Children's right to be heard

Also called Article 12, UNCRC Article 12, Voice of the child, Participation rights, Section 19 Children and Families Act

Every child has the right to express a view on decisions about them and have it given due weight. A child who communicates differently does not lose that right; the adults gain a duty.

What it is

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says that a child who is capable of forming a view has the right to express it freely in all matters affecting them, and that the view must be given due weight according to the child's age and maturity. Article 13 adds the right to express it in any medium of the child's choice. The UK ratified the Convention in 1991; Scotland incorporated it into domestic law in 2024, and Wales requires ministers to have regard to it.

In England, section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 requires councils to have regard to the views, wishes and feelings of the child in everything they do under the SEND part of the Act, and the Children Act 1989 requires the same in care and family proceedings.

Who it can help

Every child, from the earliest age. The UN Committee has been explicit that the youngest children and children with disabilities are covered, and that a child who cannot express a view in words must be given the means to express it in other ways. That is the crucial sentence for a non-speaking child, an autistic child, a Deaf child or a child with a learning disability: the right is theirs, and the duty to find the method is everyone else's.

The right is to be heard, not to decide. A four-year-old's view about where to live is heard and weighed, not followed. But "we did not ask because she cannot talk" is a breach, at any age.

How it works

The people making a decision, a school, a council, a social worker, a court, a doctor, must create a way for the child to give their view. For a child who uses AAC that means the device in the room and time to use it; for a young child, play, drawing, photographs and Talking Mats; for a Deaf child, a BSL interpreter; for a child with a profound learning disability, careful observation of what they turn towards and away from, recorded by someone who knows them. Then the view is written down, in the child's own words or medium, and the decision explains what weight it was given and why.

In EHCP processes in England the child's views are meant to be in Section A; in child protection, in the assessment and the conference minutes; in family court, through the guardian. In every case the test is whether the child's own contribution is visible in the record.

Getting started

Before any meeting about a child, plan how they will contribute, even if they will not attend. Ask the child, in their mode, three things: what is going well, what is not, and what they want to change. Use their board, their signs, a drawing, a Talking Mat, a video on a phone. Bring it to the meeting and ask for it to be put in the record as the child's view.

For a child who uses a talking board, put the words they need in reach: I want, I don't want, more, stop, school, home, friend, worried, happy. The Talk board's feelings and needs sets cover a lot of this and the child can speak them aloud in the meeting. If the professionals say the child's view was not sought because of their communication, ask, in writing, what method they tried.

Where to get help

Council for Disabled Children leads on participation of disabled children and publishes practical guides. IPSEA covers the section 19 duty in SEND. Contact supports families. National Deaf Children's Society for Deaf children's participation. Ambitious about Autism for autistic young people's voice. See also the right to communicate and self-advocacy.