WHEN I was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament three years ago, the elation that I felt was matched by my excitement about the opportunity that I had to take forward key causes that are close to my heart.

One of those is protecting and promoting the rights and interests of children and young people, particularly those who have difficult experiences in childhood. I know that those childhood experiences can manifest in harmful behaviour – to the child his or herself and to others.

I want to make sure that what children do and what happens to them when they are young does not adversely affect their life chances in adulthood.

We have already raised the age at which children are prosecuted for offences to 12 and next week I hope to lead into law a bill which lifts all children under 12 out of criminal responsibility altogether.

We will be leading the UK in our approach to this and we are being bold at a time when other administrations are failing to act.

Scotland has never been afraid to be radical in its approach to children’s “deeds and needs”.

Our children’s hearings system, now more than 50 years old, is still unique and respected across the world. Its “whole-child” approach will play a key role in ensuring that while we no longer criminalise children for their behaviour, we continue to address what they do by also looking at what support and care they might also need through the same system.

Raising the age of criminal responsibility allows us to reflect that very few children aged under 12 commit offences currently. Of the 700,000 children in Scotland who are aged under 12, fewer than 300 – 0.04% – are referred to the children’s reporter due to harmful behaviour. That number is declining.

I acknowledge that we have been on this journey for some time to raise the age and that we are not going fast or far enough for some – but we also have a responsibility to make profound and far-reaching changes to the law safely.

I want to make sure we deliver the right reform for Scotland and the fact that our approach in this bill has received strong support suggests we are moving at the right pace.

It is vital that the way we respond to children is respected and supported by victims, families, communities and professionals.

This reform is a crucial part of a much broader effort to make sure we get it right for every child in Scotland. So before we even consider raising the age further, we must implement these changes in the law and review their impact.

This bill introduces innovative and novel concepts into our justice system – there will be an independent reviewer recruited to safeguard instances where information about children under 12 might be disclosed, perhaps as part of a job application down the line.

In those cases, the reviewer will make sure that any information will only be disclosed when it is relevant.

There are new powers for the police for cases where children under 12 are involved in the most harmful behaviour; such behaviour will still be investigated and victims responded to, but children will be supported and their rights protected throughout that process. These new measures need to be reviewed to ensure that they work and work well.

I also want the age of criminal responsibility to be considered in the context of how the bill is operating. So I have introduced to this bill a clause to allow for review, to be carried out within three years from the bill becoming law. And I announce today that I will set up an advisory group to carry out this work. While key agencies will be represented, I also want to make sure that the voices and experiences of children and young people are considered.

Readiness to move beyond the age of 12 cannot and should not just be about public opinion – but I recognise that we must take the public with us. Responsible agencies will need to be certain they are ready to handle the full range of possible cases.

I hope the Parliament will support this bill and send a clear and unequivocal signal across Scotland that children and young people, their rights and interests, matter.

As James Docherty of Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit put it: “You will never punish a young person into a better way of being; you can only love and nurture them into a better way of being … because it is not good enough any more to say to young people, ‘You are making bad choices’.”

Love and safety must be at the heart of our wider approach to supporting vulnerable children and young people who face the greatest disadvantage and challenge in their childhoods.

If we value and nurture all our children and young people, they, we and our nation all benefit.