Guidance on Part 11 (Continuing Care) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

Reviewing Continuing Care Placements

102. Article 5(a) of the Continuing Care (Scotland) Order 2015 sets out the requirement to assess whether continuing to provide an eligible person with Continuing Care would significantly adversely affect the welfare of that person must occur at least once a year. The purpose of this Welfare Assessment is to ascertain that whether continuing to provide the Continuing Care placement would significantly adversely affect the welfare of the young person. Under section 26A(7)(c) of the 1995 Act, the local authority's duty to provide Continuing Care ceases if the local authority considers that continuing to provide the care would significantly adversely affect the welfare of the young person. The local authority will want to ensure that the placement is still meeting the needs of the young person and that future planning is discussed and future plans are in place.

103. In any situation in which a local authority has evidence of an issue significantly affecting the young person's welfare, it is very unlikely that no action will be taken until the next scheduled annual review meeting. In these circumstances it is in the best interests of the young person and carer(s) that the assessment takes place as soon as practicably possible. It should therefore be extremely rare that a regular review meeting will recommend anything other than the continuation of the placement.

104. If a Welfare Assessment assesses a situation as potentially significantly adversely affecting the welfare of a young person in a Continuing Care placement all reasonable steps must be taken to address the issue in order to allow the placement to continue.

105. A young person over sixteen years in Continuing Care, who remains in the same placement, may require to undergo a Disclosure check depending on their specific individual circumstances e.g. where there are unrelated children in the same household. However the outcome of any Disclosure check would not impact on the provision of a Continuing Care placement. Advice should be sought from the Care Inspectorate.