Question reference: S6W-26002
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 6 March 2024
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Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to commence, by regulations, the remaining provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020.
Answer
We are currently prioritising work across the Scottish Government in light of increased pressures on the Scottish budget.
On 16 March 2023, the then Minister for Community Safety provided a submission to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee in relation to Petition PE1968 , which outlined our position on full implementation of the 2020 Act and included a section-by-section breakdown of the Act’s commencement status.
I can provide some further updates.
For the provision on the views of the child in proceedings under the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011, the recent ‘ Hearings for Children ’ report reviewing the children’s hearings system included a recommendation to commence section 3 of the 2020 Act. The Scottish Government has accepted that recommendation and is taking forward relevant work in that regard.
For the provisions on special measures (sections 4 to 8 of the 2020 Act), Part 3 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill currently before the Parliament will, if enacted, extend the provisions which relate to proceedings under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to civil proceedings generally.
In relation to a register for Child Welfare Reporters (section 9 of the 2020 Act), we will be establishing a short-life working group of key stakeholders later this year that will inform the development of policy around the register. It will also consider whether changes made in the past in this area, following a previous working group, are working as intended.
On child contact centres (sections 10 to 12 of the 2020 Act), the Scottish Government continues to prepare Scottish Statutory Instruments on the regulation of these centres.
For the provision placing a duty on Scottish Ministers to ensure the availability of child advocacy services in court proceedings under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (section 21 of the 2020 Act), the Scottish Government is considering further whether or not to carry out a consultation.
For the provisions on funding for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and the ADR information pilot (sections 23 and 24 of the 2020 Act), the Scottish Government provides update reports to Parliament on the progress of this work. The latest report, covering the period 1 October 2022 to 1 April 2023, is available on the Scottish Government website .