Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Chamber

Plenary, 26 Feb 2004

26 Feb 2004 · S2 · Plenary

Item of business

Young People

Peacock, Peter Lab Highlands and Islands Watch on SPTV

There are many things that we seek to do for those young people, through the work of Margaret Curran and others. One reason why we introduced the fast-track pilots in the children's hearings system was to try to ensure that we made a bigger impact on that group. The early evidence shows that fast-track hearings can indeed have an impact on reducing offending among those young people. We want to examine seriously the outcomes of the pilots and see how we roll forward that work over the coming period of time.

Our hearings system was established more than 30 years ago, following work completed by Lord Kilbrandon 40 years ago this year. Since Lord Kilbrandon reported, much has changed. The challenges that we face and the patterns of behaviour in the community have changed, yet the system has never been reviewed. We need to look constructively and critically at how the system is operating and where and how it might be made more effective.

The partnership agreement states that we will hold on to the "fundamental principles" of the system and this we will do. However, we should also take the opportunity at the start of the 21st century to look at how those principles fit with today's society. We will formally launch the review of the hearings system next month and we are keen for all sectors of Scottish society to participate. Clearly, people in the system will have many ideas to contribute, which we will welcome, but we also need to ensure that the wider public understand the system and endorse its approach to improving the lives of children and communities. We will therefore be starting the review process with a wide and open discussion across Scotland.

The review will concern the main principles of the system and what we need it to do for Scotland in the future. Ministers will hold consultation events the length and breadth of Scotland in early summer to facilitate public discussion. We will highlight the issues facing the hearings system and provide opportunities for the system's principles and what the review seeks to achieve to be explained. We will help others to arrange local events across the country to engage as many people as possible in the process.

The purpose of that first phase is to seek reaffirmation of the core principles of our system and to invite suggested changes and improvements. The process will help to inform the kind of hearings system that we need for the 21st century. In the autumn of this year, we will conduct a more detailed consultation on the specific changes and improvements that we need to deliver that system. We will then develop plans to implement those changes as quickly as possible. If necessary, we will seek to legislate later in this session of Parliament.

Looked-after children are a group in our community who require particular attention and support. There are more than 11,000 looked-after children in Scotland. We know who the children in the group are—we know each and every one of them. We know that they are disproportionately likely to do less well at school. We know that they are more likely to become homeless, to be unemployed, to get into drug and alcohol misuse and to spend time in prison.

That is why we have invested £10 million to begin the process of improving the educational attainment of looked-after children as a basis for enhancing their life prospects. Every school will have a designated teacher to champion the needs of the looked-after children in that school. It is crucial that we have ambition for that group of young people. We have set a target that each young person leaving care should have at least a standard grade in English and mathematics. Currently, only around a quarter of our care leavers achieve that, which is simply not good enough.

Search Hansard contributions

Plenary, 26 Feb 2004

In the same item of business