Scottish Government

03 GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Articles: 2, 3, 6, 12

A) NON-DISCRIMINATION

Introduction

103 The 2002 Concluding Observations recommended monitoring the situation of children exposed to discrimination and the comparative enjoyment of their rights in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK Report reflects the way that these rights have been implemented and the circumstances of children in the four countries. Paragraphs 104-120 below describe the position in Scotland.

104 The Executive is committed to working towards a just and inclusive Scotland. Tackling discrimination and prejudice and promoting equal opportunities are key principles of the Scottish Parliament and key priorities for the Executive. Equal opportunities legislation is reserved to Westminster, but the Scotland Act 1998 gives the Scottish Parliament the power to encourage equal opportunities and to place duties on public authorities in Scotland to observe the equal opportunities requirements in their work in devolved areas.

105 The legal framework which supports Scottish Ministers' determination to eliminate discrimination and promote equality in Scotland continues to take shape. The Executive is subject to statutory duties to promote race equality, disability equality and gender equality in all its work. The Executive must also assess and consult on the likely impact of its proposed policies on racial equality, on gender equality and on equality for disabled people. The same duties apply to local authorities and many other public bodies. Decisions on further legislation, extending the duties to cover age, faith/religious belief and sexual orientation, will be made by the UK Parliament.

106 The Scottish Parliament requires all legislative proposals presented by the Executive to be accompanied by a statement of its impact on equal opportunities. This will be considered by Parliamentary Committees, including the Equal Opportunities Committee.

107 The Executive established an Equality Unit in 1999 to take forward its work to promote equality and eliminate discrimination. The Unit serves as a point of reference and advice on equality within the Executive, assists the mainstreaming of equality throughout the Executive and promotes equal opportunities within and outwith the Executive. Other agencies have also adopted similar measures to ensure that commitments in relation to equality and diversity are met.

108 Good policy making means taking account of equality and diversity issues right from the start and the Executive is working towards mainstreaming equality into policy making, legislation, spending plans and service delivery. There is still much to be done but considerable progress has been made since 1999. To support this approach and in response to the requirements to undertake impact assessments under the 3 public sector equality duties, an Equality Impact Assessment toolkit has been developed. This will enable the Executive to assess the impact of its policies and ensure they do not inadvertently create a negative impact for equality groups. It is the Executive's policy that the equality groups to be considered extend beyond those 3 areas covered by the public sector duty and includes the 6 equality strands of age, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation and religion/belief.

Identification and monitoring of discrimination

109 Identification and monitoring of discrimination normally occurs through inspection of the various areas of relevant activity such as school education, social work and care services. School education for example is inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) which assesses the quality of education and positive outcomes for all children. HMIE are currently evaluating the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of education authorities in implementing the new requirements of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, including the duty to meet the learning needs of all children and will report to Scottish Ministers in late 2007.

110 The Executive also collects a wide range of data on various aspects relating to children from vulnerable groups to help monitor any trends that may require action, and get an indication of how well policies are working in practice. For example, the September 2006 Pupil Census collected information on pupils with co-ordinated support plans only, including the numbers of plans prepared and the nature of the additional support required.

111 The statutory duties to promote racial equality, disability equality and gender equality also mean that the Executive must carry out monitoring of the impact of its policies on minority ethnic communities, disabled people and women and men. An important aspect of this is the gathering and use of equality data and information. To develop the evidence base, the Executive's analytical services divisions have designed and developed a number of resources and publications to make existing information on equalities issues more accessible. These include:

• a portal to resources and information on Mainstreaming Equalities - this website provides links to a wide range of research and statistical evidence across the full range of equality groups and policy areas;
• a high level summary of equality statistics, 2006;
• a social focus on disability, 2004; and
• a gender audit of statistics comparing the position of women and men in Scotland, 2007.

Race equality

112 The 2002 Concluding Observations requested specific information on action to follow-up the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. A review of race equality was undertaken by the Executive between June 2004 and February 2005 to ensure its approach to race equality was delivering tangible improvements to the lives of Scotland's minority ethnic communities, that it was focusing on the right priorities, and that it was making the best use of its resources. An extensive consultation exercise gathered evidence from a wide range of sources and through a variety of means, such as seminars with communities around Scotland. The review findings and the way forward were published in November 2005. Among other things, four strategic groups were established to consider issues which emerged as requiring further attention: ethnic minorities and the labour market; rural areas; Gypsies/Travellers; and refugees and asylum seekers. The groups were short life working groups, each charged with developing an action plan which will take forward the agenda in each area.

113 These action plans will inform the Executive's National Strategy and Action Plan on Race Equality, a draft of which will be published in 2007. This National Strategy and Action Plan will outline further activity in Scotland to meet the Executive's commitment to action under the Durban Declaration.

114 In addition, the new £2m Race Equality, Integration and Community Support Fund is funding over 30 projects all over Scotland, including 11 in rural areas. Funding has also been provided to continue with the Executive's work to implement the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum's existing Action Plan, as well as to support community engagement in health, to drive up performance on race equality in regeneration and to support the development of the minority ethnic voluntary sector.

Gypsies/Travellers

115 The Executive recognises that all Gypsy/Traveller communities have specific needs and require the same level of protection from discrimination and abuse as all of Scotland's minority ethnic communities. To support them the Executive has provided £3m of additional resources for Gypsy/Traveller sites, published national guidance on inclusive educational approaches for Gypsies/Travellers, introduced hand-held health records for Gypsies/Travellers and included Gypsies/Travellers in the One Scotland Many Cultures publicity campaign. The forthcoming National Strategy and Action Plan on Race Equality will contain a number of actions specifically aimed at improving the position of Scotland's Gypsy/Traveller communities, developed in consultation with those communities.

