parental rights

Elective home education: guidelines for local authorities

These government guidelines have been prepared to help local authorities carry out their statutory responsibilities and manage their relationships with home educating parents. Where parents have chosen to home educate, it is important that home educated child to have a positive experience. These guidelines aim to clarify the balance between the right of the parent to educate their child at home and the responsibilities of the local authority. ‘Parents’ should be taken to include all those with parental responsibility, including guardians and carers.

Children's hearing system in Scotland

The children's hearings system, Scotland's unique system of juvenile justice, commenced operating on 15 April 1971. The system is centred on the welfare of the child. A fundamental principle is that the needs of the child should be the key test and that children who offend and children who are in need of care and protection should be dealt with in the same system. Cases relating to children who may require compulsory measures of intervention are considered by an independent panel of trained lay people.