CHIP Latest News

In May, Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) launched the Articulate Animation, co-written, designed and voiced by some of their Board Members. The short film – made by Braw Talent – brings to life the importance of language in the Children’s Hearings System. A joint...

The CHIP Referral to the Children's Reporter guide has now been refreshed and updated. The guide provides information about the law and the referral process. It also offers some practical advice on how to make a referral and the kind of information that is helpful for...

Following on from the recent launch of Articulate Animation, the Language Leaders have produced their latest update which you can read on the CHIP website. This update contains background information (if you are new to the work of Language Leaders) plus some news on...

Hearings-experienced young people launched their new Articulate Animation today (Wednesday 22 May). The cartoon animation has been co-written, designed and voiced by some of Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) Board Members. The short film brings to life the importance of...

The minutes from the CHIP meeting on 12th December 2023 are now available. Discussions at this meeting included an update on the Scottish Government response to the Hearings For Children report, the Children (Care and Justice) Bill, Bairns’ Hoose and UNCRC...

On 21 December 2023, the Scottish Government published it's response to the Hearings for Children report. You can view it here. A policy summary is also available. 

The minutes from the CHIP meeting on 12th September 2023 are now available here. Discussions at this meeting focused on the Hearings System Working Group’s Hearings for Children report and planning for next steps. 

Planning for the Hearings System Working Group’s final report and the Care and Justice Bill are just two of the areas discussed at the recent meetings of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership. You can read the minutes from the 24 May and 2 March.

The Fife Children's Hearings Improvement Partnership has published its latest Better Hearings update. This edition includes an update on Facilities at the Hearing Centre - A Child’s Experience, Launch of Fife CHIP’s Multi-agency Protocol, multi-agency Learning Event...

Minister for Keeping the Promise Natalie Don has welcomed a landmark independent report that sets out more than 100 recommendations for transforming Scotland’s unique Children’s Hearings System. ‘Hearings for Children’ has been developed following a 20-month review of...

The minutes from the CHIP meeting on 17 November 2022 are now available. This meeting included an update from Our Hearings, Our Voice on a Keeping The Promise project on language in the Hearings System.

A project to improve language in the Children’s Hearings System has produced a progress report reflecting on the journey so far. Now called the Language Leaders - the group which reports to the CHIP - aims to prevent misunderstanding, distress or re-traumatising of...

The Fife Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has published the latest edition of its newsletter.This edition contains information about a recent multi-agency learning and networking event, new participation and social workers and the launch of a pilot autism...

The minutes from the CHIP meeting on 11 August are now available. This meeting included an update on the Hearings System Working Group and also information about an exciting new project focussing on language in the Hearings System which involves young people from Our...

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) is an independent board for children and young people from across Scotland between the ages of 8-18, who have experience of the Children’s Hearings System. The aim of OHOV is to ensure children and young people have a decision making...

The minute from the CHIP meeting on 19 May 2022 is now available. This meeting included an update on the work of the Hearings System Recovery Group, as well as an update from Our Hearings, Our Voice. You can also view all recent minutes on the CHIP website.

The Fife Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has published the latest edition of its newsletter. This edition contains an update on the New Sensory Room at SCRA Glenrothes, Children’s Hearing Advocacy Funding, Keeping The Promise and a training...

Want to keep up to date with the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership? You can view the minutes from all our meetings on our website. If you have any questions, please get in touch. 

In case you missed the Hearings advocacy webinar on 19 January, information and slides from the event are now available. You can read the presentation given by the Minister for Children and Young People, Clare Haughey MSP. You can see the slides presented by Gordon...

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) has launched a recruitment campaign today aimed at recruiting new Board Members. This follows on from the recent publication of the OHOV evaluation report. The evaluation was carried out to find out how effective OHOV has been and what...

In response to the new Omicron variant, SCRA has published its contingency plan. The plan includes information on Hearings and the move to more Virtual Hearings. If you want more information about SCRA’s latest response to the pandemic, visit their website....

An evaluation of Our Hearings, Our Voice has been published today on the CHIP website. There is a detailed version of the report, as well as a shorter version aimed at children and young people. Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) is an independent Board of...

The Fife Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has published the latest edition of its newsletter. This edition contains an update on siblings rights, Keeping The Promise and a coming soon item about a future training event. 

The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 describes the responsibilities and expectations for all involved in protecting children in Scotland and will support the care and protection of children across Scotland. The Guidance sets out how agencies...

A partnership between Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS), the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and The Promise Scotland, that will facilitate a redesign of Children’s Hearings System with the needs of children and families with lived experience at...

The minutes of the CHIP meeting on 26 February 2021 are now available. This meeting covered a number of areas, including the impact of current restrictions on the COVID Recovery Plan, as well as an update on the Youth Justice Improvement Board. The minutes from the...

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV), the independent children and young people’s board for the Children’s Hearings System, has now been established for over two years. The Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) has asked the Scottish Children’s Reporter...

The Fife Children's Hearings Improvement Partnership has published its latest Better Hearings update. This edition includes an update on Virtual Hearings, Social Work reports, the resumption of training for health colleagues and Panel Member recruitment. 