Support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people

116 Through its Equality Strategy ( Working Together for Equality, November 2000) the Executive is committed to equality of opportunity for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The Executive works closely with LGBT Youth Scotland and provides funding for the development of consultation and engagement between the Executive and LGBT young people, promotion of the LGBT Youth Charter and promotion of the LGBT History Month. These projects are intended to ensure that the Executive is aware of and responsive to the specific needs of LGBT young people, promote their rights and participation and raises awareness generally of LGBT equality issues. The Executive's commitment to LGBT equality is widely supported across the public sector and by the Scottish Parliament.

117 Legislation to end discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is reserved to Westminster. The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 outlawed discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in employment and vocational training and the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 outlawed discrimination in employment against a person because they intend to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone, gender reassignment. Further regulations outlawing discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in access to goods and services, education and the exercise of public functions came into force at the end of April 2007. In Scotland, section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986 was repealed through the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000. This brought Scots law into line with the recommendation in paragraph 44(d) of the Concluding Observations - repeal of section 28.

118 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Westminster legislation) enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship by forming a civil partnership and sets out the legal consequences of forming a civil partnership, including the rights and responsibilities of civil partners. In common with marriage in Scotland, civil partnerships can be entered into by persons over the age of 16 subject to the following provisos: they are of the same sex; they are not already in a civil partnership or lawfully married; and they are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship. The Executive provided funding to raise awareness of the Civil Partnership Act within Scotland's LGBT communities.

Education for citizenship

119 Education for citizenship is a key part of the school curriculum and of community education programmes. It aims to develop capacity for thoughtful and responsible participation in political, economic, social and cultural life, respect and care for people and a sense of social and environmental responsibility. As a result of their learning about citizenship, children should develop an understanding of cultural and community diversity and the need for mutual respect and tolerance both nationally and globally.

Nationality

120 The 2002 Concluding Observations recommended amendments to nationality law to allow transmission of nationality through unmarried as well as married fathers. The Scottish Parliament is not competent to legislate in this area as issues of nationality are reserved to Westminster. However, since the last UNCRC report, the Scottish Parliament has introduced legislation through the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 designed to address areas of discrimination against children. The Act abolished the status of illegitimacy (save for specific reserved matters related to title and arms) and set out new rules governing the domicile of children. The domicile of a child under 16 is now determined as the country with which the child for the time being is most closely connected. There is therefore no longer a link between a child's domicile and that of his or her parent's marital status in relation to both the domicile of origin and dependent domicile.

B) BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD IN POLICY AND LEGISLATION AFFECTING CHILDREN

Article 3

Service provision

121 Paragraph 26 of the 2002 Concluding Observations recommended that the best interests of children should be paramount in all policy and legislation affecting children. As detailed in the previous UK Report, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 places the best interests of the child at the centre of services and support for children. For example, it requires that Children's Hearings act in the best interests of the child when considering what should be done to meet their welfare needs or tackle their offending behaviour or both. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 builds on this by making the best interests of the child the paramount consideration in determining the support children need to help with their education.

122 Achieving the Executive's vision for children is at the heart of the Executive's work. It is crucial that wherever possible, the Executive puts in place key support mechanisms to assist agencies to work together. Effective partnership working is crucial to ensure we have greater confidence in our child protection systems and to ensure that more children secure the educational and wider developmental opportunities that they deserve.

123 Planning and delivery of high quality and integrated services for children by children's services partnerships will help secure this vision. Success will be measured through the Quality Improvement Framework ( QIF) for Integrated Children's Services which will support self-evaluation and performance improvement within and across children's services. The range of indicators included in the Framework covers both mainstream services, for example, school attainment and child health as well as more specialist areas including child protection, additional support for learning, family support, adoption, fostering and substance misuse.

124 Information from the QIF is embedded within annual updates to Integrated Children's Services Plans and will provide comprehensive and consolidated information on progress across Executive priorities for children. These updates will also show how agencies are working together to deliver integrated services and improved outcomes in the best interests of children.

125 The Joint Inspection of Children's Services and Inspection of Social Work Services (Scotland) Act 2006 will enable inspectorates and regulatory bodies to work together to inspect all children's services jointly. The purpose of these joint inspections is to review and evaluate the extent to which all relevant agencies are working together effectively in the interests of the child. The Joint Inspection team has consulted widely on its methodology, including with children, and has tested its publicity materials with groups of children. An essential element of the team's evaluation will be the extent to which children and their families are consulted and involved in the identification and delivery of services to which they are entitled. Its methodology is consistent with and complementary to the QIF.

126 The Executive has built on the statutory duty placed on local authorities to produce children's plans by producing a framework for Integrated Children's Services Plans. The framework brings together previously separate plans for children's services, school education, child health, children's social work and youth justice. It requires local authorities, health boards, police services, community and voluntary groups to work together to produce integrated plans aimed at meeting local needs and priorities, to improve the integration and quality of services and to improve outcomes and opportunities for all children in their areas. Guidance also stresses the need for children and families to be engaged in local planning arrangements.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004

127 The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 replaced the system for assessment and recording of children with special educational needs ( SEN), including the Records of Needs process, established by the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. The 2004 Act introduces a new system for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children who face a barrier to learning. It encompasses any need that requires additional support in order for the child to learn. It places duties on education authorities and requires other bodies and organisations to help. In providing school education, education authorities are required to identify and then make adequate and efficient provision for the additional support needs of children.

