Response to Report on Redesigning Children’s Hearings
The Scottish Government’s Minister for Keeping the Promise, Natalie Don, has welcomed a landmark independent report that sets out more than 100 recommendations for transforming Scotland’s unique children’s hearings system.
‘Hearings for Children’ has been developed following a 20-month review of the children’s hearings system and how it can be reformed to better support children needing care and protection.
The work has been led by Sheriff David Mackie, the Promise Scotland and the Hearings System Working Group (HSWG) and follows on from the publication of the Independent Care Review (The Promise), which recommended a review and redesign.
The Scottish Government will now take the time necessary to carefully consider the proposals contained within the report before responding later in the year.
Background
The HSWG was set up by the Promise Scotland in the summer of 2021 to Keep the Promise with regard to the redesign of the current children’s hearings system. It is a partnership between Children’s Hearings Scotland, Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration and The Promise Scotland and is independent of the Scottish Government.
The Promise is the outcome of the Independent Care Review and was published in 2020. The Scottish Government signed up to all of the conclusions set out in the review and set out the actions we would take in The Promise Implementation Plan published in March 2022. This included a commitment to a review of the children’s hearings system.
I’m Graeme’s Parliamentary Assistant based at Holyrood, but I support his constituency work as well. Having been Caseworker to an Aberdeenshire MP some years prior, joining Graeme's team in 2019 was a return to this line of work from a role in fundraising.