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

1. Introductory Text

2. Part 1 Children’s care system

   1. Chapter 1 Support etc. for persons in or with experience of children’s care system

      1. Aftercare

         1. 1. Aftercare

         2. 2. Assessment of needs

         3. 3. Types of assistance

         4. 4. Other duties

         5. 5. Financial assistance towards expenses of education or training etc.

         6. 6. Co-operation between authorities

         7. 7. Consequential modifications of enactments

      2. Advocacy services for care-experienced persons

         1. 8. Advocacy services for care-experienced persons

         2. 9. Independence of care experience advocacy services

      3. Duties in relation to care experience

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

         2. 11. Regulations under section 10: further provision

      4. Review of permanence

         1. 12. Review of permanence

      5. Interpretation

         1. 13. Interpretation

   2. Chapter 2 Support etc. for persons in or with experience of children’s care system: modification of enactments

      1. Family group decision-making

         1. 14. Right to request family group decision-making services

         2. 15. Promotion of family group decision-making services

         3. 16. Guidance on family group decision-making services

      2. Kinship care assistance

         1. 17. Kinship care needs assessment

         2. 18. Guidance in relation to kinship care assistance functions

         3. 19. Kinship care assistance: power to require information-sharing by local authority

      3. Provision of accommodation

         1. 20. Duty to provide accommodation for children in need

         2. 21. Provision of accommodation for care-experienced persons

      4. Continuing care

         1. 22. Continuing care: persons eligible and accommodation to be provided

         2. 23. Power to continue provision of continuing care up to person’s 26th birthday

         3. 24. Return to continuing care

      5. Corporate parenting

         1. 25. Corporate parenting: application to persons looked after before age 16 and planning

         2. 26. Guidance on corporate parenting

   3. Chapter 3 Provision of children’s care services

      1. Requirements on certain care providers

         1. 27. Children’s residential care services: profit limitation

         2. 28. Fostering services to be charities

         3. 29. Services taking cross-border placements

      2. Register of foster carers

         1. 30. Register of foster carers

         2. 31. Register of foster carers: further provision

         3. 32. Disclosure of information

         4. 33. Establishment and maintenance of register by person other than Scottish Ministers

         5. 34. Pilot scheme

         6. 35. Register of foster carers: interpretation

      3. Allowances and other payments

         1. 36. Allowances and other payments

         2. 37. Uprating of allowances

      4. Guidance on use of restraint and seclusion in relevant care services

         1. 38. Guidance on use of restraint and seclusion in relevant care services

      5. Report on deaths of care-experienced persons

         1. 39. Report on deaths of care-experienced persons

   4. Chapter 4 Support for adoption

      1. 40. Peer support services

   5. Chapter 5 Children’s hearings

      1. Composition etc. of Children’s Panel, children’s hearings and pre-hearing panels

         1. 41. Single member children’s hearings and pre-hearing panels

         2. 42. Remuneration of Children’s Panel members

      2. Child’s attendance at children’s hearings and hearings before sheriff

         1. 43. Child’s attendance at children’s hearings and hearings before sheriff

      3. Grounds hearings

         1. 44. Role of Principal Reporter and grounds hearing

      4. Relevant persons

         1. 45. Powers to exclude persons from children’s hearing

         2. 46. Relevant person’s right to require review of compulsory supervision order

         3. 47. Removal of relevant person status

      5. Timescales

         1. 48. Timescale for determination of application to sheriff

         2. 49. Reports on timescales in children’s hearing system

      6. Other changes

         1. 50. Tests for referral to Principal Reporter and making of compulsory supervision order or interim compulsory supervision order

         2. 51. Information about referral, availability of children’s advocacy services etc.

         3. 52. Children’s advocacy services: non-instructed advocacy

         4. 53. Children’s advocacy services: notification of hearings

         5. 54. Period for which interim compulsory supervision order or interim variation of compulsory supervision order has effect

         6. 55. Making of further interim compulsory supervision orders

         7. 56. Principal Reporter’s power to initiate review of compulsory supervision order

         8. 57. Family group decision-making: information to be provided to Principal Reporter

      7. Children’s legal aid

         1. 58. Children’s legal aid

   6. Chapter 6 Place of safety for children who have been arrested

      1. 59. Power to require that arrested children be taken to a place other than a police station, etc.

3. Part 2 Children’s services planning

   1. 60. Lead children’s services planning bodies

   2. 61. Aims of children’s services planning

   3. 62. Children’s services plans: process and review

   4. 63. Reporting on children’s services plans

4. Part 3 Reports and reviews

   1. 64. Report on family group decision-making services

   2. 65. Review of the Act

   3. 66. Report on fulfilment of the Promise

5. Part 4 Final provisions

   1. 67. Ancillary provision

   2. 68. Regulation-making powers

   3. 69. Meaning of “child”

   4. 70. Commencement

   5. 71. Short title