128 Parents can request an education authority to establish whether their child has additional support needs and whether they require a co-ordinated support plan. A co-ordinated support plan must be prepared for those with enduring complex or multiple needs that require support from outwith education services. The plan will focus on supporting the child to achieve learning outcomes and assist the co-ordination of services from a range of providers. The Act introduces new rights for parents and provides for children to have their views taken into account in discussing, monitoring and evaluating their learning.

129 In September 2006 in Scotland there were 36,148 pupils with Additional Support Needs, 25,250 of whom were boys. This compares to 34,680 with special educational needs in 2005. There were 190 special schools in both 2005 and 2006. There were 6,975 pupils in special schools, a 2.3% reduction from 2005.

130 During the transition period, November 2006 to November 2007, all pupils who have a _ Record of Needs must be re-assessed for a co-ordinated support plan. It is not possible to say from the data what proportion of pupils had been re-assessed by September 2006. However, while there were 13,157 pupils with a Record of Needs in 2005, there were 11,708 pupils with ongoing provision from a Record of Needs by the census date, and there were 326 pupils with a co-ordinated support plan.

131 While the two recording systems are not strictly comparable or additive (since reason for support is given for all difficulties, not just the main difficulty) the most prevalent categories are moderate to profound learning difficulties (12.4 pupils per 1,000), specific learning difficulties in language and or mathematics - including dyslexia (10.5 pupils per 1,000) and social emotional and behavioural difficulties (9.0 pupils per 1,000).

The Children's Hearings System

132 The Children's Hearings System is designed to protect and support children under 16, and in some cases under 18, who are in need of care and protection and/or who commit offences. It puts the child at the centre and involves local people in deciding what is the right thing to do in the best interests of children.

133 All children who may need compulsory measures of supervision must be referred to the Children's Reporter. The grounds for referral (offence and non-offence) are set out in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and include that the child or young person is:

• beyond parental control;
• at risk of moral danger;
• has been the victim of an offence, including physical injury or sexual abuse;
• likely to suffer serious harm through lack of parental care;
• not attending school regularly without a reasonable excuse; and
• misusing drugs, alcohol or solvents.

134 Upon referral, the Reporter makes an initial investigation before deciding what action, if any, is necessary in the child's interests. The Reporter can decide that no further action is required; that there is insufficient evidence to proceed; to refer the child to the local authority to provide advice, guidance and assistance on a voluntary basis; or to arrange a Children's Hearing.

135 Each Hearing is made up of 3 people drawn from the local authority Children's Panel which comprises people from the community from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Panel members are unpaid and give their time voluntarily but are carefully selected and highly trained.

136 A Hearing considers and makes decisions on the welfare of the child taking into account all the circumstances, including any offending behaviour. Decisions available to a Children's Hearing include imposing a supervision requirement on a child which sets out what the child's needs are and the action that agencies and the child should take in order to best address those needs.

137 A Hearing can only consider cases where the child and relevant persons (a person who has parental rights or responsibilities for the child, or any person who normally has charge of, or control over, the child) accept the grounds for referral as stated by the Reporter, or where they accept them in part and the Hearing decides it is proper to proceed. Where the grounds for referral are not accepted, or the child does not understand due to age or ability, the case is referred to the Sheriff to decide whether the grounds are established. If the Sheriff is satisfied that the grounds are correct, the Reporter will arrange another Hearing.

138 Normally, the child must attend the Hearing and always has the right to attend all stages of it. The Hearing may, however, decide that the child does not have to attend certain parts of the Hearing - or even the whole Hearing - if, for example, matters might come up that would cause significant distress. In addition, the Hearing, or the Sheriff in certain court proceedings, may appoint an independent person known as a Safeguarder whose role is to prepare a report to assist the hearing in reaching a decision in the child's best interests.

139 Tables 6-8 provide some information on the number and types of referrals. More information can be found on the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration website at www.scra.gov.uk.

TABLE 6 Number of children referred to the Reporter

* Receipt based. All other data are disposal based. Source: Scottish Children's Reporter Administration

TABLE 7 Number of children referred to the Reporter, by gender

Source: Scottish Children's Reporter Administration

TABLE 8 Types of supervision requirements in place.

Source: Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (2005). Annual Report 2005-06.

140 At 53,883 children in 2005-06, the number of children referred to the Children's Reporter has never been higher. The majority of children referred to the Reporter do not go on to a Children's Hearing because the criteria for compulsory measures have not been met. In response to concerns that children were being referred inappropriately to the Children's Reporter, when they did not require compulsory measures of supervision, the Executive set up in 2006 a multi-agency Ministerial Task Group on non-offence referrals. The Group has been considering how best to ensure children get the help they need without referral to the Children's Reporter, to minimise delay in children receiving services. The Group developed a model for action in dealing with concerns about children, published in March 2007. It will enable agencies to better identify those children who may require compulsion and therefore a referral to the Reporter. The reforms will be introduced through the Getting it right for every child programme.

141 In line with the 2002 Concluding Observations, the Executive is committed to providing the resources that the Hearings System needs to ensure it does the best possible job to protect and support children. Since it was formed in 1996, the budget of the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration has more than doubled from £10m to £24m, although it should be noted that in the same period, the number of referrals to the Reporter has also more than doubled from 46,497 referrals in 1996/97 to 97,607 in 2005/06. Over the same period, Executive spending on support and training for panel members has gone from £300,000 to £2m per annum. From a zero base in 2000, around £63m was made available for youth justice in 2006-07, the majority of which was spent on services and programmes for children who are causing concern because of their offending behaviour and associated social education needs.

