Scottish Government

The Scottish Government is immensely proud of, and committed to, the Children's Hearings System. It is an integral part of our work to improve outcomes for all children and young people in Scotland.

Bill update

After nine months of Parliamentary scrutiny and a great deal of hard work the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Bill was finally passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 November! We await Royal Assent early in the New Year which will turn the Bill into an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

Upon Parliament's passing of the Bill, the Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram said:-

"I am delighted that Parliament has voted through these reforms that will ensure our most vulnerable children receive the protection and support they need. Our unique, welfare-based Children's Hearings system needs to be ready to deal with the youngsters who need its support, through compulsory measures of care and protection, consistently across the country.

This system - in which local lay people make decisions to improve the lives of local young people - remains the best way of offering support, but children and families today are facing significantly different challenges and circumstances from when it was created.

This legislation means we will have a modernised system fit for the future, building on the principles set down more than 40 years ago."

We hope you were able to follow the Stage 3 proceedings but just in case you missed it you can view the official reports covering both days here:-

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/41-ChildrensHearing/index.htm

Key elements of Bill as passed

We have provided an attachment at the annex to this newsletter which sets out some of the key elements of the Bill as passed by Parliament. Of course there is much more to the Bill than just these elements so please do get in touch with the team if you have any queries.

National Convener post

You will be pleased to learn that we commenced the recruitment process to appoint the first National Convener/Chief Executive Officer (NC/CEO) of Children's Hearings Scotland (CHS) on 26 November! The closing date for applications is 23 December and we aim to have Scotland's first ever National Convener in post next spring.

If you are interested in reading more about the role please follow the link below:-

http://applications.work-for-scotland.org/ospso/job_search_view.aspx?jobId=17&JobIndex=1&NumberOfJobs=1

Working with partners 1 - Strategic Project Board

The Strategic Project Board was due to meet on 7 December but, unfortunately, this had to be postponed due to the recent inclement weather. The meeting has been rescheduled for 11 January instead.

Working with partners 2 - Implementation Working Group (IWG)

The IWG last met on 14 December during which topics discussed included progress with the legal representative scheme, the experience of the child throughout the hearings system and the secondary legislation programme.

The group will reconvene in early February to discuss progress on preparing detailed information for the National Convener's consideration and progress on secondary legislation.

Working with partners 3 - Voice of the Child Sub-Group

The Voice of the Child Sub-Group last met on 13 December. The main topic for discussion was the experience of the child throughout the hearings system.

The group discussed advocacy at length and agreed to undertake some initial work on what advocacy support is needed for the Children's Hearings system in the context of the Bill's provisions. The group also discussed the involvement of children and young people in the appointment of the first National Convener and the use of existing children and young people's reference groups.

This group is due to meet again in late February.

Membership of Groups

Membership of the working groups mentioned above can be found via the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/c-h-bill/ProjBrd

And finally….

We are very sad to be saying goodbye to Phil Reid who is leaving the Scottish Government after an impressive 28 years' service, eight of them in children's hearings policy. We are sure you will join us in wishing Phil the very best for the future!

Keep in touch!

Remember that you can reach us by e-mail: chbillteam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Or by post:-

Children's Hearings Reform Team, Scottish Government

2-C (North), Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ

Or call us:-

Bill enquiries - 0131 244 5409

Communications & partner engagement enquiries - 0131 244 5483

We hope that you enjoy the festive period and we will be in touch again in the New Year!________________________________________________

ANNEX A

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE CHILDREN'S HEARINGS (SCOTLAND) BILL

The reforms will strengthen and modernise the children's hearings system, focusing on improving outcomes for children and young people by addressing their needs and promoting their rights.

The Bill and wider reforms build on the Kilbrandon principles and link with the Getting it right for every child approach, thereby protecting the ethos of the existing Children's Hearings system. The Bill also maintains and supports locally recruited panel members who are best placed to make decisions for children in their community.

The main structural elements of the Bill include:-

• the creation of the role of the National Convener, who will, for the first time, act as a figurehead for panel members and ensure they are consistently supported to a high standard;
• a dedicated national body, Children's Hearings Scotland (CHS). CHS will support the National Convener in the delivery of his/her functions associated with: the recruitment, selection, training, retention and support of panel members. This will result in panel members being better equipped to determine the best possible outcomes for children in hearings no matter where in Scotland the child lives;
• the establishment of area support teams by the National Convener in collaboration with local authorities that will support the Hearings system at a local level - the Bill places a requirement on the National Convener to obtain the consent of (rather than consult) local authorities before establishing an area support team;
• allowing existing Ministerially appointed Children's Panel Advisory Committee (CPAC) members to transfer across to the relevant area support team;
• giving each local authority the right to appoint a member of an area support team, in addition to the power to make further suggestions for appointment that the National Convener must consider whilst making clear that the majority of area support teams members must be National Convener rather than local authority appointees - in the same way as Ministerial appointees must be the majority on CPACs at present;
• requiring a member of the children's panel to be a member of each area support team so as to enable them to carry out the kind of role that local panel chair's currently do;
• making clear that area support teams rather than the National Convener will take responsibility for rota management;
• the creation of a national children's panel instead; and,
• the creation of a national Safeguarder panel to improve consistency and standards and improve understanding within the system of the role.

The Bill strengthens and promotes children's rights putting the child at the centre of the hearings system by:-

• providing for the development of an advocacy service, specifically for children in the hearings system, for the first time. It will ensure that children can access the support they need before, during and after a hearing - so not just in the hearing itself;
• including provisions which amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act to ensure that offence grounds accepted or established in children's hearings are no longer classed as a "conviction" but as an "alternative to prosecution" (ATP). These provisions ensure that all children who accept offence grounds or have them established, or have done so in the past, have the disposal treated as an ATP. Low level offences will no longer be disclosed automatically on disclosure certificates. A child or young person will know the implications of accepting relevant offence grounds that have disclosure implications before the grounds hearings;
• involving children in the appointment of both the National Convener and Principal Reporter of SCRA and in panel member training;
• providing the hearing with the power to withhold information from a child when it considers that its release to that person would place the child's welfare at risk. This should allow children to feel safe and comfortable in expressing any views;
• ensuring the views of children are taken into account by clarifying in children's hearings rules that the views of the child must be conveyed to panel members in the papers prepared for a hearing. Provision is also included to place the chair of a children's hearing under a duty to ask the child who is the subject of the hearing whether the documents provided to the child prior to the hearing (such as social work reports) accurately reflect any views expressed by the child;
• replacing the "interim" legal representation scheme with a permanent scheme in order to ensure that those who need help, children and relevant persons, can participate effectively in a Hearing;
• introducing transparency to the decision making process around secure accommodation and providing a right of appeal against their decisions the child and relevant persons;
• including provision for a 'feedback loop' to permit the collection of information about the implementation of compulsory supervision orders in order to improve communication and understanding between local authorities and panel members, via the National Convener; and,
• strengthening the power of Hearings to hold local authorities to account concerning the implementation of decisions made by the hearing. Under the Bill, when a children's hearing directs the National Convener to apply for an order, the National Convener must comply. However, there will still be ample opportunity for the local authority to resolve the situation without court action being required.

Next steps

Having successfully completed the Parliamentary process the Bill awaits Royal Assent and enactment in January 2011.

In the meantime, the Implementation working group will continue to identify priorities and timescales and will progress the detailed work that is required to develop secondary legislation.

In terms of wider implementation we are still aiming for the new arrangements to be fully in place around mid-2012.