Rights for vulnerable children must be protected after Brexit

Christine Lenehan, director of the Council for Disabled Children, which is part of the National Children's Bureau, will soon publish a Department of Health-commissioned review about the care and treatment of children with some of the most complex needs imaginable: challenging behaviour coupled with mental health problems and learning difficulties. Children in this group often find themselves placed in the "too difficult" file, ending up in placements more like prisons. In time, the way we treat children in this group becomes the norm, where despite many of their human rights being violated we are relieved to have found a solution that keeps them out of the way.

The staff supporting these young people are often passionate, committed and caring. At local and national level, government is commissioning services and legislating for this group. But in some instances this shared concern has fallen short in practice, and young people's rights to education, family life, health and childhood are not met.

Children's rights to basic things they need to thrive can seem somewhat irrelevant in the UK, where the majority enjoy a good standard of living. When an unaccompanied child in a refugee camp has no access to vaccinations, education and safety, it seems a more cut-and-dried human rights issue than when a young person has such challenging behaviour they are isolated by well-meaning professionals from other children. Yet both are violations of rights.

Part of the problem is that the rights framework is not always a living part of the fabric of practitioners and policymakers' work, and can't fulfil its role as a safety net, reminding us of the standards we all must guarantee to every child whatever their circumstances.

The point about rights is that they do not discriminate. Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that everyone under 18 has these rights. They are not bestowed upon those deemed to deserve them nor can they be taken away as a result of challenging behaviour.

When the UNCRC evaluated the UK's performance on children's rights earlier this year, it expressed "serious concerns" about the UK government's failure to prioritise children's needs. It took particular issue with the UK's record on children's mental health and singled out the lack of support for the emotional and mental wellbeing of children in care as an area urgently needing improvement.

Worryingly, the Children and Social Work Bill currently going through parliament has clauses that could potentially remove rights for children enshrined in national legislation by allowing local authorities to opt out of statutory duties at the say-so of the Secretary of State. While the intent is to allow local innovation and encourage creative solutions to bureaucratic problems, this loophole could be used to remove costly services and de-prioritise support for some of the least powerful parts of the population.

Even if it is not the intent, this risk must be acknowledged by government and adequate safeguards put in place. The bill must do more to uphold children's rights. For example, it could put the mental health needs of children in care at the heart of health commissioning by placing a duty on local authorities and the NHS to promote physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing of looked-after children. It could also strengthen corporate parenting principles to emphasise the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing. This would deepen the sense of responsibility that those funding and commissioning health services feel for all looked-after children.

Given the importance of rights to children's lives, we need to ensure they are used, upheld and protected. As we prepare to exit the European Union we must look long and hard at government proposals so that human rights laws are not diluted. Great Britain was the first signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights back in 1950. But Theresa May has said the UK should withdraw, and that the Human Rights Act should be replaced with a UK Bill of Rights, which many fear could be a flimsier concoction. The human rights group Liberty was unequivocal in its response to these plans, saying the European Convention is the "most successful system for the enforcement of human rights in the history of the world, and every day it helps bring freedom, justice and the Rule of Law to 820 million people".

Liberty has raised concerns about clauses 29-33 in the Children and Social Work Bill too, saying they "allow the subversion of the rule of law and proper parliamentary process". Several children's charities have also pointed to deep concerns about the bill's clauses and the risk that children's rights are removed.

For children with complex needs, for children living in care, for children living in the most challenging circumstances, these protections are not just nice to have. They are essential.

Anna Feuchtwang is chief executive at the National Children's Bureau