142 The Audit Scotland report on youth justice Dealing with offending by young people and Home Supervision research by the University of Stirling, both published in 2002 found that a significant number of children subject to a supervision requirement - because of welfare and/or offending concerns - did not receive the service that the Hearing had intended they should. Local authorities were not always meeting their duty under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to "give effect" to all supervision requirements. In order to ensure that all children subject to a supervision requirement get the service they need and deserve, the Executive introduced measures through the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 to place further obligations on local authorities. Section 136 of that Act requires local authorities to carry out the action allocated to it in a supervision requirement and where this does not occur, gives the Children's Hearing the power to initiate proceedings against the local authority in the Sheriff Court. No cases have yet been brought before the court since the new duty was commenced in January 2005.

Legal advice for children in the Children's Hearings System

143 Under certain specific circumstances, children may get legal advice and assistance in advance of attending a Hearing. For example, if aged 12 years or over, they get direct access to the reports prepared for the Hearing which may contain information about their behaviour, development, family circumstances etc. At the Hearing they are entitled to have a representative who can be a relative, friend, advocate, social worker, teacher or other interested party. Once the Hearing has taken a decision the child has the right of appeal to a court and the child may receive free legal advice and representation at court.

144 If a child is old enough to understand the proceedings and give instructions to a solicitor it is open to that child to directly instruct and seek "advice and assistance" from a solicitor about the Children's Hearings process. Advice and assistance is a form of Legal Aid that can be made available to such children and will allow the solicitor to be paid for his work from the Legal Aid Fund. Advice and assistance is available on all matters of Scots law and is subject to a financial eligibility test. Assuming that the child in question has no income and/or capital they will qualify for advice and assistance without having to pay any contribution and can obtain this from a solicitor both before and after a Children's Hearing has taken place. As set out above, the child can be accompanied to a Hearing by a representative, but there is no form of payment from the Legal Aid Fund (advice and assistance or children's legal aid) to a solicitor for attending the Hearing. If, however, the solicitor is appointed by the Hearing (i.e. not directly instructed by the child) to be the child's Legal Representative under the 2002 Rules (see paragraph 146 below) that solicitor can receive payment from the local authority for his services, including attendance at the Hearing itself.

145 There are certain circumstances where the child's case results in proceedings before the sheriff court. The two most common examples would be where the child does not accept the grounds for referral to a Children's Hearing or where the child wishes to appeal the decision of the Children's Hearing. Children's Legal Aid is available for these associated court proceedings assuming that the statutory criteria are met (a financial test and a merits test laid down in Section 29 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986). If the child is granted legal aid by the Sheriff then that child will not require to pay a solicitor for advice and representation in the court proceedings and the solicitor will obtain payment from the Legal Aid Fund. Children's legal aid fees of approximately £3.8m for approximately 3,400 cases were paid out of the Legal Aid Fund in 2005-06.

146 In 2001, Scotland's highest court found that in certain circumstances a child should receive free legal representation at the Hearing and in the absence of such provision Children's Hearings did not comply with the requirements of ECHR. The circumstances were when (i) a Hearing decides to place a child in secure accommodation (this was equated to deprivation of liberty), and (ii) the case involved complex legal issues. In response the Scottish Parliament agreed to the coming into force of the Children's Hearings (Legal Representation) (Scotland) Rules 2002. These rules enable Children's Hearings to appoint a legal representative for children where the criteria set out above are met or are likely to be met.

147 Of the 5000-6000 children who come to Hearings each year around 500-600 receive legal representation under the terms of the scheme set out above. The cost of this in 2006-07 was £0.3m and was met in full by the Executive. Further consultation may be required on the operation and effectiveness of the scheme pending the outcome of the consultation on the draft Children's Services (Scotland) Bill.

148 The draft Children's Services (Scotland) Bill which was consulted upon in early 2007 proposes new duties on the Principal Reporter to:

• consider the need to appoint a person as the child's legal representative to enable the child to participate effectively at the Hearing and, where necessary, to make such appointment; and
• appoint a legal representative where a Hearing decision which includes secure accommodation or a movement restriction condition is likely.

Getting it right for every child

149 In setting out its programme for action following the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary Elections, the Executive undertook to review the operation of the Children's Hearings System. The fundamental principles of the System were not being called into doubt, but Ministers wanted to review the System to ensure it had the right set up and adequate resources to meet the challenges facing children in the 21st century.

150 The Executive undertook a wide-ranging consultation in 2004. The review raised fundamental questions about the services and systems around Children's Hearings. It became apparent that the review needed to address not just services for children within the Hearings System or children in need, but all services for children.

151Getting it right for every child Proposals for Action, set out 23 proposals covering the reform of children's services and a national consultation was undertaken in 2005. Getting it right for every child places the child at the heart of children's services. It proposes new duties on agencies to identify children in need and to act to improve a child's situation. Agencies will also be required to co-operate with each other to meet the needs of all children, improve outcomes and to put in place multi-agency assessments and action plans where these are required. A lead person will be appointed to co-ordinate action plans where this is required. Agencies, children and families will decide together what is in the best interests of the child and work together to deliver agreed outcomes. Children and families will experience a co-ordinated and unified approach to having their needs met. By December 2007 agencies will be expected to complete a plan in line with Getting it right for every child for all children going to a Hearing.

152 Consultation on a draft Bill to provide the legislative framework for the implementation of Getting it right for every child concluded on 31 March 2007. Getting it right for every child means that no matter where they live or whatever their needs, children and families know where they can seek help, what help is available, that the help is appropriate to their needs and will be delivered to the highest possible standard. Getting it right for every child will enable everyone involved in children's services to deliver on this and improve outcomes whilst involving children and families in finding solutions.

