Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has provided funding to Angus Independent Advocacy since 2020, as one of the providers of the statutory children's advocacy scheme for children's hearings. The objectives of the funding are to develop, deliver and promote children's advocacy services to ensure those services are accessible to all children and young people who may have a Children’s Hearing. These objectives have been adjusted over the years since 2020.

The key objectives, as set out in the current grant letter 2023-24 are:

• Children's advocacy will be offered and, where accepted, provided at the earliest possible point.
• The rights and views of children and young people who come into contact with the Children’s Hearings System, or who are placed in residential children's care from another part of the UK under a Court authorised Deprivation of Liberty Order (DOL) in Scotland, will be taken into account in decision making by supporting children and young people to participate in decisions that affect their lives.
• High quality independent advocacy services will be promoted and provided to children and young people, to support them to exercise their rights to be heard and participate within their Hearings. Children and young people affected by DOL placements will be supported to understand their rights and engage in discussions to provide their views to the residential provider.
• Children and young people will be supported by children's advocacy workers who will be appropriately skilled and qualified, and supported through training and Continuous Professional Development.
• Continually informed developments and improvements of the provision to meet children and young people's advocacy needs and empowering children who need a stronger voice by enabling them to express their own needs and make their own decisions.
• Take steps to promote, respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children and young people and increase awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) amongst staff and stakeholders.
• Will be expected to give regard to the Fair Work Framework.

Objectives in 2019-20 and 2020-21:

• To complete preparation work and activities to allow the organisation to deliver Children’s Advocacy services as part of the Scottish Government’s implementation of section 122 of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011, in a manner which gives cognisance to the: Scottish Government’s Advocacy Guidance; and National Practice Model for Advocacy in the Children’s Hearings System.

Objectives in 2021-22:

• The organisation will support the Scottish Government with the development, delivery and promotion of the national children’s advocacy in children’s hearings scheme as part of the implementation of section 122 of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 and The Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (Children’s Advocacy Services) Regulations 2020, in a manner which gives cognisance to the: Scottish Government’s Children’s Advocacy Guidance (published in 2014), and National Practice Model for Advocacy in the Children’s Hearings System (published in March 2020).
• The organisation will promote high quality independent advocacy services to children and young people, to support them to exercise their rights to be heard within their Hearings and contributing to the recovery of children’s hearings from Covid-19 impacts towards stable service.
• The organisation will promote high quality independent advocacy services to brothers and sisters, to support them to exercise their rights to participate in the Hearings of their siblings on staying together/contact arrangements as introduced by section 25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 and related changes in Regulations made under section 177 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2011.
• The organisation will take steps to promote, respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children and young people and increase awareness of the UNCRC amongst staff and stakeholders. You will promote the UNCRC throughout the creation and development of the project, and related policies and procedures in relation to this funding.
• The organisation will support planning and future implementation of The Promise by improving experiences and outcomes for care experienced children and young people.

In 2022-23, the objectives repeated those applicable in 2021-22, with this addition:

• The organisation will promote high quality independent advocacy services to children and young people in cross-border DOL order placements. The advocacy offer, as detailed in the National Practice Model for Advocacy in the Children’s Hearings System, will be intended to support affected children to understand their rights (within Scotland’s laws) and provide their views to the residential provider - as to how their in-placement experience aligns with their child’s plan and how their welfare is being protected. This will be done in liaison with the child’s appointed guardian/advocacy organisation in the placing/implementing authority, in line with the welfare analysis submitted to the High Court when the placing authority first applied for the DOL order.
• In 2020-21, Angus Independent Advocacy also received expedited grant funding allocated under the Winter Plan for Social Protection Children's Hearings Recovery Project. This was to support greater safety in participation, and digital capacity for advocacy - to manage the impact of coronavirus on children referred to the Children's Hearings System. This was to support system recovery and meet the changing needs for children and young people to be able to participate in their children's hearings. It extended to, for example, personal digital devices that would both allow them to engage with advocacy but also assist with home schooling as required.