Children's Panel
- Children's Panel Recruitment 2010 - download application pack and see further information.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Children's Hearings System?
Since 1971, Children's Hearings have been making decisions about children who are in need of care and protection or are committing offences. All are children at risk. Each council area has a list of people who make up the Children's Panel for that area. Three members of the Panel are selected for each hearing - there must be one male and one female, with the third member being of either gender. The Children's Panel is recognised as a statutory tribunal under the Tribunal and Enquiries Act 1992.
It is important to remember that a Hearing can only consider cases where the child or young person, parents or relevant person accept the reasons for the referral. If these are not accepted or the child does not understand them the Hearing must ask the Children's Reporter to send the grounds of referral to the Sheriff to establish whether or not the concerning behaviour (eg neglect or offences) occurred.
How is the Children's Panel appointed?
Members of the Children's Panel are all volunteers and come from all walks of life - irrespective of occupation, income or residential area. All have experience of and interest in children and the ability to communicate with them and their families. There is an approximate balance between men and women. Members are carefully prepared for their task through initial training programmes and then give a commitment to receive further training during their time as serving Panel Members.
People are appointed or re-appointed to panels by Scottish Ministers. The task of selection is the responsibility of the Children's Panel Advisory Committee (CPAC) for the local authority area. The selection procedure adopted by the CPAC involves completion of an application form, interviews and group discussions. Recommendations are then submitted to Scottish Ministers as to the persons who might be appointed. When recruiting new members and re-appointing existing members the CPAC must consider the balance of the Panel having regard to age, sex, occupation and general background - eg it wouldn't be appropriate to have a high proportion of middle aged people who are in professional jobs as that would not be a fair representation of the local community. It is important to remember that some perfectly good candidates might not be appointed in a particular year simply because of the balance requirement although they may well be appointed another year. If you are keen to become a Panel Member and you don't get accepted first time, please bear this in mind and don't be disheartened.
What is the Children's Panel Advisory Committee?
The Committee has 5 members
- 3 members appointed by the Scottish Ministers, one of whom is the Chair, viz:
- Bill McLeod (Chair)
- Rosemary MacKenzie
- Vacancy
- 2 Councillors appointed by the local authority, viz:
- Alison Andrews
- Margaret Thomson
- CPAC Sub-members, who are appointed by the CPAC, viz:
- Margo Fairweather
- Kathryn Keillor
- Graham Malcolm
- Ron Scrimgeour
- Sandra Ward
Its functions are:
- the recruitment and selection of new Panel members
- the re-appointment of existing Panel members
- the monitoring of Panel members' performance
- ensuring that new Members have completed their training before they are recommended to Scottish Ministers, and that serving Members training is kept up to date.
The Committee meets 4/5 times per year as required, but mainly in October/November, when the annual recruitment exercise is undertaken.
What is a Children's Hearing?
The Children's Hearing is a lay tribunal composed of male and female members charged with making decisions on the needs of children. With the help of reports from professionals and discussions directly with the child and family, the hearing considers what has caused the child to be at risk, and what has to be done to reduce or prevent that risk from happening in the future.
What is the time commitment?
Hearings are held locally mostly during the day. Individual Hearings vary in length but a normal session of three cases will last a morning or afternoon. Panel members are usually expected to be available for two sessions per month.
What payments do Children's Panel members get?
Panel members are unpaid and do not receive any fee. However, they can usually claim travel and some other expenses. A loss of earnings allowance, in accordance with Government guidelines, is also payable in appropriate circumstances.
While Panel Members have a statutory right for reasonable time off work to attend Hearings, the system can only work with the co-operation of employers and employers are encouraged to support the system as far as possible.
Who is the Chairman of the Panel?
The Chairman and Depute Chairman of the Panel are appointed by Scottish Ministers on the advice of the CPAC. Currently, the Chairman is Andy Homfray and Law and Administration provides him with administrative support from within the Departmental Admin Office. The Depute Chair is Alison Slingsby.
For further information from the Chairman's office contact:-
Avril Brown/Suzanne Keir
Administrative Assistant
Law and Administration
Angus House
Orchardbank Business Park
Forfar DD8 1AN
Tel: 01307 476276
Fax: 01307 476299
Email: BrownA@angus.gov.uk or KeirS@angus.gov.uk
Who is the Reporter?
Children who may be in need of compulsory measures of supervision - that is, formal intervention by the local authority authorised by a Children's Hearing - will be referred to a Children's Reporter. The Children's Reporters and their staff are administered by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA).
Rosie Campbell is the Authority Reporter for Angus and Dundee and can be contacted in the Arbroath office at Merrin House. The Principal Reporter for Scotland is Netta Maciver, based at SCRA HQ in Stirling. Malcolm Shaffer is the Reporter Manager for the East of Scotland Region which takes in Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Fife, Edinburgh, West, Mid and East Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
The local office for Angus is based at Merrin House, 50 East Abbey Street, Arbroath, DD11 1EN. The telephone number is (01241) 873194 and the fax number is (01241) 431069.
The Reporters currently based in Arbroath for the Angus team are Rosie Campbell, Gillian Allison and John Cunningham, supported by Peggy McGuinan, Lorna Stewart, Carol Bywater, Julie Cameron and Diane Spiers.
Hearings are usually held on Mondays (pm), Tuesdays (pm), Wednesdays (am) and Thursdays (am).
Who do I contact for further information?
Contact
- Alan Doig, Committee Officer, (01307) 476264, doigja@angus.gov.uk
- Fiona Anderson, Committee Officer, (01307) 476266, andersonf@angus.gov.uk or
- Sarah Forsyth, Committee Officer, (01307) 476269, forsythsl@angus.gov.uk
- Fax: (01307) 476299
They are all based at Angus House, Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN and will be only too pleased to help.
Service Page: childrenspanel.htm
Service Details Last Reviewed : 17 March 2010