Children's hearings move defeated

Ministers warned the children's hearing decision breached human rights law

Scottish Government plans to offer state-funded legal representation to vulnerable adults at children's panel hearings have been defeated by MSPs.

Holyrood's education committee rejected the move amid concerns it could over-legalise children's hearings.

Ministers warned that the decision had put both the government and panel members in breach of human rights law.

MSPs backed a motion to dismiss ministers' plans by four votes to three, with one abstention.

The motion was brought forward by education committee member and Labour MSP Ken Macintosh, who also expressed concern that extending representation rules would make the children's panel system more adversarial and threaten its lay-member system.

'Seriously underestimated'

Children's Minister Adam Ingram accused the committee of reaching a "new low", saying it was vital to allow vulnerable adults, often the parents of the youngster involved in a case, the right to be able to follow panel proceedings.

But the committee's convener, Labour MSP Karen Whitefield, accused the government of rushing the measure.

"If the scale of the impact has been so seriously underestimated then it's perfectly reasonable to conclude that the children's hearings will become more legalistic and more adversarial," she said.

"This is a central concern of panel members up and down the country."

'Most vulnerable'

Mr Ingram said the extension to state-funded representation would cover about 250 cases a year.

"In my 10 years in this place, never has anyone else proposed to deny the most vulnerable members of our society the means to legal representation to participate in life-changing decisions affecting their families," he told MSPs.

Despite the defeat, the government plan will now go forward to a vote in the full Scottish Parliament.

It was drawn up after a case at the Court of Session involving a parent with the language ability of a six-year-old.

The Scottish Government accepted it should fund her legal representation, although no judgement has yet been issued.