This our moment to do better for our children. It is time to keep that promise

The history of the Children’s Hearings System is a uniquely Scottish story.

More than 50 years ago, since Lord Kilbrandon reported, our country has taken a distinctly welfarebased approach to children who need some state intervention in their lives.

The Kilbrandon Report established the principle of “needs not deeds” and determined that all children in need of some kind of compulsory state intervention, regardless of reason, were equally in need of care and protection.

The report was the basis of the Children’s Hearings System, which began operating in 1971 and is, in theory, the primary place where the voices of children – and their families – are heard about fundamental aspects of their lives, at critical decision points.

There have been some modernisations over the years, but it has functioned relatively unchanged for five decades. There’s always been a sense of national pride in the legacy of Kilbrandon, although in practice, not all children and families do enjoy the same treatment.

The Independent Care Review, which published the promise report in February 2020 and of which I was the chairwoman, spoke to thousands of children, families and those in the workforce – including panel members – about their experiences.

Many spoke about the hearings system and there were a range of experiences, positive and less so.

Children and young people talked about the frightening and intimidating correspondence that “compels” them to appear – language that is a Children’s Hearings System requirement.

Some children felt listened to by the panel, but how this often meant re-telling – and therefore re-living – painful stories.

Many were unhappy that panel meetings take place during school hours, and the stigma of being taken out of classes to attend.

Families reported panels lacked an understanding of the circumstances of their daily lives and the trauma they had experienced, as they rarely reflected, sociographically, the people before them.

Foster carers talked about being excluded from meetings. Panel members who are all volunteers, talked about how they didn’t always feel part of an organisation or listened to, with concerns not always followed up. Their responsibility is a heavy one – they are making decisions that can change lives, yet their relationship with Children’s Hearings Scotland is complex and provides little structure for accountability. The workforce talked of the bureaucracy and time it took to produce the paperwork the panel needed, and how the increase in families introducing lawyers to hearings was creating new challenges.

Scotland must do better – and it can.

There is rightly significant support for the underlying principles that underpin the hearings system, from children and families to panel members.

The Promise report outlined what the Care Review heard must change and The Promise Scotland, the independent body tasked with driving that change, has laid out how it can be done.

There is unprecedented commitment from those that need to change first and most. There is crossparty support for change.

This working group, charged with redesigning the hearings system to place children and families with lived experience at its heart, is important for what it will do and important for what it signifies.

This is Scotland’s moment to do better for its children and families.

This is what it means to #Keepthepromise.