153Getting it right for every child should mean:

• children get the help they need when they need it and are central to the process of finding solutions;
• everyone working with children uses a consistent and equitable approach and works more effectively together to improve outcomes for children;
• everyone is clear about their personal responsibility to do the right thing for each child and how they contribute to the collective responsibility to do the right thing for each child;
• parents and children benefit from a collaborative approach which results in fewer meetings, requires them to give their information only once, and jointly develop with professionals one plan that will meet all of their needs; and
• agencies and professionals are freed up to get on and respond to children and take appropriate, proportionate and timely action with the minimum of paperwork, bureaucracy and duplication.

Offending behaviour

154 The Children's Hearings System acts in the best interests of the child when considering what should be done to meet the needs of individual children whilst tackling their offending behaviour. All elements affecting behaviour are taken into account and a welfare driven approach is taken to addressing offending and antisocial behaviour and its impact.

155 The review of the Children's Hearings System and Getting it right for every child have reaffirmed the principles and values that underpin this approach. Guidance which supports the implementation of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004, restates these principles and gives careful consideration to the rights and needs of each child and the risk they may present to themselves or their communities.

C) THE RIGHT TO LIFE, SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT

Article 6

156 The Scottish Executive recognises the right to life of every citizen in Scotland and the need to protect this right. The death penalty was abolished in the UK more than 40 years ago.

Maternity and infant care schemes

157 Pregnancy screening aims to enable women and their partners to make an informed choice about continuing the pregnancy, or to accept treatment at an early stage when it is more likely to be effective. Programmes include screening for HIV, Down's Syndrome, neural tube defects, hepatitis B, Syphillis and Rubella. The newborn programme includes screening for Phenylketonuria, Congenital Hypothyroidism and Cystic Fibrosis. By December 2005, universal newborn hearing screening was in place across Scotland.

158 All pregnant women receive comprehensive information in preparation for parenthood in a free NHS Health Scotland publication, Ready Steady Baby, which includes advice on health and development from conception to infancy. New mothers receive written information on breastfeeding and on prevention of cot death, to support the advice that they receive from their midwife. NHS Health Scotland is reviewing the format and content of Ready Steady Baby to extend coverage of information beyond infancy to the pre-school period. Patient information leaflets for use with the newborn screening programmes (hearing, cystic fibrosis, and congenital hypothyroidism) are also published by NHS Health Scotland along with extensive public information about child health and development.

159 Information and professional advice about specific aspects of child development is also available to parents. Health visitors, school nurses and other members of the primary care team provide advice on a range of issues in the course of their regular contact with individual parents and children at clinics, GP practices, family centres and at home. Leaflets and posters are used to highlight key issues about diet, exercise, and effective management of behaviour, and signpost children and their families to different sources and types of information and support.

160 Parenting education and support programmes are also provided in a wide range of health service and local authority settings, and many voluntary organisations such as the National Childbirth Trust offer direct access to support through helplines or self-referral. Community support is available, for example, through breastfeeding peer support, smoking cessation services and other addiction services and networks.

161 To help with the development of services in disadvantaged areas, Sure Start Scotland provides programmes of activity to promote children's healthy development through intensive home-based support for families and ensuring access to enhanced community-based resources. This is complemented by financial help for parents to afford childcare. In 2003-04, Sure Start Scotland supported 9600 of the most vulnerable parents in Scotland, usually through an integrated package of support.

162 Scotland has led the way in many maternity services developments, including the promotion of the UNICEF/ UK Baby Friendly Initiative by the majority of maternity services across the country and passing the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005 to support women who want to breastfeed in public places. The law recognises the importance of re-establishing breastfeeding as the norm for infant feeding.

Child death statistics

163 The tables below set out the number of child deaths in Scotland between 2000 and 2005 and the causes of death broken down as set out in the UN Guidelines for submission of periodic reports. All tables relate to those aged under 18.

TABLE 9 Number of deaths - all causes

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 10 Number of deaths excluding those from external causes

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 11 Number of deaths due to HIV

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 12 Number of deaths due to tuberculosis

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 13 Number of deaths due to diseases of the respiratory system

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 14 Number of deaths due to land transport accidents

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 15 Number of deaths due to other accidental injury

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

TABLE 16 Number of deaths due to assault

Source: General Register Office for Scotland

164 There were no deaths of under 18s between 2000 and 2005 as a result of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions or as a result of capital punishment.

Statutory child death inquiries

165 The 2002 Concluding Observations recommended the introduction of a system of statutory child death inquiries. As part of the child protection reform programme, an inter-agency working group produced guidance on the handling of significant incidents, including child deaths and interim guidance was published in April 2007. It will provide a consistent approach to the handling of such incidents across all agencies in Scotland, and will also contribute to the learning cycle for practitioners and agencies in introducing shared reporting and follow up mechanisms across Scotland to ensure information is appropriately shared and lessons learned. This approach has been developed in full public consultation and in discussions with the statutory agencies and the voluntary sector. Child Protection Committees will play a pivotal role in the implementation of the guidance.

Strategy for reduction in child deaths

Article 6

166 In keeping with the 2002 Concluding Observations, the Executive has undertaken a range of activities to help reduce child deaths. Protecting Children and Young People: The Charter published in 2004 reminds adults of the importance of listening to children and acting on their behalf. The leaflet What you can do to help if you are worried about a child or young person, published in 2005 also encourages wider community engagement in helping keep children safe.

