WITH 1,400 hearings being dealt with in Fife each year the Children's Panel is an important tool in helping young people change the direction of their lives.

But to help make the Panel system work fully effectively more new members are needed, Cowdenbeath Rotary Club heard on Thursday.

Guest speaker was Panel member for six years, Jim Redpath, from Oakley, who explained that a hearing, involving three Panel members, listens to the child or young person's circumstances, and makes decisions with and for them.

And Jim is in a unique position of having sat on a Panel hearing with his son who is also a member, the only people in Scotland who are in that position.

A children's hearing was, he said, a legal meeting arranged to consider and make legally binding decisions about children and young people who may be in need of support.

He added: "People often think that the Panel is about dealing with children who have done something terribly wrong, but that really is not totally the case.

"Often a child is referred to the panel because their parents are needing help and the family circumstance is having a bad effect on the young person's life.

"Around 95 per cent of the cases the Panel deals with are caused by bad parenting."

He said that currently many problems dealt with by the hearings in Fife are caused by drugs and the hearings are often trying to find a solution which can help parents in difficulties improve the support they give to their children.

"Often we get referrals from the Social Work and education services and and our aim is to make decisions which will have a positive impact on a child's life," he added

"That is the most rewarding aspect of it all for me."

He said that currently the Children's Panel is busily trying to recruit new members: "You are thoroughly trained before you are appointed to the Panel and really you can devote as much time to it as you wish.

"I maybe can be involved in as many as four hearings a month. Each one is different but at the end of the day it is all about trying to make the right decision to make a difference to a child's life."

He stressed Panel members in Fife come from a wide range of backgrounds and occupations and he concluded: "The two basic assets really are being a good communicator and knowing how to listen and if you are that sort of person why not get involved. And remember the decisions made at a hearing are legally binding."