Last month, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland gave the 15th Kilbrandon Lecture at the University of Strathclyde.  The Kilbrandon Lecture is given each year to mark the legacy and impact of the report of the Committee headed by Lord Kilbrandon which led to the establishment of the Children’s Hearing System in Scotland in 1971.

The First Minister’s lecture focused on the Kilbrandon principles that underpin both the Children’s Hearing System in Scotland and the Child Youth and Community Tribunal System here in the Bailiwick.

It was the child centred and inclusive nature of the Children's Hearing System that led the States of Deliberation to decide in 2004 that this community based approach to responding to the needs and deeds of children was the right approach for the Bailiwick.

Throughout the lecture the First Minister reinforced the message that children and young people should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.  “ For every young person who cannot fulfil their potential, all of us lose out on the talent, ideas and initiative of someone who could be contributing far more to our society”

“Getting young people to see how much they can achieve,  then kindling that awareness into a spark or fire of ambition, and then enabling them to realise that ambition – that is one of the key responsibilities today for government and for wider society.” 

She commented that a key test of any society is how we support and care for children who require special protective measures. “We need to take extra steps to give them true equality of opportunity. That includes giving them a voice when decisions are being taken that could change the course of their lives”    

You can read the full transcript of the 15th Kilbrandon Lecture here