Government 'failing to act over vulnerable children's rights'

In its State of Children's Rights 2016 report the Children's Rights Alliance for England coalition has criticised the government for failing to take "decisive action" on warnings made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in June that the UK is not doing enough to prioritise children.

Among concerns is the treatment of children with mental health problems, who according to the report are increasingly being treated on adult wards, despite the practice being prohibited.

CRAE gathered Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from 33 NHS trusts and foundations in England that found that 202 children were admitted to adult mental health wards in 2015/16, an increase of 43 per cent on 2011/12's figures.

Another concern backed with new figures in the report is the "poor treatment" of children when they come into contact with the police.

Based on FOI requests to 44 police forces across England and Wales, the use of tasers on children has increased by 25 per cent over the last two years. They were used 538 times during 2015 and fired in 43 cases, with the youngest being 12 years old.

Last month, CRAE revealed a 12-fold increase in the use of tasers on children in London over the last eight years.

The use of "spit hoods" on children is also condemned in the report. These mesh-like bags with a drawstring are placed over heads and were used at least 24 times on children in England in the first nine months of 2016, according to further FOI requests gathered by CRAE.

Other recommendations centre around the rights of children living in poverty, including a call to halt the placing of homeless families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation.

The report says 3,390 such families lived in this form of accommodation in June 2016, a third of whom were there for more than six weeks.

CRAE director Louise King said: "Our report reveals that the government has ignored the UN committee's urgent calls to protect the basic needs and rights of some of our most vulnerable children including those suffering from poor mental health, living in B&Bs and treated badly by the police. ?

"The government must take immediate steps to tackle the increasing failure to protect the human rights of children in England. ?CRAE is calling on the government to introduce a child rights duty on public authorities so that when decisions are made which affect children, their rights are properly taken into consideration. This would ensure that the welfare of vulnerable children can no longer be ignored."

The government is also accused of regressing in relation to its treatment of refugee children. Ministers are accused of creating a "hostile environment" for this vulnerable group by prioritising "immigration control over children's welfare".

Just 22 per cent of unaccompanied children were granted refugee status in 2015, the report notes.