Photo (left to right): Cllr Clare Sutton (Green), Cabinet member for Children’s Services; Cllr Duncan Sowry-House (Lib Dem); Paul Dempsey, Dorset Council executive director for Children’s Services | Photo credit: Dorset Council [taken in May 2025]
Dorset Council has unanimously backed a motion to become a Rights Respecting Authority. This formally embeds the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into its policies and practices.
Green Councillor Clare Sutton, cabinet member for children’s services, seconded the motion at the 15th May Dorset Council meeting.
The Dorset Echo reported Clare’s comments: “Ever since I was first elected I’ve had a nagging concern that children and young people are not as much at the forefront of our collective mind as they should be: they don’t email us about parking or planning issues, and they don’t get to vote.
“By passing this motion, we take a significant step towards putting them at the heart of all we do.”
Clare added later on social media: “Really proud to have been able to […] gain complete support across the Chamber.
“Children and young people are not simply our future, they are our present.”