167 ChildProtectionLine, now provides a single contact point into local child protection services. The Executive also funds confidential helplines run by voluntary organisations. ParentLine, which is a service for parents and carers seeking advice and support in caring for children or young people, receives annual funding of £119,000. ChildLine offers a confidential service where children can talk about issues, eg bullying or violence at home, and receive counselling and support. £500,000 was provided to ChildLine through the child protection reform programme to extend its capacity in Scotland and open a second call centre in 2004 at Aberdeen. The Executive has recently awarded a grant of more than £536,000 to ChildLine to expand existing services at the call centres in Aberdeen and Glasgow and to establish a third Scottish centre in Edinburgh.

168 This activity is supported by Protecting Children and Young people: Framework for Standards for all practitioners which requires that children get the help they need when they need it and which forms the basis of the joint inspection of child protection services. The joint inspection programme will help ensure the quality of child protection services across Scotland.

169Getting it right for every child will introduce new duties on all agencies working with children to be alert to their needs, to listen to them and record their views, to identify children in need and to act to improve a child's situation. The interests of the child are paramount. Underpinning this is the need for decisions by Sheriffs and Children's Hearings to be taken in the best interests of the child as set out in s16 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Public education campaigns on reducing child death

170 The Executive has issued a number of publications to help raise public awareness as part of the child protection reform programme, such as Protecting Children and Young People: the Charter and Framework for Standards. These publications have been widely distributed through schools, social work services, health services and the police. High level annual summits on child protection involving the former First Minister and relevant portfolio Ministers have helped raise awareness further.

171 The Executive has also developed quality indicators in the joint inspection programme for child protection, How well are children and young people protected and their needs met? published in November 2005. These indicators help demonstrate how services will be evaluated by the joint inspection team and how practitioners and agencies may wish to assess their services and evaluate their success.

172 A more recent Executive priority is the development of a public information strategy on child sexual abuse. The Executive's Child Protection Team will lead on this cross cutting work which will include provision of materials to inform and advise parents, children and communities of the dangers of child sexual abuse and of strategies to reduce risk. Good use will be made of existing child protection public information materials and platforms. This work will be linked with concurrent work on a public information strategy on disclosure of third party notification of sex offenders.

Use of plastic baton rounds in riot control

173 The 2002 Concluding Observations urged the UK to abolish the use of plastic baton rounds as a means of riot control. In June 2001 a number of forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland announced their intention to obtain baton rounds for use during major public disorder. Scottish forces had earlier concluded that there was no need for these rounds in Scotland for this purpose and that remains their view. However, they do believe that baton guns may provide an alternative and less lethal option for offices involved in firearms incidents.

D) RESPECT FOR THE VIEWS OF THE CHILD

Article 12

174 In line with the 2002 Concluding Observations, one element of the Executive's vision for children is that they are respected and responsible - that they should be involved in decisions that affect them, should have their voices heard and should be encouraged to play an active and responsible role in their schools, communities and society at large. There is a strong commitment through legislation and policy change to make this a reality. Paragraphs 175-205 below set out the progress that has been made, but it is acknowledged that legislative intentions are not always carried out in practice and that there is still much to do.

Opportunities for the child to be heard in legal procedures affecting parental responsibilities, etc.

175 The principles underpinning the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 were fully described in the last UK report. In brief, the 1995 Act provides that, in family court actions (including divorce and separation proceedings) the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration. It also provides that a court should give a child the opportunity to express views on the matter the court is being asked to determine and to have regard to the views expressed. It gives age 12 as an age at which a child is presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to form a view, but the court can and does take into account the views of children younger than this (see Civil cases citing UNCRC - paragraph 30). Children can also instruct a solicitor under the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 which gives the same presumption about children aged 12 and above.

176 The Executive has also introduced a package of non-legislative measures. Two key elements of the package are: Parenting Agreements for Scotland a pack aimed at helping separating parents to set aside their own differences and focus on their children's needs; and the Charter for Grandchildren which reminds everyone involved in children's lives, whether on a personal or professional basis, of the important role grandparents and the wider family can play in a child's life, and how the wider family can be a source of support and stability in difficult times. It also reminds everyone that the focus should always be on the welfare of the children in a family. Both of these documents emphasise to all involved including children that a child's views should be sought and be taken into account where major decisions are to be made about his or her future.

177 In 1998 the Executive produced You Matter (for children 11-16) and Your Children Matter (for adults) to explain the family law provisions in the 1995 Act with a key focus on the voice of the child. These documents were routinely used by maternity units, social work departments and other agencies. Following the changes introduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, a new information booklet, Family Matters: Family Law and Young People in Scotland is being made widely available.

The voice of the child in the Children's Hearings System

178 One of the overarching principles that apply to decision making in Children's Hearings is that the child has a voice. In determining what action is in the child's best interests, panel members are required to seek and actively consider the views of children, taking account of the age and maturity of the child concerned. A child may also ask a representative (e.g. a family friend) or a legal representative (usually in cases where deprivation of the child's liberty is being considered), or both to speak on his or her behalf at the Hearing. The child's views may also be conveyed to the Children's Hearing by the child in writing, on audio or video tape or through an interpreter, or by any safeguarder appointed by the Children's Hearing. As well as the current procedure to appoint a legal representative where this is necessary, Getting it right for every child proposes a duty on the Children's Reporter to ensure children have legal representation where necessary, under the current criteria which protect their rights. In addition, 2 projects are being developed to look at how children can be involved in the selection and training of panel members.

