PART 6

Arranging children's hearings – general

Provision of information prior to children's hearing
26
1
Where the child or any relevant person wish to give to a children's hearing to be held by virtue of section 69(2) (determination under section 66: referral to children's hearing) or Parts 9 to 11 (children's hearing; proceedings before sheriff; subsequent children's hearings), or 13 (review of compulsory supervision order) of the Act any report or other document for the consideration of the children's hearing the child or relevant person, as the case may be, must give a copy of the report or other document to the Reporter, so far as practicable, no later than 4 days before the intended date of the hearing.
2
Wherever practicable the Reporter must give a copy of any report or other document given under paragraph (1) to the persons mentioned in paragraph (4) (except where that person gave the report or other document to the Reporter) no later than 3 days before the intended date of the hearing.
3
Where the Reporter obtains any information (including any views of the child given orally to the Reporter) or document which is material to the children's hearing and has not previously been given to the persons mentioned in paragraph (4) the Reporter must give that information or a copy of the document to those persons as soon as possible before the beginning of the children's hearing.
4
Those persons are—
a
the child;
b
each relevant person;
c
any appointed safeguarder;
d
the three members of the children's hearing.
5
Where an individual is to be afforded an opportunity to participate in relation to a children’s hearing by virtue of rule 2A, the Reporter must—
a
as soon as practicable before the hearing begins, give the individual a copy of any contact direction that regulates contact between the individual and the child, and
b
give the individual any information (including information contained in a document) that—
i
the Reporter is required by these Rules to give to a relevant person, and
ii
is about—
aa
the individual,
bb
contact between the child and the individual, or
cc
how contact or the possibility of contact between the child and the individual may be affected by a decision of the children’s hearing.
6
But paragraph (5)(b) does not require the Reporter to give an individual the statement of grounds prepared by the Reporter under section 89 of the Act (Principal Reporter’s duty to prepare statement of grounds).
7
Where the Reporter is required by these Rules to give a copy of a report or other document to the members of a children’s hearing before the hearing begins, the Reporter must also give a copy of the report or other document to—
a
the chief social work officer of the relevant local authority for the child, or
b
if the child is subject to a compulsory supervision order or an interim compulsory supervision order, the chief social work officer of the implementation authority.
8
Paragraph (7) does not require the Reporter to give the chief social work officer of an authority a copy of a report or other document prepared, or given to the Reporter, by the authority.
Rule 26(5)-(8) inserted (26.7.2021) by The Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (Rules of Procedure in Children’s Hearings) Amendment Rules 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/68), rules 1, 2(8)