrood on March 16, 2021, before being struck down by the UK Supreme Court in October 2021 for being outwith the competence of devolution following a challenge from the UK Government.
The Scottish Government has faced vast criticism for failing to bring back updated plans.
Documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday revealed that earlier this year, SNP ministers were still wrangling with Whitehall over who held the power to legislate.
Read more: SNP wrangling with UK lawyers over 'where powers lie' for UNCRC
Last month, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called on SNP ministers to “expeditiously” make changes to the children’s rights legislation.
The Bill, which can be amended and brought back to the Scottish Parliament, would incorporate the UN treaty into Scots law.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child published a report focusing on children’s rights in the UK and has urged SNP ministers to bring the legislation back to Holyrood.
Former Scottish children and young people’s commissioner Bruce Adamson repeatedly questioned why the bill remained in parliamentary limbo two years on.
Speaking last month – before he departed the post – Mr Adamson said he was “hugely concerned” with the delays from the Scottish Government.
Read more: SNP playing 'roulette' after five options set out to rewrite devolution settlement
SNP ministers have committed to bringing back updated plans, but they are yet to emerge.
The only date given for the legislation being reconsidered by the Scottish Parliament is by 2026.
Opposition parties have demanded that the Scottish Government sets out a “clear timetable” to Holyrood this afternoon for the legislation being reconsidered by MSPs.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader and shadow minister for children and young people, Meghan Gallacher, said: “The SNP deliberately provoked grievance over this bill as a pre-election stunt in 2021.
"It should never have taken ministers this long to make a key statement on it in Holyrood.
“They have continued to politicise children’s rights rather than bringing this legislation back at the earliest opportunity, given all parties in the Parliament support it.”
She added: “Supporting the future rights of children and young people is what the SNP should be spending Parliamentary time on, rather than their overriding obsession with independence.
“The statement must guarantee their political games have stopped, and a clear timetable is laid out to pass this as soon as possible.”
Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for children and young people, Martin Whitfield, warned it was “a disgrace that so little progress has been made on this bill in the years since the Scottish Parliament unanimously agreed its principles”.
Read more: UN committee tells SNP ministers to 'expeditiously' redraw UNCRC Bill
He added: “The SNP has wasted the last two years playing petty political games when they should have been focused on protecting children’s rights and delivering a workable new law.
“No more excuses and no more delays – this week’s statement must set out clear and urgent timescales for this bill to be brought back to Parliament so we can enshrine these important principles in Scots law at last.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie stressed that “children's rights have been subject to years of foot-dragging and an intervention from the United Nations”.
He said: "Ministers need to announce a fresh version of this bill, free from the Scottish Government blunders which saw this important legislation struck down by the Supreme Court.
"It's time to put Scottish children first."
SNP Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has claimed there have been no delays to bringing back the legislation, telling MSPs “there has not been prevarication”.
But she admitted that “fixing the CRC has been complicated.”
The Scottish Government declined to comment ahead of the statement to Holyrood.
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