Independent child trafficking guardians: consultation analysis

5. Next steps to support implementation

Consultation feedback on Part One of the consultation will inform the drafting of regulations to support Section 11(7) of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. The draft Order will be laid in the Scottish Parliament by 28 January 2021, and accessible on the UK legislation website.

Subject to scrutiny and approval by the Scottish Parliament, this Order will ensure that the legislative framework for provision of the ICTG service is in place, and subject to Parliament's approval, this Order will come into force on 1 April 2021 prior to the implementation date of the new service.

We will use all of the information provided in the responses to Part Two of this consultation to help draft the specification for the new service and to inform guidance to support the new Independent Child Trafficking Guardian service.

We will advertise the tender and specification in summer 2020, and will invite applications from interested parties to manage the service. However, the impact of Covid-19 on the ability of interested parties to respond to the call for applications will need to be considered and monitored, and we recognise that we may need to extend the timescales originally planned to counter the impact.

It is anticipated that the new service will be in place in 2021.

We are immensely grateful to everyone who took the time to respond to this consultation and would like to thank them for the valuable contributions they provided.

We value the ongoing dialogue, and the work that all parts of the sector have undertaken so far towards making the new Independent Child Trafficking Service a reality for some of our most vulnerable children and young people.