Scotland's Children Children (Scotland) Act 1995 Implementation Newsletter No 4

Training news

Scottish Office training materials: supplement now out

As reported in Issue 3 of the Implementation Newsletter (October 1996), BAAF were commissioned by The Scottish Office to provide a supplement to the three-day trianing programme issued in early September.

This material is now ready and is intended to meet the briefing needs of two distinct audiences:

Senior managers in local authorities, for example in housing, education and possibly leisure and recreation, as well as managers in health boards and voluntary organisations; and Workers from various agencies involved in child protection, looking at the implications for their agencies of the changes in child protection duties.

Copies of the supplement will automatically be sent to those who received the Trainers’ Guide in September 1996, and further copies will be available for purchase.

For further information contact Donal Giltinan at BAAF on 0131 225 9285.

Law Society seminars

The Law Society of Scotland ran a series of five update seminars on the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 during the autumn of 1996.

The seminars were held in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness and were attended by a total of one hundred and sixty solicitors. They heard lectures from Janys Scott, Advocate, and Norman MacLeod the Assistant Principal Reporter upon the Act and the new Sheriff Court Rules.

In particular the delegates were interested in the issues surrounding the taking of children’s views both by the Sheriff in terms of Section 11 of the Act and by parents in terms of Section 6. They were particularly interested in how one should test the capacity of a child to have a view to which the court would have to have regard.

It was generally accepted that the Sheriff will be the hinge of the new procedure, all in the interests of the child. The attitudes both of the Sheriffs and of the practitioners should have to follow the policy of the Act especially in respect of the children’s own rights. One theme of many of the comments from the solicitors attending was that children have rights which they must be able to enforce - not just welfare which they are entitled to have protected.

In addition to these Law Society seminars, many local faculties have organised lectures and seminars on the Act and the Sheriff Court Rules. John Fotheringham, member of the Law Society Family Law Committee, solicitor with Ross & Connel and accredited child law specialist, spoke at Perth, Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Faculty events and chaired a number of more informal seminars.

Commenting on the events, Mr Fotheringham said: ‘It remains to be seen how much training has been given to others who may be affected by the Act, such as guidance teachers, youth organisation leaders and others who may well be asked by children to represent their views before the Sheriff in the context of a Child Welfare Hearing or otherwise’.

Children affected by HIV and AIDS

Under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, children affected by the disability of a family member are designated as ‘children in need’ along with children who themselves have a disability.

A significant number of children in Scotland are seriously affected by the presence of HIV or AIDS in their family, particularly those whose parents are living with the disease. The combination of a life-threatening and debilitating illness and the stigma that surrounds HIV and AIDS presents a series of difficulties to these children, who may not be able to seek help through the usul channels because of the secrecy surrounding the disease.

A seminar to be held in March 1997 will examine how local authorities’ new duty to provide services for children in need might be used to address the specific needs of children affected by HIV and AIDS.

For further information contact Fiona Wager or Sarah Morton at Children in Scotland on 0131 228 8484.

Family mediation seminars

On 2 December 1996, Family Mediation Scotland ran a well-attended seminar for solicitors on the new Sheriff Court Rules, posing the question: ‘Will the new rules change attitudes?’

Sheriff John Maguire QC outlined the thinking behind the rules and how their underlying principles could be fulfilled in pratice, in particular the rule relating to listening to children.

On 22 January 1997, a further seminar is planned to address the relationship between mediation and solicitors’ practice. Solicitors will be helped to find answers to their client’s queries about their responsibilities and rights in fulfilling the expectations of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Again with reference to the climate envisaged by the implementation of the Act, a seminar exploring the difficult issues of principle and practice involved in making decisions which affect children will take place on 19 February 1997.