Clare Haughey

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which received unanimous support in Holyrood last March, cannot receive royal assent as the Supreme Court has ruled that certain parts of the bill are beyond the competence of the Scottish Parliament.

Clare Haughey, the Scottish government minister for children and young people, yesterday told MSPs that the government would return the bill to Holyrood via the reconsideration stage.

“In parallel with planning for that, we are also exploring options for extending our powers to incorporate the UNCRC beyond those that are available under the current devolution settlement,” she said.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack last month told Deputy First Minister John Swinney that he was happy for UK government and Scottish government officials to work together, but played down the possibility of “significant changes to the devolution settlement”.

He said: “While your officials are welcome to share more information on these proposals, I feel it is important to be clear at the outset that the UK government’s position is that the current devolution settlement strikes the right balance, and that amendments to the bill and any other proposals would need to be within the parameters of the devolution settlement as it stands.”

Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said she was “concerned” about the Scottish government “seeking further powers in order to make the bill competent, rather than working with the United Kingdom government to make the bill competent within the powers that it currently holds”.

Speaking in Holyrood, she said: “Political point scoring over the constitution by the Scottish government has already delayed the bill, and it seems that it will continue to do so. In the meantime, young people have no idea of the timescale that the government is working to or of how long the process will take.

“They need to be reassured that the government remains committed to their rights and to bringing the bill within the Parliament’s competence as soon as possible, and they deserve to know when incorporation of the UNCRC will be a reality.”