SP Bill 17A 6 (2025) Session 2 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 2—Health and social care information Chapter 1—Information standards C HAPTER 1 I NFORMATION STANDARDS 37A Power to produce standards (1) For the purposes of this Chapter, an information standard is a document, produced by 5 the Scottish Ministers, setting out requirements in relation to the processing of Scottish health or social care information. (2) An information standard may set out requirements by reference to another document (including a document which is not in existence when the standard is produced). (3) For any requirement it sets out, an information standard must specify— 10 (a) to whom the requirement applies (see section 37B), and 1 (b) the information in relation to the processing of which the requirement applies. (4) The Scottish Ministers must make any information standard they produce publicly available on the information-standards website. 37B Persons to whom standards may apply 15 (1) The persons to whom a requirement set out in an information standard may be made to apply are— (a) a local authority, (b) an integration joint board established by order under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, 20 (c) a health board constituted under section 2(1)(a) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, (d) a special health board constituted under section 2(1)(b) of that Act, (e) the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service, (f) Healthcare Improvement Scotland, 25 (g) the Scottish Ministers, (h) a person providing independent health care services as defined by section 10F of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, (i) a person providing a care service as defined by section 47 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, 30 (j) a person providing social work services as defined by section 48 of that Act, (k) a person who— (i) provides a product or service to a person mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (j), and (ii) knows, or ought to know, that the product or service is (or is to be) used 35 for, or in connection with, electronically processing Scottish health or social care information. (2) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify this section so as to change, or clarify, the list of persons to whom an information standard may be made to apply. 3 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 2—Health and social care information Chapter 1—Information standards 37C Duty to comply with standards (1) A person to whom a requirement set out in an information standard applies must comply with it. (2) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations provide for a civil sanction to be imposed 5 on a person who breaches the duty under subsection (1). 37D Withdrawal of standards (1) The Scottish Ministers may withdraw an information standard at any time by giving notice on the information-standards website that it is withdrawn. (2) When an information standard is withdrawn— 10 (a) the duty under section 37A(4) to make it publicly available ceases to apply, and 1 (b) the duty under section 37C(1) to comply with it ceases to apply. 37E Interpretation of Chapter 1 (1) In this Chapter— “information-standards website” means the website maintained by, or on behalf 15 of, the Scottish Ministers with an internet domain name specified by the Scottish Ministers by regulations, “processing” includes doing any of the things referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f) of section 3(4) of the Data Protection Act 2018, “Scottish health or social care information” means information concerning, or 20 connected with, the provision in Scotland of health care or a social service. (2) For the purposes of the definition of “Scottish health or social care information”— “health care” means a service for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, “illness” is to be construed in accordance with section 108(1) of the National 25 Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, “social service” has the same meaning as it has in Part 5 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (see section 46(2) of that Act). (3) By regulations, the Scottish Ministers— (a) must amend the definition of “information-standards website” so that it specifies 30 an internet domain name, and (b) may subsequently amend that definition so as to change the internet domain name it specifies. 4 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care P ART 3 R EFORMS CONNECTED TO DELIVERY AND REGULATION OF CARE Carers 38 Rights to breaks for carers 5 (1) The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is modified by subsections (2) to (10). (2) After section 8(2) (adult carers: identification of outcomes and needs for support) insert— “(1) A responsible local authority must identify, as a personal outcome that is relevant to an adult carer, the outcome that the adult carer is able to take sufficient breaks. 10 (2) Where an adult carer is not able to take sufficient breaks, a responsible local 1 authority must identify the need for support to enable the adult carer to take sufficient breaks.”. (3) In section 9(1) (content of adult carer support plan)— (a) after paragraph (h) insert— 15 “(ha) if the adult carer’s identified needs include the need for support to enable the adult carer to take sufficient breaks from providing care by virtue of section 8(4), information about the support which the responsible local authority provides or intends to provide to the adult carer to meet that need,”, 20 (b) in paragraph (j), after “criteria” insert “(except in the case of an identified need as mentioned in paragraph (ha))”, (c) paragraph (k) is repealed. (4) After section 14(2) (young carers: identification of outcomes and needs for support) insert— 25 “(3) A responsible authority must identify, as a personal outcome that is relevant to a young carer, the outcome that the young carer is able to take sufficient breaks. (4) Where a young carer is not able to take sufficient breaks, a responsible authority must identify the need for support to enable the young carer to take sufficient 30 breaks.”. (5) In section 15(1) (content of young carer statement)— (a) after paragraph (i) insert— “(ia) if the young carer’s identified needs include the need for support to enable the young carer to take sufficient breaks from providing care by 35 virtue of section 14(4), information about the support which the responsible local authority provides or intends to provide to the young carer to meet that need,”, (b) in paragraph (k), after “criteria” insert “(except in the case of an identified need as mentioned in paragraph (ia))”, 40 (c) paragraph (l) is repealed. 