Will the Minister outline reasons for the decision not to include a children's rights impact assessment with the budget for 2024-25?
As was outlined in the response to the Children Young People and Education Committee Report on the 2024-25 Budget we are committed to fulfilling the legislative requirements for impact assessments, including where these relate to the assessment of our financial decisions.
The duty on Ministers is to have due regard to children’s rights, rather than to complete a Childrens Rights Impact Assessment. The approach we are taking in respect of the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment (SIIA) and children’s rights meets our legal obligations, in giving due consideration to the United Nations Convention on The Rights of the Child, alongside meeting our wider commitments.
The SIIA, which takes an integrated approach, enables us to better understand the intersectional and unintended impacts of spending decisions and to maximise the impact of available funding, reducing the disproportionate effect on any one specific group or area.
To consider an area of impact in isolation risks unintended consequences such as the negative impact in one area being driven by a positive impact in another. Ministers will also make decisions informed by ongoing and iterative impact assessment both as policy is developed and actioned including in relation to budgetary decisions.
We will continue to engage with our Budget Improvement Impact and Advisory Group (BIIAG), to explore how the Welsh Government can better reflect children’s rights in our improvements to budget and tax processes.