New Act will benefit most vulnerable children

Last year I dedicated much of my time, inside and out of Parliament, to meeting and working with the huge number of people that make the Children’s Hearings system work throughout.

It was right that we did everything possible to ensure we had the correct legislation, so I was delighted for all concerned when the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act received royal assent on January 6.

It has been a longstanding goal of mine to strengthen and modernise the Children’s Hearings system to support all those involved in it. 43,614 children’s hearings were held in 2010. And more than 2,500 panel members in Scotland give up their time to make decisions in the best interests of the most vulnerable children and young people in their communities. Indeed I just launched the last panel member recruitment campaign last autumn.

I have worked closely with key representatives within the Children’s Hearings system to ensure that this Act and our wider reform programme build on Kilbrandon’s principles and link with the Getting it right for every child approach. In doing so I have been very careful to protect the treasured ethos of the existing Children’s Hearings system.

The finished Act upholds its key objective of promoting children’s rights and ensuring that children and young people are central to the process throughout their time in the hearings system. It will also introduce a number of significant structural and procedural changes including the creation of the role of 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. The process of recruiting the first National Convener is underway.

These changes will affect a huge number and wide range of people who come into contact with the Children’s Hearings system. So, I would encourage you to take a few minutes to look at our website which will give you more information on some of the key changes that the Act will bring about in the near future.

Adam Ingram Minister for Children & the Early Years