Bill Kidd
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“I think that it is possible to do that, and that having a child-centred and trauma- informed manner is important. I therefore urge members to accept my amendment or to accept Roz McCall’s amendment 75. Amendment 77 defines child-centred legal advice and representation.”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗
“Section 18(2) distinguishes local authorities because, unlike most other referring bodies, they will usually have on-going involvement with the child and the family once a referral has been made.”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗
“The minister also concedes that the amendments would not do any harm, so I would still ask the Government to accept them, because they would clarify the situation and leave things in no doubt at all. Finally—the Deputy Presiding Officer will be glad to hear—I will speak to amendment 201.”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗
“However, in line with the UNCRC, recent reforms made by the Parliament, such as the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, have moved away from arbitrary presumptions or distinctions about a child’s capacity that are based purely on age.”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗
“Notwithstanding that point, I have confidence that the dedicated infants and babies workstream will bring about changes, given who is involved in it—although I fear that those changes might not be dissimilar to what is being articulated in the amendments.”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗
“There is no consensus on the term, which means that there is some difficulty with legislation that contains it. The amendment relates specifically to section 18, which says that local authorities must provide the child in question with information on the children’s hearings process, the availability of child advocacy services and child-ce…”
Scottish Parliament18 March 2026Source ↗