179 The Executive commissioned research Big Words and Big Tables - Children and Young People's Experience of Advocacy Support and Participation in the Children's Hearings System to determine the extent of children's participation in Children's Hearings and how their views are taken into account in decisions made about them. The results of this research will be fed into implementation of Getting it right for every child and will inform the development of the Children's Hearings System of the future. More generally, Getting it right for every child will ensure that the views of the child will be taken into account in a number of ways. There will be duties on agencies to seek and record the views of children as part of the agencies' local co-ordination and monitoring framework. This will be delivered through a single assessment, record and plan which will highlight the need to record the child's views at every stage.

Looked after children

Articles 18 and 20

180 Under Section 17 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, local authorities have a duty to find out and have regard to the views of the child, their parents and any other relevant person, so far as is practicable when making decisions about a child whom they look after. The Support and Assistance of Young People Leaving Care (Scotland) Regulations 2003 include a duty to carry out an assessment of the needs of these children. Materials were produced to help local authorities carry out this duty effectively and were published under the title Pathways. The involvement of the young person is one of the central principles of the Regulations. In addition, when inspecting care services, the Care Commission takes into account the national care standards some of which deal with how children can express their views (Standard 4 for Foster care and family placement services, and Standards 18 and 19 for Care homes for children and young people).

181 The Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum produced best practice indicators for those running throughcare and aftercare services in October 2006. These highlight the need for children to be meaningfully involved at all levels and for service providers and decision makers to actively ensure that children have a voice. The document highlights existing good practice, for example children are involved in staff recruitment and training and discussions about service delivery for the Barnardo's 16+ service in Aberdeenshire.

Giving evidence in court

182 The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004 requires courts to ascertain the views of children about the way in which they wish to give evidence as witnesses in court proceedings. Where the views of the child witness are inconsistent with any views expressed by the witness's parent the views of the child witness must be given greater weight.

Mental health

183 The Executive is supporting Penumbra (a leading Scottish mental health charity) to establish and run a Participation Partnership Group to improve input from children on mental health issues. Key functions include: promoting the involvement of children in issues which affect their mental health and well-being at a local and national level; supporting children's involvement in the Executive's mental health agenda; exploring how they can influence and become involved in local Community Planning; developing links with existing participation networks and projects and carrying out consultation with harder to reach groups and promoting their involvement in staff recruitment and training in the field of children's mental health.

184 Executive funding for Penumbra facilitates the employment of a participation worker whose duties include working with key partners to promote the adoption (by agencies) of the principles of participation and involvement of children to ensure a consistent standard across all services in Scotland.

Health services

185 In hospitals, as part of the work of the National Steering Group for Specialist Children's Services Review, the Executive are consulting with children and families about the services they receive (including workforce, accessibility, models of care, age appropriate care and future trends) and how they can be improved.

Who Cares? Scotland

186 In addition to its core advocacy service, Who Cares? Scotland routinely involves children and young people currently or previously accommodated in the work of the organisation, creating platforms for them to speak for themselves.

187 Six places are reserved for young people on Who Cares? Scotland's board of directors including chair and vice-chair, and postholders are elected by children and young people at the AGM. Other examples of participation include:

• a national focus group which meets regularly to work on policy, service and practice issues. At present this includes the development of a model for a national befriending scheme;
• involvement in staff recruitment processes;
• young people designing a campaign to increase independent advocacy support for children and young people in foster care;
• young people producing (content and design) Who Cares? Scotland's Speak Out magazine, a regular publication by young people in care for young people in care (12 years and over); and
• young people involved in the design of training materials and the delivery of training to professionals.

Participation

Article 12

188 The Executive acknowledges children as citizens with a contribution to make to social and political life and is committed to improving the prospects and opportunities for children to participate in issues that affect their lives. The Executive's ambition is for all children and young people to become successful learners, responsible citizens, confident individuals and effective contributors, and this drives a programme of educational reform in Scotland.

189 One mechanism for engaging young people is the Scottish Youth Parliament, which is a national body that represents and engages with young people aged 14-25 in Scotland. Funded by the Executive, it plays a major role in stimulating debate amongst young people and presenting their views. Looking forward, a key priority for the Parliament is to become more representative of and engage more effectively with all young people in Scotland.

190 The Executive also supports the Children's Parliament which provides sustainable and meaningful opportunities for children aged 9-14 to engage in local, national and international democratic processes. Three pilot groups have been established drawing children from a wide range of backgrounds. The groups discuss a range of issues of importance to them and share their conclusions with other children and voice any opinions to parents, teachers, local and national politicians and the Children's Commissioner.

191 Children and young people have the opportunity to participate in youth councils/forums in their local community. However, the Being Young in Scotland 2005 survey showed that participation in representative youth forums remains the preserve of a very small minority across all age groups (under 10%). Groups more likely to participate are school children with disabilities and those living in rural rather than urban areas. School children who also undertake some form of volunteering or fund raising are also more likely to attend youth councils or forums; although it is unclear to what extent the two activities are directly related.

192 Participation in pupil or student councils is also uncommon. While 87% of schools have pupil councils (90% of primary, 95% of secondary and 36% of special schools), only around 6% of school pupils say that they attend councils at least once every couple of months. This doubles to 12% of 17-25 year olds.

193 In December 2006, the Executive published an introduction to good practice exploring what teachers, school communities and education authorities are doing to promote children's participation in decision-making and school life. This will include pupil councils, peer support models and the involvement of children in personal decision-making meetings such as a Children's Hearing, a meeting following a school exclusion or to co-ordinate support for a pupil with additional support needs. Since 2001, the Executive has recommended the use of buddying and mentoring schemes in Scottish schools, and formal mechanisms to enable pupils to share their views regularly on matters affecting them. This includes setting priorities for the school development plan.

