Information for parents & carers

What is a Children’s Reporter?
The Children’s Reporter is the first contact a child or family will have with the Children’s Hearings System. They will investigate your child’s case by getting information about your child from a number of sources – they might speak to a social worker if your child has one, or their teacher. You can also provide the Children’s Reporter with information about your child.  After that the Reporter will decide if your child has to attend a Children’s Hearing.

What is a referral?
A referral is information received by the Children's Reporter from anybody about a child or young person who may be in need of compulsory measures of supervision (legal intervention) to help them address their needs and/or behaviour. Most of the information about children and young people is received from the police, social work departments or schools. However, parents, family members, carers or any concerned member of the public can contact the Children's Reporter if they have concerns about a young person and their circumstances.

What is a Children’s Hearing?
A Children's Hearing is a legal meeting arranged to consider and make decisions about children and young people who are having problems in their lives and who may need legal steps to be taken to help them. Children's Hearings are held in private and only those people who have a legal right to be there, or are allowed to be there by the chairperson, will be present.

Can I get legal advice or Legal Aid for Children's Hearings proceedings?
Prior to the Hearing, legal advice is free or available at reduced cost under the legal advice and assistance scheme, to inform a child or the relevant persons about their rights at a Hearing and to advise about acceptance of the ground for referral. Similarly, legal aid may be available for preparation for appearance in the Sheriff Court either when the case has been referred for establishment of the fact, or in appeal cases.

What is legal representation at a Hearing?
Legal representation is provided free of charge for a child or young person where the Panel Members consider it likely that there may a recommendation of secure accommodation, and for a child and /or relevant person where legal representation is needed to allow them to participate effectively at the Hearing. Children’s Legal Representatives are members of special panels maintained by local authorities and are qualified solicitors who work in public or private practice. Legal Representatives are expected to be sensitive to the atmosphere and ethos of the Children’s Hearing.

Appointment of a Safeguarder
A Safeguarder is a person who is appointed to make sure that a child or young person’s interests are looked after. A Safeguarder can be appointed by either a Children’s Hearing or a Sheriff. Not all children and young people need to have a Safeguarder.

Sometimes if the people at a Hearing have very different views to each other, or the Panel Members feel they need more information to allow them time to make a decision, they will appoint a Safeguarder. A Safeguarder is separate from the social worker, Children’s Reporter and the Panel Members, and would speak to everyone involved especially the child or young person, to help them build up a better picture. Sometimes they will write a report for the Panel Members and attend the next Hearing.

• Your child, unless the Hearing has agreed that they do not need to attend,
• The people who look after your child,
• Three Panel Members who will make the decisions.  These are trained volunteers who want to make the best decisions to help vulnerable children and young people,
• The Children’s Reporter who will record what has been decided,
• A social worker,
• There may be a person called a Safeguarder – they are there to help the panel make the right decisions for the child.

If your child wants to they can bring someone along like a family friend or teacher.

If you are a relevant person you can bring someone along as a representative to assist you.

What is a Business Meeting?
You might have heard the phrase Business Meeting mentioned, this is sometimes arranged when the Reporter decides to arrange a Children’s Hearing for a child or young person.

Children and young people do not go to Business Meetings. This is where the three Panel Members meet in private to consider any special arrangements required for the Hearing. This might involve them considering:

• whether a child/relevant person is required to attend the Children’s Hearing.
• whether someone must be told about the Children’s Hearing because they are a “relevant person” (this means that they will be able to attend the Hearing and get information about it).
• to appoint a legal representative for the child and/ or relevant person. 

 Although neither children and young people, along with their parents or carers can attend Business Meetings, they are entitled to have their views about the issue being considered heard.

After the Business Meeting, the Children’s Reporter will write to you to tell what has been decided by the Business Meeting.

What will happen at the Children’s Hearing?
Each Hearing comprises of three Panel Members – all trained volunteers from the local community. The child and their family or carers are central participants in the Hearing. The role of the Reporter is to attend the Hearing to support fair process. The Reporter takes no part in the Panel Members’ deliberations.

