Speech to the NI Assembly - Children's Strategy and Commissioner for Children and Young People
David Trimble/Seamus Mallon
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be here today to launch this three day FutureSearch workshop. As you know, responsibility for this area of work only recently joined my portfolio, but the rights and needs of children and young people have long been a particular interest of mine and I am especially pleased to take on this important area of work.
I would like to begin by thanking all of you who have given up so much of your valuable time to be here in Armagh for the next three days. I know how difficult that can be; not only with work commitments but also for home commitments. We are very grateful indeed that you have been able to join us here. You may, or may not be aware, that your presence at FutureSearch was not a random choice. A planning group was convened to organise this event, and it was on their recommendation that your names were put forward. Each of here today represents a particular sector relevant to children and young people. And each of you here today holds an important job within that sector. That importance may not be in grade terms - you may not be the Chief Executive or Director (although some of you are) - but you are someone who has the knowledge, drive and determination which means that you are an important person to be here to represent your sector.
Looking around the room, I see some faces as yet unmarked by the passage of time and I would like to give a special welcome to the eight members of the Children and Young People's Unit's Young People's Advisory Forum who have been nominated by their fellow Forum members to join us at FutureSearch to give us a much-needed young person's perspective. I hope you will especially enjoy your three days with us - and not just because you are getting three days away from school or college. Believe me, from what I know about FutureSearch - you will certainly not be avoiding work!
I'm sure that many of you will still be wondering just what exactly you have committed yourselves to. One of the principles of FutureSearch is that delegates attend with an open and unclouded mind and that is the reason why there are no papers sent out in advance. All that is needed is the knowledge and opinions in your head at any one time - not prepared answers or position statements. The skill of the facilitators will take your information and opinions and channel them to the discussion and shape them to an outcome that all of you are in agreement with.
The purpose of this particular FutureSearch is to produce a Vision for children and young people living in Northern Ireland. And hopefully, also some objectives which underpin that vision. The information gathered here in the next three days will be used along with the outcomes of various other consultation exercises some of which are already underway and others which are planned between now and January. To give you a flavour of what's going on - at the end of November we are bringing approximately 500 children aged between 3 and 11 years to the W5 centre at the Belfast Odyssey. They will get a chance to play but they will also be asked to give their views using a variety of media - artwork, video clips and discussion. Towards the end of January we are organising an event for young people - aged from about 12 upwards and we are planning a family fun day event in the North West of the Province.
Our colleagues on the Non Governmental Organisations' Forum are also organising consultation events with their members and so, by the end of January, we will be in a position to draft the consultation paper of the strategy, backed up by a huge mass of information and opinions.
I've said that the results of FutureSearch will form part of this information. It is probably not an understatement to say that this FutureSearch event is the flagship event in our calendar of consultation events - and that is not to undermine any of the other projects, but in terms of the resources committed by ourselves and by you and your respective organisations, to this type of event, it inevitably leads the way.
We are very optimistic that the outcome of your work over the next three days will form the basis for the structure of the draft strategy and I look forward hugely to seeing that outcome.
Once again, thank you for devoting so much of your time in helping us to work towards a better future for all of our children and young people. I hope that you enjoy your time with us and that all of us gain from taking part in FutureSearch.
Thank you.
Mr Speaker:
I have received a request from the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to make a statement on a children’s commissioner.
The First Minister (Mr Trimble):
The Deputy First Minister and I have an important announcement to make today about the safeguarding and upholding of children’s rights. If there is one matter on which there is common ground among all parties in the Assembly it is surely our common desire for a better, more secure future for our children. To achieve that, we must act now to ensure that children can grow and develop in an environment where their rights are upheld, their safety secured and their needs met.
The Deputy First Minister and I, and our Colleagues in the Executive, are in full agreement that this should be a high priority for the Assembly. We also acknowledge that this is a matter of concern for many, and we have received representations from political parties across the spectrum, individual MLAs and children’s organisations. We told the Assembly last October that we were determined to ensure that our arrangements for upholding children’s rights were based upon best practice. Since then, we have given careful consideration to how best to achieve that objective.
We examined the position in other parts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of Europe. It was clear from that that our current arrangements lag some way behind. In England, for example, a children’s rights director will be appointed next year. In Wales, a children’s commissioner has been appointed, and in the Republic of Ireland a children’s ombudsman will be appointed. The Scandinavian countries, in particular, have led the way. Countries such as Norway established commissioners for children many years ago. The children of Northern Ireland deserve no less.
