Hearings for Children report: response

The Context of the Response

The HfC report recognises, as we do, that reducing the number of children and families referred to the Children’s Hearings System for potential compulsory supervision demands the wider provision of appropriate, high quality, accessible early help and support for children and their families.

This response recognises the significant systemic, environmental and societal challenges set out in chapter one of the HfC report. Notably, many of these issues are reflected in, or attempts are being made to address those issues through, existing or planned Scottish Government policy.

These policies are underpinned by the following core components:

• A legislative definition for wellbeing with SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, and Included). This provides shared principles and values across agencies and services and is central to Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC).
• GIRFEC provides a consistent, co-ordinated way for everyone who works with children, young people and their parents to identify and meet wellbeing and developmental needs.
• Upholding children’s rights is crucial to improving wellbeing and meeting our commitments to Keep The Promise and reduce child poverty. This is why we are incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law to the maximum effective extent possible within our devolved competence.

These components offer a strong basis for the multi-agency work that the Scottish Government is undertaking with our partners to improve wellbeing; to embed children’s rights; and better support families.

The Scottish Government is already in discussion with Children’s Services Planning Partnerships on how we can reduce the number of children and families referred to the children’s hearings system by making further improvements to the help and support available for families.

We will take this work further, including through joint working with COSLA, following their October 2023 response to the Hearings System Working Group report.

In particular, we note COSLA’s observation that “what is required moving forward is a cohesive and joined up approach to improvement, across local and national government and with The Promise Scotland and that existing policy, practice and legislative change do not happen independent from each other, or from the work resulting from the Hearings for Children report.”

Scottish Ministers acknowledge the immense, highly skilled and unique contribution made by social workers to support individuals and families across Scotland. We are aware of current workforce and workload pressures, and are clear that a strong and well supported social work profession is key to delivering the aims set out in The Promise and the HfC report.

We recognise that action needs to be taken to address the current pressures in the system - that is why we are already working to support and invest in the workforce. Developing a strategic approach to these challenges will ensure that the impacts on the workforces supporting children and families is a key factor in considering the development and delivery of legislative, policy and reform initiatives.

‘Best Start, Bright Futures’, our second tackling child poverty delivery plan, sets out how we will work together to deliver on Scotland's national mission to tackle child poverty. It is not solely a plan for the Scottish Government, it is a plan for all of Scotland, recognising the contribution all parts of society must make to deliver the change needed for children and families.

Our work to tackle child poverty is strongly aligned with our commitment to the outcomes of the Independent Care Review. 'The Promise' recognised that if Scotland is to become the best place in the world to grow up, we need our public services to work for, and with children, young people, and their families. We will look to identify areas of activity where poverty and care experience overlaps, and explore opportunities to connect policy ambitions. This will include making links with relevant elements of future plans to redesign the children’s hearings system.

We agree with the HfC report that there must be concerted and coordinated leadership, oversight, investment, and prioritisation of the provision of appropriate, high quality, accessible, early help and support for children and their families. Transforming the delivery of Scotland’s public services in a way which delivers services that support individual circumstances is what the Whole Family Wellbeing approach is all about. That will help Scotland to Keep the Promise because it will ultimately support families to thrive by reducing the need for more intensive support when things have gone wrong. The funding will focus on the system changes required to shift investment towards early intervention and prevention activities, to ensure families can access support before they reach crisis point.

We have heard concerns from service leaders, practitioners and representative bodies about sequencing, capacity and overburdening. But we have also heard a real enthusiasm for the children’s hearings system’s principles and potential. There is broad commitment to sustaining its ongoing success. In developing plans for the redesign of the children’s hearings system, the capacity of those working within it and the landscape of other policy and practice change will be central considerations - alongside the core desire to do our best by children and their families, and to make necessary changes as soon as possible.