2. Please provide clarification on the status of the Convention in relation to national law. Can the provisions of the Convention be invoked in court and have they been taken into account in judicial decisions?

3. Please provide details of Parliament's consideration of the adoption of legislation on the rights of the child for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

4. In the light of the declaration made by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the moment of ratification of the Convention, that it reserves the right to extend the Convention at a later date to any territory for whose international relations the Government of the United Kingdom is responsible, please provide information on the steps taken or envisaged to ensure the implementation of the Convention in these territories.

5. What plans are there for promoting a dialogue both with the relevant NGOs and with the wider public about how far children's rights are currently being respected and of additional measures to be taken to further promote and protect those rights?

6. Are there any plans to establish a Commissioner on Children's Rights or any similar ombudsman mechanism in this field?

7. Please provide information on measures taken to develop a system for collecting comprehensive statistical data and other necessary information about the status of children to enable the Government to monitor the implementation of the Convention and to design programmes for improving the situation of children.

8. Has the particular impact on children of the emergency legislation in Northern Ireland been assessed? What measures have been taken to deal with the complaints that children have been harassed, in the streets, by security forces?

9. Please indicate what proportion of the budget at both central and local levels is allocated to social priorities for children. What indicators or target figures are used in this context?

10. What overall policy programme exists to address the problem of child poverty? Does the Government have a strategy for tackling this problem in line with its obligations under article 27 of the Convention, relating to the right of a child to an adequate standard of living, and article 4 of the Convention concerning the obligation of the State to undertake measures to implement economic, social and cultural rights to the maximum extent of available resources?

11. What plans does the Government have to meet its commitment to achieve the target of 0.7% of GNP for the aid budget and is there any commitment to divert a greater proportion to human priorities?

12. What strategies have been developed or are envisaged to address problems facing children from minority ethnic communities especially in relation to their over-representation in public care situations, cases of school exclusion and living in poverty?

13. Please indicate to what extent the provisions of article 2 of the Convention, concerning non-discrimination, are covered in national legislation, in particular with regard to the State party respecting and ensuring the rights set forth in the Convention, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's social origin, property, disability, birth and other status.

14. Are there any plans to introduce legislation to eliminate racism and racial discrimination in Northern Ireland?

Best interest of the child (Art. 3)

15. Paragraph 98 of the report indicates that in some of the areas which affect the life of a child very significantly, such as health and education, there is an implicit acceptance of the principle of the best interests of the child, although there is no reference to it as such in the relevant legislation. Does the Government intend to amend the law in order to take account of the best interests of the child in all the areas affecting him or her and for all parts of the United Kingdom?

Right to life, survival and development (Art. 6)

16. What measures are planned to address the problem of social class and regional differentials in the incidence of infant mortality?

Respect for the views of the child (Art. 12)

17. What measures are being taken in the education system to implement article 12 of the Convention both in respect of the child's right to participate in decisions that individually affect him or her, and also in respect of the right to participate in the development of school policy and administration? What information is available to children to ensure that they are able to exercise their right to complain (paragraph 137 of the report)? What measures are being taken to ensure that affected children have the right to be heard in all administrative procedures within the education system - e.g. school choice and school exclusion appeals and special education assessment and appeals?

20. With reference to paragraph 228 of the report it is indicated that in Northern Ireland the common law provides that a father is recognized as the natural guardian of his children and that the Guardianship of Infants Act 1886 conferred limited rights on a mother to apply to the courts for custody and access. Is the Government considering amending this legislation in order to ensure its conformity with the provisions of article 18 of the Convention relating to equal parental responsibilities?

21. What plans are there to improve the visiting arrangements for children whose parents are in prison?

22. What concrete action is the Government taking to ensure that article 19 of the Convention is fully implemented, including in the home and in private schools?

23. What further measures are planned in order to prevent sexual abuse? Have studies been undertaken concerning the causes of such abuse and have programmes been developed to help abusers and to rehabilitate children who have been the victims of such abuse?

25. Are the policies of the Department of Health directed towards tackling the high level of teenage pregnancies, and the policies of the Department for Education directed towards sex education fully coordinated? Is information given in schools about the risks of HIV infection and AIDS? Will legislation relating to education be reviewed in the light of the Government's health targets and the Convention's principles?

