Foreword by Board Chair, Cathie Cowan

Where does a year go?  I am delighted having taken up post in June 2024 to be looking back on my first year as Chair of SCRA. Firstly, in my observations I am immensely proud of the management and staff of SCRA and their commitment to support, care and respect children, young people and their families whilst being accountable for contributing to improving their lives and opportunities.

I want to firstly welcome two new Board members – Lynne Clow and Steve Renwick. Both Lynne and Steve bring a wealth of experience to the Board as well as their own personal undertaking to bring to life SCRA’s values in their Board interactions and decision making. I also want to say goodbye and thank you to Suzie Vestri for her significant contribution as a SCRA Board Member over the last eight years – I wish Suzie well in her new ventures.

2024/2025 has been a year of delivery and change.  In my interactions with staff, I recognise that for some change can be unsettling as we introduce new ways of working to keep children, young people and their families at the very heart of what we do whilst ensuring we continue to enhance their experience of the Hearings System.  It is therefore great to see and to hear staff’s enthusiasm about their experiences in e.g., the roll-out of child friendly scheduling, Language that Cares Guide and developing Hearing Centre Design Standards. Thank you also to Our Hearings, Our Voice for their significant contribution in this work and for helping SCRA contribute to Keeping the Promise. To our partners, thank you for adding your weight and resources to our shared purpose of improving outcomes for children, young people and their families – a good example of this is our Learning Leads project and the work underway to improve and standardise referrals.

To Board Members – thank you for your welcome.  In leading the Board I am keen to support the Board of SCRA in its commitment to having effective infrastructure in place to support delivery of change where required, and to this end with Board and the Executive Management Team members I have reviewed and enhanced our governance arrangements. Our new Planning and Performance Committee will further promote the development of a performance culture in pursuit of our commitment to continuous quality improvement. In this regard, our ongoing commitment to deliver successful change was underpinned by investment in our properties to create a welcoming, caring and non-institutional environment to support the needs of everyone participating in the Hearings System. As a previous Children’s Panel member, I am blown away by the attention to detail and the clear indication of the voice of the child, and young person playing out in the Hearing Centre design standards created.

Alongside this investment is SCRA’s commitment to research, digital and change management resources and how these key areas of work can both enhance and support the experience of people accessing services and staff providing services. The research and digital programmes demonstrate the organisation’s ambition and ongoing contribution to policy and practice both internally and externally.  Using research to inform future policy and practice is a key future and personal objective. Sustainability is also a key feature in our investment decisions and our contribution to achieving net zero. Staff and their wellbeing remain a top priority for the Board and as expected is a prominent feature in all our discussions.  At the heart have been the findings from the annual staff survey.  This year, overseeing the implementation of the staff survey approved action plan has seen us focus on the role of the Reporter in recognition of the changes notably in society and legislation and the unwavering consideration of a child’s and young person’s welfare in decisions made to protect and uphold their rights.  Funding remains an issue for the Board and whilst I am grateful to our Scottish Government Sponsorship Team for their ongoing engagement and support to ensure we meet our statutory duties, greater certainty about funding is needed.   In going forward I am keen that we address the widening funding gap in the future medium-term to create the stability required to meet the new and ambitious legislative changes to the Hearings System.

In concluding and commending this report to you I wish to reiterate my thanks and appreciation to staff, partners and Board Members for your contribution to the work of SCRA in protecting and upholding the rights of children and young people involved in the Hearings System. Finally, I look forward to working with you all to deliver our commitments as set out in our Corporate Plan 2024/2027 and to increasing Board visibility as we look to improve our performance and effectiveness in our endeavours to ensure all children grow up safe, loved and respected so they can realise their full potential.