Tops Day Nurseries is proud to support a national open letter calling on the Prime Minister to strengthen children’s rights by embedding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into UK law.
The letter, supported by more than 160 organizations from across the children’s, education, health and voluntary sectors, highlights the importance of ensuring that every decision affecting children considers their rights, wellbeing and future opportunities. Cheryl Hadland, Chair of GECCO, Shoots Training Ltd and Tops Day Nurseries, has joined the coalition in urging the Government to take meaningful action towards creating a more preventative, child-centred approach to policymaking.
At Tops Day Nurseries, we believe every child deserves the best possible start in life. Early childhood is one of the most important stages of development, shaping children’s learning, health, confidence and wellbeing for years to come. As early years professionals, we see every day how the right support at the right time can make a lasting difference. Investing in children early not only benefits individual families but also creates healthier communities and a stronger future for society as a whole.
This is why we support calls to ensure children’s rights are considered in decisions made across Government.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international agreement that sets out the rights every child should enjoy, regardless of where they live or their background.
These rights include:
The UK ratified the UNCRC in 1991, recognising its commitment to protecting children’s rights. However, many organisations believe there is still more that can be done to ensure these rights are consistently considered when laws, policies and public services are developed.
The open letter highlights the importance of building a more preventative state, where children’s needs are considered before problems arise rather than responding after harm has occurred. For families, this means creating systems that support children from the earliest years through investment in education, healthcare, childcare, family services and community support.
Research consistently shows that investing in early childhood leads to better educational outcomes, improved health, stronger communities and reduced long-term social and economic costs. High-quality early years education plays a significant role in helping children develop the confidence, communication skills, emotional resilience and curiosity that form the foundations for lifelong learning.
One of the key recommendations within the letter is placing Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) on a statutory footing. A Child Rights Impact Assessment helps policymakers consider how proposed laws or decisions could affect children before they are introduced. This ensures children’s voices, needs and rights are part of the decision-making process from the very beginning.
The letter also references recommendations made by the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, which highlighted the importance of ensuring children’s rights are properly considered during both national emergencies and everyday policymaking.
Supporting children goes beyond providing outstanding early years education. At Tops Day Nurseries, our colleagues work every day to nurture children’s learning, wellbeing and development through play-based experiences, outdoor learning, healthy lifestyles and meaningful relationships. Our approach has always been centred around putting children first, helping every child feel safe, valued and supported while giving families the confidence that their children are receiving the highest quality care and education.
Supporting this open letter reflects those same values. We believe that when children’s rights are considered across all areas of society, children are better able to thrive both inside and outside the nursery environment.
The organisations behind the open letter are encouraging the Government to:
These recommendations aim to ensure that children’s rights remain central to decisions that affect their lives now and in the future.
Below is the full open letter submitted to the Prime Minister and supported by more than 160 organisations, including Cheryl Hadland, Chair of GECCO, Shoots Training Ltd and Tops Day Nurseries.
Dear Prime Minister,
Re: Rewiring the Country for Children: Embedding Children’s Rights to Build a more Preventative State
Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister. We wish you every success in your new role, and we hope your tenure will mark a renewed commitment to protecting and promoting children’s rights in line with the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). As organisations committed to advancing children’s rights across the UK, we urge your government to be bold and ambitious in this regard.
The most effective way to realise UNCRC rights is through full incorporation into domestic law. This would ensure that impacts to children are considered and their rights are prioritised when developing laws, policies and public services that affect their lives. It also supports a more preventative approach, helping to improve health, education and life chances for children before problems become costly and difficult to address. In delivering your ambition to “build a more preventative state”, incorporation could be a defining reform that embeds children’s success and opportunity across government.
While we have seen greater recognition of children’s rights in law in Scotland1, Wales and Jersey, children living in England – and across the UK on reserved matters An important first step towards incorporation is placing Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIA) on a statutory footing. Mandatory CRIAs would further the objectives of the UNCRC by ensuring a child rights lens is applied to decision-making across government at an early stage, helping to identify, avoid and mitigate policies that risk harming children. They also provide an important platform to directly consider children’s views and improve the participation of children and young people in policymaking.
As you are aware, the UK COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated injustices and disparities for children across society. The public inquiry examining the pandemic has evidenced the extent to which children were overlooked in decision making, causing significant harm across many aspects of their lives. In its Module 2 report, the Inquiry made a clear recommendation for CRIAs to be placed on a statutory footing. The Inquiry recognised CRIAs as important mechanisms for ensuring children’s rights are properly considered, during times of national crisis, but also in day-to-day policymaking.
More than 160 organisations from across the children’s sector have supported calls for statutory CRIAs, reflecting the breadth of support for this important reform. While we welcomed the previous administration’s commitment to raising awareness and understanding of children’s rights and the use of CRIAs across government, we were disappointed that it ultimately rejected the Inquiry’s recommendation. While CRIAs remain voluntary, practice will continue to be highly inconsistent with children’s rights and voices frequently not considered.
As the new Prime Minister, we hope your government will seize this opportunity to demonstrate that children’s rights are at the heart of your agenda. You can do this by:
• Accepting the COVID-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 recommendation to place CRIA on a statutory footing – reconsidering the previous administration’s position
• Setting out a clear roadmap towards full incorporation of the UNCRC into UK law in your 10-year plan for Britain.
These steps would demonstrate your government’s commitment to learning lessons from the pandemic and to ensuring that children’s rights are never again overlooked in decision-making. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our recommendations and how we can work together to build a more preventative state that invests in children’s success and opportunity through a rights-based approach across government.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
At Tops, we remain committed to creating environments where every child can learn, grow and flourish.
Whether through high-quality early years education, sustainable practices, healthy nutrition, Forest School experiences or partnerships that strengthen children’s wellbeing, our focus is always on giving children the strongest possible foundations for life.
We are proud to stand alongside organisations across the UK in supporting initiatives that place children’s rights, opportunities and futures at the heart of decision-making.
We believe every child deserves the best possible start in life. Supporting this campaign reflects our commitment to children’s wellbeing, early education and ensuring children’s rights are considered in decisions that affect them.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty that sets out the rights every child should have, including rights relating to education, health, protection, participation and development.
A Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) helps policymakers understand how proposed decisions may affect children before those decisions are implemented.
The first five years of life are critical for children’s learning, emotional development, communication and future wellbeing. High-quality early years education helps children build the skills and confidence they need for school and later life.
Everything we do is centred around supporting children’s development, wellbeing and happiness. Supporting this campaign aligns with our mission to provide exceptional early years education while advocating for positive outcomes for children across society.
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