The Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee has published the responses it has received to a ‘call for views’ on the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, including CHS’s response.

This wide-ranging Bill contains changes in the law in relation to the children’s care system, including the Children’s Hearings System.

CHS is supportive of most of the proposed changes to the hearings system that are set out in the Bill. We worked closely with stakeholders across the sector in the work that has led to the development of the Bill.

Legislative changes to fulfil the Promise

In June CHS welcomed the introduction to Parliament of the Bill. It was introduced following a public consultation in autumn 2024 which in turn followed the publication of the Hearings for Children report in May 2023. The Bill proposes changes to the care system, including the hearings system, to enable the Scottish Government and its partners to fulfil the Promise.

Soon after the Bill was published in June 2025, the Scottish Parliament issued a ‘call for views’ to stakeholders, with a deadline of 15 August, and the responses it received have now been published online.

Next steps

This is an early stage in the progress of the Bill towards becoming law. The Bill will pass through three formal stages in the coming months as it is scrutinised by parliamentary committees, and we expect that CHS Practice and Policy colleagues will be asked to give evidence to those committees.