Aberlour, a leading Scottish Children’s Charity is calling for greater provision for the views of children to be heard, either in person or through an advocate, when they come before a children’s panel. The Scottish Parliament debates new laws around the hearings system today (16th June).
Aberlour Child Care Trust are calling for The Children’s Hearing (Scotland) Bill to be amended by Parliament to ensure that the make up and conduct of children’s hearings make it easier for children to ask questions freely, express their views and understand that where possible their views will be taken into consideration and acted upon.
We work with over 6,000 children and young people every year, many of whom come into contact with the hearings system and have joined other children’s charities in calls for children to have the opportunity to choose whether to accept the free services of a trained advocate, capable of helping them best articulate their point of view.
Speaking in advance of the debate, Aberlour’s head of Policy Alex Cole-Hamilton said:
“We have a great deal to be proud of in our hearings system and Aberlour is confident that in the main, the Bill before Parliament goes some way to strengthening the work of our panels. It is imperative however that Parliament not lose sight of the overall effect this bill will have on the young people who go through the system. To ensure that contact with the hearing’s system is as positive an experience as possible for the child in question, we must take every step necessary to ensure that we create an open, transparent and comfortable environment in our children’s panels, where the views of the children before them are freely expressed and acted upon.
“This is the first substantive change to policy around hearings for a very long time, as such it is reasonable to suspect that once enacted this legislation will set the context for children’s hearings over the next decade and beyond, which is why we’ve got to get this right.”