Commissioners face joint work problems

The four UK children’s commissioners will find it difficult to work
together because of the role envisaged for the one in England, it
is feared.

Giving evidence to the joint committee on human rights, the
commissioners from Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland agreed that
the powers for the commissioner in England were weaker than their
own.

Kathleen Marshall, who took the role of commissioner for children
and young people in Scotland this week, said her England
counterpart would not have to take into account the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The lack of a common focus would make it difficult to work
together, Marshall warned, adding that it would be easier if all
the commissioners used the common language that the convention
provided.