To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have made to allocate responsibility for co-ordinating and evaluating the application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child across the United Kingdom, including locally and in the devolved administrations, to a single and accountable government authority. [HL5171]

As state party, the Westminster Government remain responsible for overall co-ordination of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) across the UK.

We do this in a way that recognises that much of the convention falls within the jurisdiction of the devolved Administrations. The Government have therefore adopted a “four nations” approach to the implementation of the UNCRC to ensure a flexible response to the unique circumstances within each country, while maintaining the state party’s commitment to the convention.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has a team leading on the co-ordination and implementation of the UNCRC across the UK. The team works closely with officials in the devolved Administrations, which enables them to have an overview of the key areas of progress being made across the whole of the UK to implement the convention.

Officials also have regular discussions with key stakeholders including NGOs across the UK to monitor the progress made in the implementation of the convention.