Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026

10 Duties of public authorities etc. in relation to care experience

(1) The Scottish Ministers must by regulations make provision for the purpose of promoting understanding, by public authorities and other persons exercising functions of a public nature, of—

(a) care-experienced persons, and

(b) the experiences that such persons may have had before and since becoming care-experienced.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may in particular provide for requirements in relation to—

(a) identifying and communicating with persons who are or may be care-experienced, including in particular best practice in using language in a way that avoids stigmatising care experience,

(b) ensuring that the experiences and needs of persons who are or may be care-experienced are identified and taken account of in the planning and provision of public services,

(c) facilitating access by persons who are or may be care-experienced to public services,

(d) appropriately respecting the rights of persons who are or may be care-experienced, and

(e) interacting with persons who are or may be care-experienced in a way that—

(i) takes account of the effects of trauma which the person may have experienced, and

(ii) seeks to avoid, or minimise the risk of, exposing the person to further trauma or any recurrence of past trauma.

(3) A public authority must—

(a) comply with regulations made under subsection (1) when exercising the public authority’s functions in relation to persons who are or may be care-experienced,

(b) where it exercises functions by entering into arrangements (contractual or otherwise) under which functions of a public nature will be exercised by a person other than a public authority, ensure that the arrangements require the person to comply with regulations made under subsection (1) when exercising those functions in relation to persons who are or may be care-experienced.

(4) A public authority must take such steps as it considers appropriate to make persons in relation to whom the authority exercises functions aware of regulations made under subsection (1).

(5) But a public authority exercising functions which relate to a particular description of care-experienced person specified in an enactment need comply with subsections (3) and (4) only to the extent that the public authority considers doing so is consistent with the proper exercise of those functions.

(6) The following persons are care-experienced for the purposes of this section—

(a) a child who is or has at any time been—

(i) looked after,

(ii) subject to a kinship care order,

(iii) cared for or otherwise supported in such circumstances as are specified in the regulations,

(b) a person who was at any time when the person was a child—

(i) looked after,

(ii) subject to a kinship care order,

(iii) cared for or otherwise supported in such circumstances as are specified in the regulations.

(7) In this section—

• “function” means, in relation a public authority, a function that it is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament to confer on the authority,

• “public authority” means a person who is—

  (a)

  a part of the Scottish Administration, or

  (b)

  a Scottish public authority with mixed functions or no reserved functions (within the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998).