Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011: 2011 asp 1

Format:

Corporate Author:

Scotland Scottish Parliament

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

The purpose of the Act is to modernise and streamline the operation of the children's hearings system, deliver greater national consistency and simplify the provisions for warrants and orders. It is also intended to ensure that the system is robust in the face of developments in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act restates much of the existing law on children's hearings, removing it from the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The main change is the establishment of a new NDPB, "Children's Hearings Scotland" to take on the functions of Children's Panel Advisory Committees (CPACs), local authority functions relating to local training and paying expenses, and functions of Ministers in relation to recruitment, appointment and national training of panel members. Instead of 32 separate children's panels there will be a single panel appointed by a National Convener. In addition, there are various changes to the hearings process including a rationalising of warrants and orders, modernising the grounds for referral and providing for a national scheme through the civil legal aid system for state funded legal representation in children's hearings and associated court proceedings.