Young people from OHOV observed MSPs in the chamber at the Scottish Parliament on 18th and 19th March. They were considering whether to make the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill an Act i.e. the law. Sitting in the gallery of the debating chamber and watching the Bill being passed unanimously was an unforgettable experience for the young board members of OHOV:
“It was crazy, such an opportunity. One I thought I’d never have. If you’d told 12 year old me that I’d have the chance to sit in parliament and watch a law getting passed that affects children in care, children similar to me…I’m just so grateful to be given this opportunity to be part of the change” – Abbie
Minister Natalie Don-Innes began the debate by thanking young people from OHOV for their expertise and commitment at all stages of the Bill:
“I want to recognise the amazing work of the young people involved in Our Hearings Our Voice. Your work has been instrumental in transforming the hearing system and you should be so proud of the contribution that you have made to this piece of legislation.”
OHOV has been campaigning for and supporting reforms to services, entitlements, and support for children with care and hearings experience for nearly ten years. This work gained further headway following the publishing of the Independent Care Review in 2020. This Government Bill forms part of Scotland’s commitment to meeting the Promise made to children with care experience by 2030.
We are proud that the tireless efforts, passion, insight, and wisdom of our young board members have informed the Bill, and its passing demonstrated to them that their voices carry power:
“The two days at parliament were fantastic to see, for both The Promise Scotland and OHOV, and how our work together has made it to the biggest political stage in the country which has allowed for the young people of Scotland who are care-experienced to have a voice that carries movement for change.” – Liam
“So happy to experience and to witness a unanimous vote to pass the bill. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I was lucky to witness and am proud to see after so many years of working to improve the lives of care experienced young people. I can’t wait to see what changes we can work on thanks to this bill” – Andrew
The Bill includes changes such as:
- giving people who left the care system before their 16th birthday the right to apply for aftercare
- requiring Scottish Ministers to ensure care-experienced people have access to advocacy services
- requiring Scottish Ministers to publish guidance which promotes understanding of “care” and “care experience”
- giving Scottish Ministers powers to limit the profits that can be made from children’s residential care
- requiring fostering services to register as charities
- giving Scottish Ministers the power to create a register of foster carers
- making changes to the children’s hearings system.
OHOV members have shared their passion, commitment, expertise and time to focus particularly on changes to the children’s hearings system, advocacy and aftercare support. They have worked alongside Government Minister’s and officials, leaders and practitioners from across the hearings system and beyond, Promise Scotland, Sheriffs, and many young people from across Scotland to create lasting change.
Their work has varied across designing changes, sharing views, amplifying the voices of others, responding to consultations, getting the word out through podcasts, voiceovers, webinars, national TV news, blogs and live talks to hundreds, testing assumptions and holding everyone to account for meaningful change.
This Bill covers many areas of the children’s hearings system including consistency of panel members, attendance and participation of children, how grounds for referral are established, the role of the reporter before hearings, powers to exclude relevant persons, timescales and availability of quality advocacy and legal representation.
OHOV members focus within the hearings system has always been on three key areas:
- The critical importance of supportive, trusted, skilled, accountable, and consistent adults in children’s lives, especially when they are navigating complex care and justice systems. Young people identify consistency of panel chairs, social workers and reporters as key in supporting their participation in hearings.
- The need to share information and decisions with children and their families in ways that involve them, are easy to access and are personalised to their needs. Using the right language is vital here but only if adults have the time and responsibility to sustain this well in person, as well as in writing.
This also involves personalising the way in which the child’s views are gathered, which can support these to be considered even when the child does not attend. Multiple approaches to getting this right for children were shared by young people throughout the progression of the Bill.
- Children require support before, during and after their hearings and much more needs to be done to prepare children for hearings, to understand how they can participate fully, comfortably, and safely, and to enable them to exit the hearings system fully supported and ready to thrive.
The new Act does not yet fully meet the needs of all children in the hearings system. However, children and young people have been listened to and OHOV looks forward to engaging with the next parliament and all the agencies involved in taking the steps that are still required. With a view to the future, board member Liam stated,
“Although we have already worked so hard to get to this point and it is a big step in the right direction from the Scottish Government. This is only the start of the beginning for us here at Our Hearings, Our Voice, The Promise Scotland and for the Scottish Government. Let’s all continue to work in a unified effort for the greater good of our young people here in Scotland.”
