Impact of shielding on vulnerable individuals: children's rights impact assessment

Consideration has been given to the affects the proposals for Shielding Individuals may have on children and young people.

The list of individuals within the shielded group includes children and young people. Children who are advised to shield are offered the same support and services as shielding adults. A parent or guardian could utilise the priority delivery slots to obtain food. Equally a food box can be requested by a parent on behalf of a shielding child if they have no other form of support/access to food, i.e. on the same terms as an adult

Instances where a parent is advised to shield, that parent would be entitled to a food box, which would only contain enough food for that individual. Similarly, a priority food delivery food slot could be used if the parent is unable to obtain food for their children. Alternatively local authorities may be able to assist in these cases, utilising volunteers who could undertake shopping on their behalf through shopping vouchers. For those struggling to afford food, support through food banks is available.

The impact of shielding may be compounded if the child or young person belongs to a family which includes others who have been advised to shield. Children living in poverty and who are disabled may be additionally adversely affected by other factors relating to the Pandemic. There is also a high number of children and young people on the Shielded Patients List.

It is not anticipated that children living in Welsh speaking households or Welsh Medium education will be adversely affected as a result of the Pandemic and Shielding instructions, as the Welsh Government is statutorily bound to treat both Welsh and English languages equally. Guidance and letters have been provided bilingually.

The food in the food box was not all suitable for very young children. Owing the speed with which the scheme was set up as an emergency response, it was not possible to meet different dietary needs. This was reviewed periodically and more detail is contained in food box IIA.

This section requires an assessment, using informed judgement, of the likely impact of the proposal on children’s UNCRC rights. It is vital you avoid the assumption that the intended outcomes identified above are the same as the predicted impact on children’s rights.

You will need to carefully consider how the intended outcomes relate to children’s rights and what impact they will have. There may be predicted impacts which are not intended outcomes from the proposal.

You should:

• Identify which UNCRC articles are most relevant to the proposal.
• Explain if, and if so – how the proposal maximises, supports or promotes children’s UNCRC rights, making connections between the outcomes identified at question 1. and the rights you have identified.
• Remember that promoting children’s rights includes: increasing children’s access to their rights, or to services and/or resources that give access to rights, or enabling children to participate and take advantage of their rights. You should explain how the proposal achieves these objectives, if at all.
• Explain any negative impact on children’s rights arising from the proposal, including any reduction in resources available to support policies or programmes.
• When considering each of the above ensure you take account of how the proposal will impact on the rights of different groups of children (e.g. children living in poverty, children with disability etc.).
• Refer to any information or evidence that has informed your assessment, including from children or their representatives.

The impact of the shielding programme is expected to be positive in that they/their family will have enhanced access to food, medicines, social/emotional and other support. Without this, the mental and physical health and well-being of shielding children and young people could be significantly adversely impacted.

It is recognised that not being able to meet the dietary requirements of some children and young people may have had a negative impact. Owing to the speed and scale at which the food box scheme was set up, it was not possible to meet different dietary requirements (see food box IIA).