Public Petitions Committee, 04 Nov 2008
Meeting date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Official Report
295KB pdf
Current Petitions
Young Offenders (PE1155)
I thank members and petitioners for their time and patience. I am bringing forward consideration of petition PE1155, from Elizabeth Cooper, because she has a prearranged commitment to return to Glasgow on a specific train. Because of her disability needs, she must catch that train.
Elizabeth Cooper's constituency member, Margaret Curran, who has previously made submissions on the petitioner's behalf, is present for the item. I apologise for bringing forward the petition, but we do so to help Elizabeth Cooper.
The petition calls on the Parliament to urge the Government to amend the law to ensure that young people who are aged between 10 and 18 and who are charged with serious offences are tried by the criminal justice system, rather than the children's hearings system.
Margaret Curran will speak on her constituent's behalf.
I thank the convener for bringing forward consideration of the petition to meet Mrs Cooper's needs.
Some members know the background to the petition, which is that Mrs Cooper's son was seriously assaulted. Ultimately, nothing was done about that in the victim's interests and nothing was done to the perpetrators. The fact that the assault has not been dealt with or challenged is causing the Cooper family great trauma and raises a profoundly significant social policy issue.
The Cooper family and I acknowledge that, when offenders are under 16, particular arrangements must kick in. We understand the need for confidentiality of social work interventions and for special efforts, particularly to work with young offenders. Nonetheless, the current situation is unsatisfactory. A serious assault has been left unchecked. The signals that that sends to the broader community are serious. Mrs Cooper's son has undergone considerable trauma—much evidence supports that. Perhaps what is more significant is that the perpetrators will believe that there is no comeback for such behaviour. One could argue that that will lead to broader violence in the community.
The petition has provided a useful forum for Mrs Cooper to articulate those concerns. We are asking for the Parliament and the Government to be required to examine the situation and to see what can be done. We appreciate that no one policy exists that would answer the problem immediately and which the Government or the Parliament is ignoring. However, we cannot just shrug our shoulders and walk away from the issue, because it is too serious and it demands much greater consideration by all of us, in whatever capacity we serve Parliament.
Do committee members have questions or observations about the petition?
Would it help to arrange a meeting between the petitioner and a Government representative, to air all the concerns and consider the way forward?
As the petitioner knows, we are in a limbo period in which substantial discussion is taking place about the structure of the children's hearings system. The Government and others who are involved in the process say that it will be a long time before that system is addressed. That is about the system's superstructure, but the petition concerns specific circumstances that had a dramatic impact on the petitioner's young son.
In the interim, we want to find ways forward. Nanette Milne makes the reasonable suggestion that we could raise the issue on the petitioner's behalf and ask the Government for further discussion. I am sure that the elected representative for the petitioner's area would be keen to pursue that. Does Margaret Curran want to comment?
With the committee's backing, I am sure that a meeting would help. I imagine that the Government is not resistant to a meeting.
In the case that we are discussing, people are frustrated that justice has not been applied to the perpetrators—whether through the children's panel system or the criminal justice system. The family has been abandoned. Whatever comes out of the case should inform a broader discussion about the children's panel system. If we were to reform the system and the current situation were to continue, that would be a matter of concern for us all. So, I believe that the case is of significance at two levels.
Do any other committee members have observations to make? Could we take the course of action that Nanette Milne suggests, which would hopefully benefit the petitioner? The petition is still open because the issues that it raises will be part of the bigger review of the children's hearings system. We do not intend to close the petition, but we want to explore the issues that the petitioner raises with those who can perhaps address them through the legislative process.
If such a meeting takes place, the committee should be notified about what happened at the meeting and what the outcome was.
Okay. I hope that that is helpful to the petitioners, who I am aware need to leave shortly because of their arrangements. We will keep the petition open and see whether there is an opportunity to discuss the matter further with Government representatives or a minister. The outcome of any such meeting will be fed back to us before the deliberations on the structure of the children's hearings system. Is that agreed?
Members indicated agreement.