The meeting from the CHIP on 15 December 2020 are now available. You can view them here. You can also view all recent minutes on the CHIP website.

A multi-agency national COVID-19 Recovery Plan for the Children’s Hearings System has been published today. The Recovery Plan summarises work that has been done since March 2020 to help maintain the safety and rights of children and young people within the Hearings...

Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration are reporting regularly on the work of the Children’s Hearings System whilst the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 remains in force. As a result, there is a new page on the CHIP...

Every member of the CHIP will be receiving an interactive Zine through the post this month! The young people from Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) have created and published a Zine following on from their exhibition and event  ‘Hearing Children’ at the Scottish...

The Fife Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has published its second report this time looking at the response to the pandemic. The report covers virtual Hearings, the return to face to face Hearings and updates on some of the partnership work which has been...

This is the second report produced by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) on the use of children’s provisions within Schedule 3 of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020.  The first report, covering the period 7...

Since just before lockdown, virtual Hearings have been taking place. However, as lockdown restrictions started to ease, planning has been taking place to reintroduce face to face Hearings. Traditional, face to face Hearings will only be able to take place with strict...

The Scottish Government is consulting on raising the age at which a young person can be referred to a Children’ Hearing from 16 to 18. Currently only 16 and 17-year-olds who are already within the Children’s Hearings System can be referred or have their order...

Two new documents have been published on the CHIP website today (Thursday 11 June). One is Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 – Reporting requirements section 4 and schedule 3. The second is a Reporting Requirements Children’s Provisions Data Report - 7 April to 20...

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) has provided an update to CHIP members on its work during the spring. The update, which you can read here, includes the work which has been ongoing to support the young people during the Covid-19 pandemic and the launch of a secure...

Arrangements for reopening Children’s Hearings centres – in common with courts and tribunals buildings - are included in phase 1 of the route map announced by the First Minister on 21 May 2020. No dates or timescales have been set for ‘face to face’ Hearings. For more...

Children’s Hearings Scotland and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration have issued a joint update today on virtual Hearings. The update focuses on children, young people and relevant persons being able to participate in the Hearing remotely. You can read the...

The Scottish Government has issued guidance on looked after children and children’s hearings following last week’s emergency Coronavirus legislation. The guidance document, which is aimed at stakeholders, gives an overview of key provisions in the Coronavirus...

Like every public service, the children’s hearings system is significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.  This is a summary of the current arrangements that exist at the date of this statement. All SCRA and CHS offices are closed to the public.  Almost all our...

The minutes from the last two meetings of the CHIP are now available. You can view the minute from 27.02.20 here and the minute from 02.12.19 is available here.

The Fife Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has published a report looking at some of the highlights from 2019. The report includes a round-up of partner training and it also touches on some future plans. You can read the report here. If you have any...

The minute of the CHIP meeting on Monday 9 September 2019 is now available. You can view it here. This meeting included a workshop discussion on the recently published research report on Home Compulsory Supervision Orders which you can view here.

New learning materials are now available on the CHIP website. You can view them here. Piloted before being launched, the three learning packages can work on their own, or can be used together as a really powerful tool for transformational change. The packages - ‘Mock...

A report looking at Better Hearings activity over the past 12 months has been published today. The Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) has published a Better Hearings Progress Report. You can view the report here. The report has been published during...

The Children's Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) has published the latest edition of its quarterly briefing sheet. You can view the autumn edition here. This issue includes the highlights of a CHIP discussion on the Home Compulsory Supervision Orders research...

The minutes from the CHIP meeting on 10 June 2019 are now available. You can view them here. The June meeting included an update on Better Hearings and Learning and Development.

The CHIP has published its quarterly briefing sheet. It includes an update on Better Hearings. It also includes the minutes from the March meeting. You can view the summer edition here.The next one will be issued later this autumn. If you have any questions, please...

The Scottish Government has published a Summary Report on Responses to the Advocacy Discussion Document which was issued earlier this year. The Scottish Government had been keen to get views on: i) views on certain aspects of Children’s Hearings Advocacy and ii) on...

Scottish Government Ministers have announced the convening of an advisory group looking at raising the age of criminal responsibility. You can read more on the Scottish Government website.  

On 17 December the Scottish Government hosted the first CHIP seminar, at Victoria Quay, Edinburgh. The seminar focussed on research published by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) in January 2018 – ‘Complexity in the lives of looked after children...

The minutes of the CHIP meeting held on 10 December 2018 are now available. You can view them here. They were approved at the recent meeting on 4 March. The December meeting heard an update from the Care Review regarding Stop Go discussions and also received a...

The Glasgow Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership marked its first anniversary with a gathering of partners to review the first 12 months of operation.Key partners from across the city got together on Wednesday 30 January to look back on the year and also to...

The Scottish Government has published a discussion paper and is inviting comments on thoughts on a number of issues relating mainly to supporting children under 12 attending investigative interviews under the Age of Criminal Responsibility (S) Bill, but also touching...

