The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) works towards ensuring that Scotland’s approach to children and young people in conflict with the law is rights-respecting; contributing to better outcomes for our children, young people and communities.
Through our participatory work with children and young people, the research evidence we have generated and our policy and practice knowledge, we understand and recognise the strong impact of poverty and housing insecurity on the likelihood of a child or young person coming into conflict with the law, and the impacts this can have on their ability to transition away from harmful behaviours.
In May 2024, the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and Social Justice and Social Security Committee both jointly sought views on the Housing (Scotland) Bill and the CYCJ response is set out below.
CYCJ response
CYCJ very much welcomes the intention of the Bill to help reduce and prevent homelessness in Scotland by placing new duties on public bodies and giving new rights to tenants. However, we feel it needs a stronger rights-based approach through greater support for people to challenge decisions and exercise their rights, especially around rent increases and landlord practice.
We are also concerned that the references to a ‘relevant conviction’ or ‘relevant anti-social behaviour’ could allow for a child or young person to face eviction without delay, even if they are at serious risk of coming into conflict with the law. We find this very difficult to reconcile with the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, parts of which will come into force in July this year. In particular Article 3, which states that the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration.
Alongside this, we welcome the extension of the ‘Ask and Act’ duty to all relevant public bodies, and the extra requirements for local authorities, but note the lack of resource identified to support these proposals.