Scottish office white paper: ‘Scotland's children - proposals for Child Care Policy and Law’: A critical analysis

Abstract

This article summarizes the Scottish Office White Paper, Scotland's Children - Proposals for Child Care Policy and Law, and analyses the proposals in the context of a number of inquiries and reports which preceded the White Paper.

The main legal changes involve protection of children and more stringent provisions before there can be emergency intervention to remove children from their homes. In addition there are provisions for the exclusion of abusers from the home, provisions for children to be assessed without their being removed from the home and measures to improve the techniques used by those interviewing children.

The proposed measures try to comply with the obligations created under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

There are also a number of provisions on the Children's Hearing system in Scotland, including strengthening the role of the safeguarder to protect the interests of the child, as well as provisions aimed at truants, at young offenders (especially persistent offenders) and at improving the quality of child care.

Unfortunately the proposals are general in nature and not suitable for speedy translation into legislation. Some proposals seem to alter or water down the more interesting or fundamental proposals from earlier inquiries and reports. None of the proposals is presently in a form likely to lead to a speedy, thorough and modern codification of child care law and practice in Scotland.

Key Words:

• Scotland
• Orkney Inquiry
• child law reform
• Clyde
• White Paper
• Kearney