Safeguarders - revised practice standards: children's rights and wellbeing impact assessment (CRWIA)

Introduction

In 2013, Ministers established a national Safeguarders Panel in accordance with Section 32 of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. The role of a Safeguarder is to safeguard the interests of the children and young people to whom they are allocated in Children's Hearings proceedings. In 2015, Scottish Government officials and Children 1st, the contracted managers of the Safeguarders Panel, developed Practice Standards for Safeguarders to bring rigour and consistency to the practice, development and monitoring of Safeguarders. These Practice Standards were implemented in 2016 following the publication of The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (Safeguarders Panel) Amendment Regulations 2016 ("the 2016 Regulations").

As part of a wider and ongoing review of policies relating to the operation and management of the national Safeguarders Panel, the Practice Standards for Safeguarders have been updated to account for recent developments in practice and legislation. The current Practice Standards have been in place since 2016. In preparation for the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots Law, the revised standards reflect a rights based approach to the work of Safeguarders.

Regulation 3 of the 2016 Regulations defines the Practice Standards as "the Practice Standards for Safeguarders published by the Scottish Government in July 2015." In order for the revised Practice Standards to be implemented, this definition must be updated to refer to the publication date of the revised Practice Standards. As part of this process, the Scottish Government has undertaken consideration of the impact of the revised Practice Standards, of which this CRWIA forms a part.