The Deputy First Minister and I, and our Executive Colleagues, are convinced that we need a commissioner for children to carry out this role. Therefore we are pleased to announce our intention to bring forward proposals as soon as possible to establish an independent commissioner for children for Northern Ireland. There are, of course, complex issues to be worked out with regard to the precise role and remit of the commissioner — the statutory powers and responsibilities that the office will have and its relationship with other statutory authorities. We also need to consider issues such as how the commissioner can best represent children’s interests and advocate their needs. The commissioner’s role might, for instance, include challenging public authorities and investigating complaints. It might involve advising Government on policy, including the measures required to meet our commitments under key international human rights instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It is also important to have a wide ranging debate and discussion before finalising proposals, including an opportunity for children and young people and the organisations that represent them to influence the way forward. Therefore we have decided to initiate a comprehensive consultation process to give interested parties an opportunity to express their views. We aim to begin consultation as soon as possible and bring legislative proposals before the Assembly at the earliest opportunity.
The establishment of a commissioner for children is the most important proposal in the field of children’s rights for many years. It has the full backing of the Executive, and I hope that the Assembly will warmly welcome it. The Deputy First Minister will now consider some further possibilities.
The Deputy First Minster (Mr Mallon):
I fully endorse the First Minister’s comments on the need for a commissioner for children, and I commend the proposal to the Assembly. It is a fundamentally important initiative and one that will enjoy not only broad political support but the overwhelming support of people in Northern Ireland. We have before us an opportunity that should not be missed; an opportunity to shape new arrangements for protecting children and upholding their rights, an opportunity to put Northern Ireland at the cutting edge of world practice.
I, like the First Minister and my Executive Colleagues, believe that the single most important element of those new arrangements should be a commissioner for children. Too often our children, particularly the most vulnerable, are neither seen nor heard, with the result that their needs can be, and sometimes are, overlooked. With a commissioner for children acting as their champion, we hope to change this and ensure that no voice in our society goes unheard.
However, a commissioner alone will not be enough. To be truly effective, the establishment of a commissioner for children needs to be part of an overall strategy to address children’s rights and needs.
Within that strategy a commissioner will act as an independent champion for children, outside Government. Other elements of the strategy will be needed to ensure a joined-up approach to children’s matters within Government and the Assembly, to give children and young people a stronger voice, and to ensure that legislation and policy continue to be shaped by research and best practice.
We intend therefore to introduce such a strategy, and we will develop proposals covering four key areas: first, examining how the Executive might ensure the development of co-ordinated policies on children’s issues; secondly, suggesting how the Assembly might exercise its interests in scrutinising policies on children’s matters; thirdly, looking at how best we can consult with children and young people and assess how our policies affect them; fourthly, considering how research and development needs might be met.
We intend to further develop these proposals, initially through the Executive, and thereafter through public consultation as part of the consultation exercise on the role and remit of the commissioner for children. We have consciously come to the Assembly at the start of the process, not the end, in order to give Members the chance to propose and influence the direction that we take and not just to scrutinise actions proposed by the Executive.
Members will recall that a focus on young people was central to the vision of the Programme for Government. We committed ourselves to combat social exclusion and poverty, with a particular emphasis on children. The First Minister and I believe that these proposals demonstrate that commitment and complement the initiatives that we are already getting under way, such as the establishment of the Children’s Fund.
The proposals outlined today are bold and imaginative. They have been shaped, to date, by the best practice throughout Europe and careful consideration of representations made to us. They represent an opportunity for this Administration to secure the well-being of our children and mark another step in our human rights agenda. We commend them to the Assembly.
I have received a request from the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to make a statement on a children’s commissioner.
The First Minister (Mr Trimble):
The Deputy First Minister and I have an important announcement to make today about the safeguarding and upholding of children’s rights. If there is one matter on which there is common ground among all parties in the Assembly it is surely our common desire for a better, more secure future for our children. To achieve that, we must act now to ensure that children can grow and develop in an environment where their rights are upheld, their safety secured and their needs met.