5 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (6) In section 21 (duty to set local eligibility criteria)— (a) in subsection (2), for “identified” substitute “relevant”, (b) after subsection (4) insert— “(5) In subsection (2), “relevant needs” means identified needs other than any need 5 for support to enable carers to take sufficient breaks from providing care that is identified by virtue of section 8(4) or 14(4).”. (7) In section 23 (national eligibility criteria)— (a) in subsection (2), for “identified” substitute “relevant”, (b) in subsection (3)(c), for “24(3)” substitute “24(2) and (4)”, 10 (c) after subsection (4) insert— 1 “(5) In subsection (2), “relevant needs” means identified needs other than any need for support to enable carers to take sufficient breaks from providing care that is identified by virtue of section 8(4) or 14(4).”. (8) In section 24 (duty to provide support)— 15 (a) in subsection (1)(a), for the words from “section” to “caring” substitute “this section in order to enable the carer to take a break”, (b) in subsection (2), for “eligible needs” substitute “relevant needs that meet the local eligibility criteria”, (c) subsection (3) is repealed, 20 (d) in subsection (4)— (i) in paragraph (a), for “the carer’s eligible needs” substitute “any relevant needs of the carer that meet the local eligibility criteria”, (ii) in paragraph (b), for “the carer’s other identified needs” substitute “any relevant needs of the carer that do not meet the local eligibility criteria”, 25 (e) after subsection (4) insert— “(4A) The responsible local authority must also provide support to the carer to meet any need for support to enable the carer to take sufficient breaks that is identified by virtue of section 8(4) or 14(4).”, (f) in subsection (5)— 30 (i) in the opening words, for “Subsection (4)(a) applies” substitute “Subsections (4)(a) and (4A) apply”, (ii) in paragraph (a), for “eligible needs” substitute “identified needs in question”, (iii) in paragraph (b), for “eligible needs” substitute “identified needs in question”, (g) in subsection (6), for the words from “the”, in the first place where it occurs, to 35 the end substitute ““relevant needs”, in relation to a carer, means the carer’s identified needs other than any need for support to enable the carer to take sufficient breaks from providing care that is identified by virtue of section 8(4) or 14(4)”. (9) In section 25 (provision of support to carers: breaks from caring)— 40 (a) subsection (1) is repealed, 6 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (b) for subsection (2) substitute— “(2) The Scottish Ministers must by regulations make further provision in connection with the support to be provided to a carer under section 24(4A). (3) Regulations under subsection (2) may in particular make provision about— 5 (a) the meaning of any reference to sufficient breaks in this Act, (b) standards or criteria in relation to the sufficiency of such breaks (including the nature, frequency or duration of breaks), (c) forms of support that may enable a carer to take such breaks, (d) where the support is the provision of care for the cared-for person, the 10 role of the cared-for person in relation to how the care is provided.”, 1 (c) in subsection (3), for “by virtue of subsection (1)” substitute “under section 24(4A)”, (d) in subsection (4)— (i) for “by virtue of subsection (1)” substitute “under section 24(4A)”, 15 (ii) for “caring” substitute “providing care”, (e) in subsection (5), for “as a break from caring” substitute “to enable a carer to take a break”. (10) In section 31 (duty to prepare local carer strategy)— (a) after subsection (2)(h) insert— 20 “(ha) plans to promote a variety of providers of support to relevant carers and to promote the variety of support provided,”, (b) after subsection (2) insert— “(2A) In subsection (2), references to support to relevant carers include references to support to enable carers to take a break.”. 25 (10A) In section 41(1) (interpretation), after the entry relating to “adult carer support plan”, insert— ““breaks” includes a break for the carer from providing care or other types of break,”. (11) The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 is modified by subsection 30 (12). (12) In section 7(1) (choice of options: adult carers and young carers), after “24(4)” insert “or (4A)”. (13) The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 is modified by subsection (14). (14) In section 87 (charges that may be made for services and accommodation)— 35 (a) in subsection (1), after “24(4)” insert “or (4A)”, (b) in subsection (1A)(a), after “24(4)” insert “or (4A)”. 38A Duty to prepare adult carer support plan (1) The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is modified as follows. 7 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (2) After section 6(5) (duty to prepare adult carer support plan) insert— “(5A) The Scottish Ministers must by regulations prescribe timescales for the preparation of adult carer support plans.”. (3) Section 7 is repealed. 5 38B Duty to prepare young carer statement (1) The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is modified as follows. (2) After section 12(7) (duty to prepare young carer statement) insert— “(7A) The Scottish Ministers must by regulations prescribe timescales for the preparation of young carer statements.”. 10 (3) Section 13 is repealed. 1 39 Enactments relating to carers: minor modifications (1) The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is modified by subsection (2). (2) Sections 6(6) and 12(8) are repealed. (3) The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 is modified by subsection 15 (4). (4) In section 7(1), the words “an adult” in the first place where they occur are repealed. 39A Short break services statement (1) The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 is modified as follows. (2) After section 35(2) (short breaks services statements) insert— 20 “ short breaks services statement must include— (2A) A(a) how the local authority will ensure there is sufficient availability and variety in short break provision to meet the identified needs of carers, (b) an assessment of short break provision— (i) during the day (at home or away from home), 25 (ii) overnight (at home or away from home), (iii) at weekends, (iv) in school holidays, (v) for planned and unplanned short breaks, (vi) for the carer to have a short break with or without the cared-for 30 person, (c) how the local authority can adapt short break provision depending on the individual needs of the carer.”. 8 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care Care homes 1 40 Visits...