SIAA have responded to the Scottish Government’s Children’s hearings redesign consultation. Scotland’s unique children’s hearings system offers legal protections to children and young people who are in need or at risk, and who require its support. The consultation focusses on areas which may require changes to the law. The Scottish Government outline their first three policy aims in the consultation paper as follows;
- To ensure that the children’s hearings system meets the needs, and respects the rights, of all the children and families it serves.
- To ensure that the processes of the children’s hearings system support children and families to properly participate and engage – with the referred child always at the centre.
- To minimise the obligations and expectations on children and families to prepare for, and to attend proceedings – while preserving essential rights and participation protections.
Independent advocacy is ready made to support the realisation of these aims. For the redesign of Scotland’s children’s hearings system to be successful in protecting and upholding the human rights of children and families, independent advocacy must be strengthened. When sustainably resourced, independent advocacy expands understanding of human rights, enables accountability mechanisms and embeds participation creating the context for services to uphold right, understand children and families’ views and for people to feel truly listened to and included.
In our response, SIAA welcomed the mention of advocacy in the consultation under 5.5 The offer of advocacy to the child. However, we stressed our disappointed that ‘independent advocacy’ has not been named or defined. This is concerning as we know from our members who deliver independent advocacy within the children’s hearings system that the Scottish Government has enabled high quality funding, collaboration and delivery of independent advocacy.
SIAA calls for redesigned children’s hearings system
SIAA call on the Scottish Government to implement SIAA’s specific recommendations in a redesigned children’s hearings system;
- Include an explicit right of access to independent advocacy for children within legislative change.
- Use guidance to adopt an ‘opt-out’ signposting pathway for independent advocacy provided in connection with children’s hearings.
- Adopt the definition of independent advocacy agreed by SIAA members and include it in redesign guidance and any future legislation connected with children’s hearings.
- Increase understanding of independent advocacy as a supported decision-making tool, particularly for very young children and babies.
- Sustainably increase provision of and resourcing for independent advocacy organisations.
For more on each of these calls you can read our consultation response in full on our Information Hub.
Further reading
Find out more about current provision of independent advocacy for children’s hearings.