26. The Government's report does not address the problem of homelessness and its effects on children. What strategies is the Government adopting in response to this situation?

27. What further measures are planned to ensure that the rights of disabled children are fully promoted in all parts of the United Kingdom, in line with the provisions of the Convention, particularly its article 23.

29. Does the Government monitor the extent to which contributions are being required of parents towards the costs of education? If so, what has been the trend in this regard in recent years?

30. What steps are being taken to ensure that the right to play, leisure and recreation is implemented for all children, including in particular, those living in poor inner city areas and those in Northern Ireland?

31. How is it ensured that the "best interests of the child" are reflected in refugee status determination procedures? How is it ensured that children asylum seekers, some of whom are detained, have access to adequate legal representation in addition to consultation with the Panel of Advisors?

32. Please indicate how the principle of the best interests of the child is taken into account in the implementation of the Nationality and Immigration Act, especially with regard to family reunification.

33. As concerns the use of accelerated immigration procedures on "safe third country" grounds, please provide the Committee with information and statistics on how many children have been subject to these procedures? What criteria are employed to determine that a country is indeed a "safe third country"?

34. For unaccompanied children who are removed from the UK to another country on "safe third country" or other grounds, how do you ensure that appropriate return and reception arrangements are in place in the country to which the child is returned?

35. Please provide the Committee with information and statistics concerning how frequently children who are granted Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) are authorized on an exceptional basis to be allowed reunification with their families? Also, how long, on average, do unaccompanied children have to wait in order to be granted family reunification (paragraphs 534-535 of the report)?

36. What research is being undertaken to evaluate the impact of the violence in Northern Ireland on children as a basis for developing policies to counter its harmful effects? Have any specific measures been taken in Northern Ireland to support children in such situations particularly in light of article 39 of the Convention? What strategies are being developed to promote greater integration amongst children from the different communities?

37. Are there any plans to revise the legislation on recruitment to the armed services to ensure that in any recruitment of under-18 year old priority is given to the oldest? Will the Government consider raising to 18 the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces?

(b) Children in conflict with the law (Arts. 37, 39 and 40 of the Convention)

38. In light of articles 37 and 39 of the Convention and taking into account the principle of the best interests of the child, please provide further information as to the measures taken to ensure that the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child is only used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.

39. Please provide information on the total number of children deprived of their liberty, on the kinds of institutions in which children may be deprived of their liberty and the reasons for such deprivation of liberty. In addition, please provide further information on: how the conditions in such institutions are monitored; whether there are complaints procedures in cases of ill-treatment; and whether personnel in these institutions have received training about the provisions of the Convention and other relevant international instruments.

40. In view of the information contained in paragraphs 558-563 of the report, and in light of article 37 (d) of the Convention, please provide further indications of the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the child deprived of his or her liberty has prompt access to legal or other appropriate assistance, the right to challenge the legality of his or her deprivation of liberty before a court and to a prompt decision thereon.

41. Concerning the implementation of article 40, para. 2, of the Convention, please provide clarification, in particular, as to the offences for which juveniles may be presented before an adult court and the measures taken to ensure that the right of juveniles to have their privacy fully respected at all stages of the proceedings are respected (paragraphs 548-552 of the report).

42. With regard to the implementation of article 40, para 3 (a) of the Convention which invites States to establish a minimum age below which children shall be presumed not to have capacity to infringe the penal law, and in light of the principle of the best interests of the child, please provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged by the Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility for all children in the United Kingdom?

43. Please provide details about the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill being considered by Parliament concerning the ways in which it will empower courts to place secure training orders on 12 to 14 year old children? Please provide further information generally about the proposed establishment of training centres.

44. Please provide further details of the juvenile justice system in Northern Ireland, especially as regards the use of the training school order (paragraph 579 of the report).

(c) Children in situations of exploitation, including physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration (art. 39) (Arts. 32 and 33 of the Convention)

45. Please indicate whether the Government plans to ratify the ILO Conventions relating to children, particularly ILO Convention No.138?

46. What further programmes are being developed to tackle the growth of drug abuse amongst younger children?

d. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group (Art. 30 of the Convention)

47. Has the Convention on the Rights of the Child been made available in the main minority languages of the different areas forming the United Kingdom (paragraph 623)?

48. What measures are being taken to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller families and their children are not evicted from caravan sites?