CHILDREN'S HEARINGS: Out of Court

Ageing system

However, as with so many things, the ideals behind the system are far from the reality of its everyday workings. A report by public finance watchdog Audit Scotland (see panel, right) found that only 27 per cent of the 90m used to carry out the decisions made by Children's Panels is spent on community-based programmes, as opposed to super- vised or custodial programmes. And a good deal more money - 150m - is spent on the fact-finding and evidence-gathering aspects of the system, rather than on treatment for the young people.

Richard Holloway, chair of an inquiry into the system at children and young people's charity NCH Scotland, and a former Bishop of Edinburgh, believes the way the system is apportioning its money suggests it has lost its way. "There is financial starvation at the most innovative end of the system and that needs to be acknowledged and the money banged in," he says. "The vision is essentially right, although the mechanics need improvement, but the system has never been properly implemented," he adds. "The system was never adequately resourced to enable an interconnected spread of services; there has not been an apparent enthusiasm on the rehabilitation side."