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There is a recognised need for children, young people and families with experience of poverty to be active participants in planning to tackle the drivers of child poverty. Glasgow has a long history of involving children and families in planning, but meaningful participation requires thoughtful planning and adequate resource as well as a clear understanding of what helps families get involved and what might stand in their way.

“Babies and children in England will get a better start in life”. That’s the kind of opening line we’d hope for in a cross-governmental child poverty strategy. We know that poverty affects children’s ability to thrive, that children growing up in poverty do less well in school, and that poorer children are more likely to have poorer mental and physical health. Tackling poverty therefore has to be at the heart of the government’s plans. However, this is the introduction to the government’s review into reducing inequalities in the first 1,001 days of life in England. And addressing poverty barely gets a look in.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The fact that more countries have volunteered to be bound by the Convention than any other international human rights treaty reflects the global endorsement of the status of children as right-holders. The UK signed up to the Convention in December 1991, but to what extent is it meeting its obligations?

Ben Lomas is the Member of Youth Parliament for St Helens. He lives in St Helens, and will begin year ten at Rainford High in September. Earlier this month, Ben brought a motion on child poverty to the Annual Conference of the Youth Parliament. We asked him about his experience.