194 The Executive has encouraged voluntary organisations to increase participation of young people from certain communities of interest. For example, LGBT Youth Scotland is working towards the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people in the civic life of Scotland. The LGBT Youth Charter of Rights has been created and developed into a toolkit which will provide organisations with a mechanism by which they can ensure that they are meaningfully engaging with and including LGBT young people, by changing the culture of their service and mainstreaming LGBT issues. Scottish Ministers have also hosted a number of seminars for LGBT communities and individuals. These allowed LGBT people, including LGBT young people, to meet Ministers and raise their concerns directly. The most recent seminar in February 2006 led directly to the establishment of a programme of work to tackle negative attitudes towards LGBT people.

Rates of participation in youth activities

195 Communities Scotland carried out the Performance Information Project ( PIP) in 2005. The aim of this project was to collect information on the activity of the community learning and development sector. The provisional findings, which should be treated as being broadly indicative rather than definitive, were:

• 84,919 youth work opportunities provided directly by local authorities were accessed in the week in November when the data was collected;
• local authorities provided support to other organisations to deliver 34,323 youth work opportunities; and
• local authorities provided £6,718,666 to other organisations to deliver youth work.

196 It is possible to compare the PIP figures to the mapping of the youth work sector survey undertaken by YouthLink Scotland on behalf of the Executive in 2003. This found that local authorities reported that 96,058 young people were involved in their provision over the course of a year. Broad comparison with the PIP figure - 84,919 in one week, suggests that the PIP results are plausible.

197 A further survey Being young in Scotland 2005 was commissioned to look in more detail at the patterns of participation. One key finding was that participation rates (in a range of activities across youth work, arts, culture and sports) steadily fall from the start of secondary school, rise when a young person leaves school and then fall again. None of the activities young people were asked about showed increases in popular participation between the ages of 11 and 16, suggesting that if young people are not engaged by 11, it is unlikely that they will start participating in these kinds of activities.

198 Youth clubs are largely attended by those under 15. There is no difference across urban and rural areas, nor between particularly deprived and non-deprived areas. 21% of children aged 11-12 are members of, or take part in, uniformed clubs at least once a fortnight. Participation declines rapidly, so that by the age of 13, half as many are participating (11%) and the decline is steady from that age. There is very little difference in participation between sexes and there is no difference between white and non-white children, those in urban and rural areas or levels of neighbourhood deprivation.

Involvement in local decision making

199 There is a statutory duty on key public sector organisations, for example Scottish local authorities, Health Boards and the Police and Fire Services, under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to initiate and facilitate a Community Planning process for their area. Community Planning aims to improve the quality of public services through partnership working and through consultation and co-operation with a wide range of interests, including children, as appropriate.

200 Evidence shows that children are keen to participate and there are several examples of Community Planning Partnerships which have set up themed groups specifically to deal with the issues important to children. In Edinburgh, for example, the Youth Services Advisory Committee ( YSAC) is a unique committee of the Council comprising cross-party political representation, nominated representatives from partner agencies and an equal representation of young people's representatives. Young people play a full part in strategic level decisions on the content and focus of the strategy for Youngedinburgh, Edinburgh's Youth Services Strategy, including budget allocations. YSAC is also recognised as a strategic partnership within the Edinburgh Partnership - the body with overall responsibility for Community Planning in the city.

201 Across Scotland, Dialogue Youth Units, based in all local authorities, connect young people with their communities and engage them in the Community Planning process by linking with local youth forums, pupil councils and other youth participation structures, such as the Scottish Youth Parliament. Increasingly, Community Planning Partnerships are looking for ways to design engagements which are geared towards the interests, understanding and experience of those involved, including excluded and hard to reach groups. Many are making use of technology and electronic communications as well as contacts with organisations which have established relationships with children and young people. This approach to developing a network of contacts establishes a range of ways of disseminating information and gathering young people's views as a matter of routine.

202 The involvement of children and young people in Community Planning should result in services more closely tailored to their needs but can also contribute to their growth and help them feel valued as citizens. For example, in Clackmannanshire, the Sauchie Community Green Map is a community mapping initiative that promotes sustainable development at a grassroots level, linking the common ground that people share to produce a map of the natural and cultural environment through the eyes of all members of its community. With a focus on 'What works?' rather than 'What's the problem?', a series of workshops, one-to-one interviews and questionnaires sought to find out the positives about living in Sauchie, producing a living map of the area. Young people were paired with retired residents as they discussed the area's existing assets, limitations and future possibilities across the generations. The Community Green Map is a tangible outcome for children which can be used to validate their community and help them express their hopes for future development.

203 The involvement of children in Community Planning should result in services more closely tailored to their needs but can also contribute to their growth and help them feel valued as citizens. In some cases, participation can provide a mechanism for re-engaging those who have become disengaged by creating a better sense of belonging. The Executive has recently published advice on engaging children in the Community Planning process, which includes more detail on the examples outlined above, and can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/11/09140609/0.

204 Planning guidance on the preparation of Integrated Children's Services Plans makes clear that engaging effectively with children is a vital component in the planning and delivery of services for children. Local authorities are expected to highlight in their Plans how the views of children have been sought, what those views were and how they have been taken into account in planning integrated service delivery. For example, many local authorities have established networks to seek input from children to inform the planning process.

205 Much has been achieved, but the Executive recognises that the participation of children in decision making is just beginning and there is much to learn - especially from children themselves.