A briefing sheet has been published giving some highlights of the latest CHIP meeting and also some other work which is ongoing. You can read the briefing sheet following the meeting on 10 December here. This is our third quarterly briefing following a meeting. The...

The minutes of the CHIP meeting held on 13 September 2018 are now available. You can view them here. They were approved at the recent meeting on 10 December. If you have any questions about the minutes, please get in touch via CHIP-partnership@gov.scot...

On 17 December the Scottish Government hosted the first CHIP seminar, at Victoria Quay, Edinburgh. The seminar focussed on research published by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) in January 2018 – ‘Complexity in the lives of looked after children...

A briefing sheet has been published giving some highlights of the latest CHIP meeting and also some other work which is ongoing. You can read the briefing sheet following the meeting on 13 September here. This is our second briefing following a meeting. Going forward,...

The minutes of the CHIP meeting held on 12 June 2018 are now available. You can view them here. They were approved at the recent meeting on 13 September. If you have any questions about the minutes, please get in touch via CHIP-partnership@gov.scot  ...

CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children) have worked with SCRA to produce a new research report. The report ‘Contact Decisions in the Children’s Hearings System’ is available to read here. The research considered - When and how, if at all, do decisions...

A briefing sheet has been published giving some highlights of the June CHIP meeting and also some other work which is ongoing. You can read the briefing sheet here. Going forward, a briefing sheet will be issued quarterly, following each CHIP meeting....

Work is underway to better equip solicitors to support children and families at Children’s Hearings. The CHIP has set up a short term working group to identify the essential areas of knowledge that solicitors require in order to engage constructively in the Children’s...

The minutes from the March 2018 meeting of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) have now been published after being approved at the last meeting on 12 June. You can view the minutes here. The minute from the June meeting will be available in...

The minutes of the latest Glasgow CHIP meeting on 3 May 2018 are now available. The next meeting will take place on 6 September 2018.  Click here to view them.   

The minutes from the December 2017 meeting of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) have now been published after being approved at the last meeting in March. You can view the minutes here. The minute from the March meeting will be available shortly....

The age of criminal responsibility is set to rise from eight to 12, under legislation introduced to the Scottish Parliament. The new law will see Scotland lead the way in the UK, ensuring no child under 12 will receive a criminal record. It has been introduced...

The Glasgow CHIP continues to go from strength to strength. It was launched in November 2017 to enhance partnership working arrangements in the city and involves partners from across the Children’s Hearings System. The minutes of the most recent meeting on 1 February...

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, delivered the Kilbrandon Lecture on Thursday 23 November in the Barony Hall at the University of Strathclyde. You can view the full transcript of her presentation here.  

Partners in the Hearings System came together on Friday to launch a Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership for Glasgow. The Glasgow CHIP brings together partners from across the city who all play key roles in the Children’s Hearings System. The event was held in...

The University of Strathclyde has published new research today into the role of the Safeguarder in the Children’s Hearings System. You can read the report here. Minister for Early Years and Childcare Maree Todd welcomed publication of the report. She said: “We are...

The CHIP website has a new addition – an online resource detailing roles and responsibilities in the Hearings System. You can view the new resource here. The resource has sections for each of the main organisations in the Hearings System. The resource provides an at a...

The minute of the CHIP meeting on 13 September 2017 has been published. You can view it here. This meeting included an update on the Named Person issue and the Education and Skills Committee. There was also an update on the work of the CHIP working groups and an input...

The minutes from the June meeting of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) have now been published after being approved at the last meeting on 13 September. You can view the minutes here.    

An ambitious new strategy to create safer, just and more resilient communities across Scotland has been unveiled by the Justice Secretary Michael Matheson. The ‘Vision and Priorities’ for Justice was launched as demolition work began at Cornton Vale women’s prison and...

The minutes from the March meeting of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) have now been published after being approved at the last meeting on 6 June. You can view the minutes here. The March meeting included a discussion on the Education and Skills...

The minutes from the September meeting of the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) have now been published after being approved at the last meeting on 8 December. You can view the minutes here. The September meeting looked at a range of issues and...

A new research report ‘The Next Steps towards Better Hearings’ has been published today. The report has been produced by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) on behalf of the CHIP. The report is the response to long standing...

The Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) has welcomed the publication of new research on ‘the role of the solicitor in the Children’s Hearings System’. The Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) has welcomed the...

The latest minutes from the CHIP have been published.  This meeting looked at a number of issues, including updates from the various CHIP workstreams and from the Youth Justice Board. The meeting also got an update on plans to create a Young People’s Board for the...

Foundations for a Young People’s Board for the Children’s Hearings System have been laid. Care and Hearings-experienced young people recently spent a day together in Glasgow looking at how a Board made up of young people could be constructed to best support and...

The Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership has unveiled its new Vision and Values statement. It was one of the priority activities for the CHIP to create a statement of vision and values which reflect the enduring ethos of the Children’s Hearings System. The aim...

A guidance document has been produced by the CHIP and shared with partners in the Hearings System. It is aimed at giving practical advice to any professional who is considering making a referral to the Reporter. The document ‘Guidance on Referral to the Reporter’ has...