(1)The Scottish Ministers must prepare and publish a strategy for monitoring and promoting fair work in the care sector.
(2)A strategy under subsection (1) must set out—
(a)what constitutes fair work in the care sector,
(b)how the Scottish Ministers intend to monitor the extent to which fair work in the care sector is being achieved, including their plans and processes for—
(i)collecting and recording data, and requiring others to collect and record data, on the practices and arrangements in place in relation to fair work in the care sector,
(ii)analysing that data to assess the extent to which the practices and arrangements achieve, or contribute to achieving, fair work in the care sector,
(iii)reviewing that data to assess whether there is any improvement in the extent to which the practices and arrangements achieve, or contribute to achieving, fair work in the care sector, and
(iv)using that data in preparing and publishing a report under section 34(1),
(c)what action (if any) the Scottish Ministers intend to take to—
(i)promote fair work in the care sector where they identify a need to improve the extent to which the practices and arrangements in place achieve, or contribute to achieving, fair work in the care sector (for example, issuing guidance on what constitutes good practice), and
(ii)review the effect of any such action taken to promote fair work in the care sector.
(3)A strategy under subsection (1) may—
(a)include any other information the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate, and
(b)be in any form they consider appropriate and, in particular, may be part of another document.
(4)The Scottish Ministers must—
(a)prepare and publish the first version of the strategy under subsection (1) before the end of the period of 18 months beginning with the day on which this section comes into force, and
(b)before the end of each review period—
(i)review the strategy, and
(ii)if they consider it appropriate, prepare and publish a new version of the strategy under subsection (1).
(5)In preparing and reviewing the strategy, the Scottish Ministers must consult the persons mentioned in section 5(2) of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.
(6)For the purposes of subsection (5), it is immaterial that anything done by way of consultation was done before this section comes into force.
(7)In this section—
“fair work in the care sector” means fair work for individuals employed in the provision of a service provided in pursuance of—
a function conferred by virtue of an enactment listed in the schedule of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, or
a function that—
may be delegated by virtue of section 1(6) of that Act, or
must be delegated by virtue of section 1(8) of that Act,
“review period” means the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which the latest version of the strategy was published.