Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025

Section 2 – Restricted children’s services

12. Section 2 inserts new provision into Part 1 of the 2016 Act that defines a restricted children’s service for the purposes of that Part. The new provision is inserted in new section 2A and in amendments to Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act. Section 2 also amends section 1 of the 2016 Act (overview of Part 1) in consequence of these changes.

13. New section 2A(1) (inserted by section 2(b) of the Act) defines each of the regulated services to which the new provisions inserted by the Act into Part 1 of the 2016 Act apply as a “restricted children’s service” for the purposes of that Part. These are a care home service (in so far as it is a “children’s home service” defined for this purpose as a care home service provided at one or more places at which the service is provided wholly or mainly to children), a fostering service, and a secure accommodation service.

14. Section 2(c) inserts new sub-paragraph (3A) into paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act. Sub-paragraph (3A) provides that a school that constitutes a care home service by virtue of sub-paragraph (3) does not constitute a children’s home service unless it has provided more days of accommodation to children who are looked after children than to children who are not looked after children for any period of 12 months falling within the previous 24 months, or it intends to provide more days of accommodation to looked after children than to children who are not looked after children for any period of 12 months falling within the following 24 months.