Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

10 Children’s services plan: process

(1) In preparing a children’s services plan a local authority and the relevant health board must—

(a) give each of the other service providers and the Scottish Ministers an effective opportunity (consistent with the extent to which the services they provide are to be the subject of the children’s services plan) to participate in or contribute to the preparation of the plan, and

(b) consult—

(i) such organisations as appear to fall within subsection (2),

(ii) such social landlords as appear to provide housing in the area of the local authority, and

(iii) such other persons as the Scottish Ministers may by direction specify.

(2) The organisations falling within this subsection are organisations (whether or not formally constituted) which—

(a) represent the interests of persons who use or are likely to use any children’s service or related service in the area of the local authority, or

(b) provide a service in the area which, if it were provided by the local authority, the relevant health board, any of the other service providers or the Scottish Ministers, would be a children’s service or a related service.

(3) In subsection (1)(b)(ii), “social landlords” has the meaning given by section 165 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010.

(4) A direction under subsection (1)(b)(iii) may be revised or revoked.

(5) Each of the other service providers is and the Scottish Ministers are to participate in or contribute to the preparation of the children’s services plan in accordance with the opportunity given to them under subsection (1)(a).

(6) The persons to be consulted under subsection (1)(b) are to meet any reasonable request which the local authority and the relevant health board make of them—

(a) to participate in the preparation of the children’s services plan for the area,

(b) to contribute to the preparation of that plan.

(7) As soon as reasonably practicable after a children’s services plan has been prepared, the local authority and the relevant health board must—

(a) send a copy to—

(i) the Scottish Ministers, and

(ii) each of the other service providers, and

(b) publish it (in such manner as the local authority and the relevant health board consider appropriate).

(8) Where the Scottish Ministers or any of the other service providers disagrees with the plan in relation to any matter concerning the provision of a service by them, they must prepare and publish (in such manner as they consider appropriate)—

(a) a notice of the matters in relation to which they disagree, and

(b) a statement of their reasons for disagreeing.