Mr Schaffer, who head of policy at the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, has confirmed to the Scottish government that a welfare system will improve how we deal with Scottish children. He has stated it is not just all about controlling children’s behaviour.
The age of criminal responsibly is currently 8 in Scotland, which is among the lowest age in the modern world. There is currently a bill going through parliament to raise this age to 12. However, Mr Schaffer is supporting the view that the age of criminal responsibly should be raised to the UN recommend age of 14 or even 16. However, this would mean that the children’s hearing system would likely deal with the most serious offences such as murder and sexual offences which is currently being debated.