The Scottish Government Response To 'A Scotland for Children: A Consultation on a Children and Young People Bill'

Corporate Parenting

The consultation proposed a legislative change to define corporate parenting and to clarify the public bodies to which the definition applies. The intention was that this would help the Government to clarify the corporate parenting role for various professionals and support them in their role.

What You Said

88% of respondents agreed with this proposal based on the rationale set out in the consultation. A recurring theme was that, although the proposal was a step in the right direction, it had to be supported by a cultural shift in some organisations.

70% of respondents agreed that the definition of corporate parenting should refer to the collective responsibility of all public bodies to provide the best possible care and protection of looked after children and to act in the same way a birth parent would. For those respondents that disagreed, concerns mostly focussed on the term 'act in the same way a birth parent would' as they felt the parents of looked after children might not present the best role model of parenting.

The Scottish Government Response

The Bill will include provisions that: require every corporate parent to be alert to matters which, or which might, adversely affect the wellbeing of looked after children and formerly looked after young people under the age of 26; assess the needs of those children and young people for support and services it provides; promote the interests of those children and young people; seek to provide those children and young people with opportunities to participate in activities designed to advance their wellbeing; take action it considers appropriate to help those children and young people to access opportunities and support and make use of the services it provides; and to take any other action as it considers appropriate for the purposes of improving the way in which it exercises its functions in relation to those children and young people.

There will also be a requirement for corporate parents to collaborate with each other when exercising their corporate parenting responsibilities. Corporate parents will be required to prepare, consult on and publish a plan, and keep this under review. They will be required to report on how they are exercising their corporate parenting responsibilities and planning and collaborating, and to provide information to Scottish Ministers. Scottish Ministers will be required to lay a report before Parliament on how they have exercised their corporate parenting requirements at least every 3 years.

The public bodies that will be included as corporate parents are:

• Scottish Ministers
• Local authorities
• National Convener of Children's Hearings Scotland
• Children's Hearings Scotland
• Principal Reporter
• Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
• Health boards
• Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Skills Development Scotland
• Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Scottish Sports Council
• Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland
• Scottish Police Authority
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Scottish Court Service
• Scottish Legal Aid Board
• Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland
• Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
• Scottish Housing Regulator
• Bòrd na Gàidhlig
• Creative Scotland
• Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
• A body which is a "post-16 education body" or a "regional strategic body" for the purposes of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005