Visit of the Children’s Commissioner to Norway and Sweden (FOI)

Request

In October 2018 The Children's Commissioner Deborah McMillan and a delegation of States Members travelled to Norway and Sweden to discover how children's rights could be embedded in Jersey Law.

A

What exactly did they find out that is not readily available on line?

B

What was the total cost of this trip for all concerned?

C

Was this trip really necessary and was it of any value?

Response

A

Children’s Commissioner:

The aim of the visit was to learn about embedding children’s rights across policy and practice from world leaders in this area.

One of the main aims of the trip was to learn how Norway and Sweden, regarded as two of the most progressive nations in terms of the promotion and protection of children’s rights, had progressed implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It was also an opportunity to establish links with counterparts in other jurisdictions and raise the profile of the work Jersey is doing to implement the UNCRC.

Please see attached news release dated 25 October 2018 sent to the media in respect of the trip.

News Release of 25 October 2018

Children’s Policy:

In 2017 the States Assembly supported a proposition (P63) by Deputy Doublet that requested the Chief Minister and the Children’s Commissioner to bring forward proposals for incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Both the Minister and Officers accepted the Children’s Commissioner invitation as part of the work to explore how other countries had approached the policy area of incorporating the Convention. It is widely acknowledged that Sweden and Norway are exemplars in their approach to progressing the commitments set out in the Convention. Therefore they are of interest both politically, and legislatively in relation to progressing previous government commitments made under the Convention.

B

Travel costs were as follows:

All travel and expenses costs were in line with the Government of Jersey’s Financial Directions.

The figures do not include all expenses as some meal and refreshment costs were paid for personally by the Children’s Minister’s and others in the party.

C

Children’s Commissioner:

The Children’s Commissioner for Jersey was appointed in January 2018. As an entirely new function for Jersey, learning from best practice elsewhere has been a vital part of the Commissioner’s first 12 months in role. The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI) set out in Chapter 12 of their report the ten failings of Jersey’s child care services followed by 8 lessons learnt. One of those lessons was that Jersey should stay connected – ‘staff must have opportunities to experience good practice in a range of settings. States members and policy makers need to be kept informed of new learning, research and models of practice…’ ‘Jersey should also keep abreast of practice and social policy developments in European countries…’ The travel off island is in support of these recommendations.

Chapter 13 of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry set out the recommendations of the Panel including the recommendation to appoint a Children’s Commissioner.

13.7 Outlined the necessity for the role to be enshrined in Law. The Children’s Commissioner was recruited to help develop the Law. Off island travel has been vital in terms of upholding this recommendation as it enabled the Commissioner to discuss best practice in terms of legislation to support the role of Children’s Commissioner in compliance with the Paris Principles.

This trip has helped to inform the draft Commissioner for Children and Young People (Jersey) Law which has now been lodged for debate by the States Assembly. The debate is scheduled for the 26 March 2019. The Law can be viewed in the following link:

Draft Commissioner for Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 201x 

13.13 Set out the recommendations of the panel to consider the arrangements of the various Commissioners across the UK and Ireland and for the Jersey Commissioner to become a member of the British and Irish Network of Children’s Commissioners. The rationale for travel to visit Children’s Commissioners in the UK and Commissioners in Sweden and Norway are in support of this recommendation.

Children’s Policy:

During 2018 the children’s Commissioner draft law was being developed. This draft law will enable the Children’s Commissioner to fulfil her primary objectives in relation to children’s rights. Both Norway and Sweden have equivalent roles in statute (known as Ombudsman for Children) which provide a similar function. The delegation was able to visit the people who hold these roles and allowed the Jersey delegation an opportunity to ask questions and compare the priorities across the respective Offices. The insights generated from these discussions helped inform planning in relation to the development of the local law drafting for the Jersey children’s Commissioner.