The Deputy First Minister and I, and our Colleagues in the Executive, are in full agreement that this should be a high priority for the Assembly. We also acknowledge that this is a matter of concern for many, and we have received representations from political parties across the spectrum, individual MLAs and children’s organisations. We told the Assembly last October that we were determined to ensure that our arrangements for upholding children’s rights were based upon best practice. Since then, we have given careful consideration to how best to achieve that objective.
We examined the position in other parts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of Europe. It was clear from that that our current arrangements lag some way behind. In England, for example, a children’s rights director will be appointed next year. In Wales, a children’s commissioner has been appointed, and in the Republic of Ireland a children’s ombudsman will be appointed. The Scandinavian countries, in particular, have led the way. Countries such as Norway established commissioners for children many years ago. The children of Northern Ireland deserve no less.
The Deputy First Minister and I, and our Executive Colleagues, are convinced that we need a commissioner for children to carry out this role. Therefore we are pleased to announce our intention to bring forward proposals as soon as possible to establish an independent commissioner for children for Northern Ireland. There are, of course, complex issues to be worked out with regard to the precise role and remit of the commissioner — the statutory powers and responsibilities that the office will have and its relationship with other statutory authorities. We also need to consider issues such as how the commissioner can best represent children’s interests and advocate their needs. The commissioner’s role might, for instance, include challenging public authorities and investigating complaints. It might involve advising Government on policy, including the measures required to meet our commitments under key international human rights instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It is also important to have a wide ranging debate and discussion before finalising proposals, including an opportunity for children and young people and the organisations that represent them to influence the way forward. Therefore we have decided to initiate a comprehensive consultation process to give interested parties an opportunity to express their views. We aim to begin consultation as soon as possible and bring legislative proposals before the Assembly at the earliest opportunity.
The establishment of a commissioner for children is the most important proposal in the field of children’s rights for many years. It has the full backing of the Executive, and I hope that the Assembly will warmly welcome it. The Deputy First Minister will now consider some further possibilities.
The Deputy First Minster (Mr Mallon):
I fully endorse the First Minister’s comments on the need for a commissioner for children, and I commend the proposal to the Assembly. It is a fundamentally important initiative and one that will enjoy not only broad political support but the overwhelming support of people in Northern Ireland. We have before us an opportunity that should not be missed; an opportunity to shape new arrangements for protecting children and upholding their rights, an opportunity to put Northern Ireland at the cutting edge of world practice.
I, like the First Minister and my Executive Colleagues, believe that the single most important element of those new arrangements should be a commissioner for children. Too often our children, particularly the most vulnerable, are neither seen nor heard, with the result that their needs can be, and sometimes are, overlooked. With a commissioner for children acting as their champion, we hope to change this and ensure that no voice in our society goes unheard.
However, a commissioner alone will not be enough. To be truly effective, the establishment of a commissioner for children needs to be part of an overall strategy to address children’s rights and needs.
Within that strategy a commissioner will act as an independent champion for children, outside Government. Other elements of the strategy will be needed to ensure a joined-up approach to children’s matters within Government and the Assembly, to give children and young people a stronger voice, and to ensure that legislation and policy continue to be shaped by research and best practice.
We intend therefore to introduce such a strategy, and we will develop proposals covering four key areas: first, examining how the Executive might ensure the development of co-ordinated policies on children’s issues; secondly, suggesting how the Assembly might exercise its interests in scrutinising policies on children’s matters; thirdly, looking at how best we can consult with children and young people and assess how our policies affect them; fourthly, considering how research and development needs might be met.
We intend to further develop these proposals, initially through the Executive, and thereafter through public consultation as part of the consultation exercise on the role and remit of the commissioner for children. We have consciously come to the Assembly at the start of the process, not the end, in order to give Members the chance to propose and influence the direction that we take and not just to scrutinise actions proposed by the Executive.
Members will recall that a focus on young people was central to the vision of the Programme for Government. We committed ourselves to combat social exclusion and poverty, with a particular emphasis on children. The First Minister and I believe that these proposals demonstrate that commitment and complement the initiatives that we are already getting under way, such as the establishment of the Children’s Fund.
The proposals outlined today are bold and imaginative. They have been shaped, to date, by the best practice throughout Europe and careful consideration of representations made to us. They represent an opportunity for this Administration to secure the well-being of our children and mark another step in our human rights agenda. We commend them to the Assembly.