Children's Rights Commissioner (Hansard, 14 July 1999)

§ Mr. Hilton Dawson (Lancaster and Wyre)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the establishment of a children's rights commissioner to promote the rights and interests of children in England; to make provision for the powers and duties of the commissioner; and for related purposes. The Government can be a great Government for children. We have commitments to end child poverty; we have the establishment of a national voice for children in care—a new national organisation for young people in care; and regional children's rights officers have been proposed for children who live away from home.

We have commitments on raising educational standards; we have commitments on the integration of children with disabilities; we have new measures to stop paedophiles from working with children; we have new overseas adoption laws; and we have new protection for children who give evidence in criminal proceedings on physical and sexual abuse. Quality protects, new deal and sure start—details were published yesterday—bridge the gap for 16 to 18-year-olds and are powerful evidence of the Government's commitment.

I could spend the next nine minutes listing the commitments, but they will be great developments only when they really seem to work, and they will really work only when we recognise the fundamental issue at the heart of all policy relating to children: the powerlessness of all children.

After all, children have no vote. They have hardly any voice. There are many worthy initiatives, but a voice depends on the good work and good will of thousands of people in different situations. Often, those people are officials working in the most obscure parts of the land—and often they are overworked—in situations where standards can differ. They are employed by authorities that can change, whose priorities can shift and whose good intentions can be dissipated under the weight of events. I know that because I have been there and worked in those situations. All hon. Members know that powerless people are often overlooked. Even in a well-developed democracy—even in the best-developed democracy—powerless people are easily ignored, unless they have a strong, independent, statutory voice at the heart of Government.

A children's rights commissioner is needed to promote consistently the rights and interests of all children everywhere in the land, ensuring the implementation of the fundamental human rights that are embodied in the United Nations convention on the rights of the child. Such a commissioner is needed to enable the voices of all children to be heard in government, in local authorities, in statutory voluntary agencies and in private bodies.

When roads, public transport schemes, leisure facilities and all the mundane realities of development are proposed, more and more adults are, thankfully, involved in consultation. Surely, at this stage in our national life, we should consider whether children might have a unique perspective and something important to say about the issues that affect their lives so dramatically.

A children's rights commissioner is needed to ensure that children are aware of their rights and that they are able to complain. We protect children when we give them 418 real opportunities to complain. "Children's rights commissioner" is a grand title for a very simple concept. All I am urging is that the Government should take a clear, hard and honest view of a fundamental problem, and take a common-sense approach to dealing with it.

Let us have an identified person who could draw attention to the impact on children of new Government policy—someone who could raise important issues in an annual report; assist with development of structures enabling children to participate ever more in the life of the community and in decision making; ensure that current complaint systems work well for everyone; and be the identified and identifiable person of last resort when a child knows that things are going wrong. That person should be the humane, sensible and knowledgeable person who could absolutely raise the roof when it matters. He or she should be someone steeped in sound principles, who listens to children and is fearless in standing up with and for children and young people.

A good Government can do so many things, but a great Government will heed the voices of children, and hear the sound advice of more than 100 child care organisations. It would take far too long to list all those organisations, but they include the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, UNICEF, Save the Children, Barnardos and the Royal College of Paediatrics.

A great Government would also implement the recommendations of the all-party Select Committee on Health, and learn from the success of similar posts—in Norway, Sweden, Austria and New Zealand. A great Government would recognise the strength of feeling on the issue among hon. Members on both sides of the House, including our valiant Independent Member.

The proposal is the epitome of concern for human rights and joined-up government. It is the key to ensuring that worthy intentions in respect of children really deliver the goods. The issue will not go away from the House. Whatever happens to the Bill, the issue will remain, and it will resonate in the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and, I very much hope, in the Northern Ireland Assembly, too.

A children's rights commissioner could transform the way in which we understand children and childhood. A commissioner could transform our democracy for the citizens of the future. The creation of such a post is profoundly important and would be profoundly good. I challenge a really great Government to accept the concept, and to implement it now.