The Panel Members will listen to everyone and consider all the information The Hearing will then make a decision and the Panel Members must give reasons for their decision. Both the child and their carer(s) will be sent a copy of the decision and reasons for the decision in writing.

• The Hearing can decide that formal, compulsory supervision measures are not required and discharge the case,
• The Panel Members can decide that they need more information to help them make a decision about what is best and they can continue the hearing until a later date,
• The Hearing can decide to issue a warrant to keep the child in a safe place for up to three weeks, until the next Hearing but only if this is necessary,
• The Hearing can decide that compulsory measures of supervision are needed to help the child, and can make a Supervision Requirement.

What is a Supervision Requirement?
A Supervision Requirement can be made at a Children's Hearing. It can contain conditions stating where the child is to live and other conditions with which they must comply.

The local authority is responsible for making sure that what is stated in the Supervision Requirement is happening, and that the child is getting the help that they need. A Supervision Requirement has no set time limit, but should last only as long as is necessary. It must be reviewed by a Children's Hearing at least once a year when it can be continued, varied or stopped.

What if I’m not happy with the decision of the Hearing - can I appeal?
You have the right to appeal to the Sheriff against the decision of your child’s Hearing.

A child, young person or their parent/carer may appeal against the decision. You cannot appeal a decision simply because you disagree with the decision. There has to be a reason in law for the basis of any appeal. If you disagree with the decision of a Hearing, you should consult a solicitor as soon as possible, because you may have the right to appeal.

A Safeguarder who may be appointed to you or your child’s case also has the right to appeal against the decision, and does so on behalf of the child. In appealing, you have to satisfy the Sheriff that the Children’s Hearing was not justified - for example, in making a Supervision Requirement.

(Safeguarders are independent of the Children’s Reporter and the local authority social work department. Their task is to represent what is in the child or young person’s best interests.)

Any appeal should be in writing to the Sheriff at the Sheriff Court, and must be made within three weeks of the decision.

At the appeal, the Sheriff will hear what you have to say and he will also hear the Reporter, and possibly your child. The Sheriff may summon the people who prepared the reports about your child for the Hearing if he/she thinks that would be useful.

If the Sheriff allows your appeal, there are a number of options:

• Discharge the case altogether.
• Send it back to the Hearing for reconsideration.
• Make a Supervision Requirement which is different from the one which the Hearing had decided upon.

If your appeal fails, the decision made by the Hearing will remain unchanged.

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What is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?
This section explains how the Act may affect you or your child in the future.

Is the appearance of my child at a Children’s Hearing a ‘criminal conviction’?
Normally no, the appearance is in private and the press, even if present (which is a rarity) cannot publish details of any child or young person. Children and their parents do not need to tell anyone about it except for the circumstances defined in the Act. Children’s Hearings are not part of the criminal court system, but records of decisions taken at Children’s Hearings are kept by the police on their national computer system. They cannot formally become a ‘previous conviction’ in any later appearance before a court, but they may be mentioned in background reports to a court.

What is the purpose of the Act and what does it say?
It is intended to limit the time during which a person must reveal that they have a ‘criminal conviction’, especially when applying for a job. An appearance at a Hearing becomes a ‘criminal conviction’ under this Act if grounds for referral involving the commission of an offence by a child are admitted or are proved before the Sheriff.

For how long do ‘criminal convictions’ have to be revealed?
The Act talks about a ‘rehabilitation period’ after which the conviction does not have to be revealed. It becomes a ‘spent conviction’. This rehabilitation period is six months from the date the grounds were accepted or proved. When this has led to the child being placed on a Supervision Requirement, it is one year from the date it was made. If the child is on supervision for more than one year, then it is on the date it is terminated. This can be quite complicated if the child has had several appearances over time for various offences.

Are there any exceptions to this rule?
Yes. As you can imagine, there are a number of jobs and situations where it is considered that even a child’s previous behaviour is very important to know about. There is a list of these stated in law. Please click on the link below to view a leaflet which provides more information including the list of jobs.