Statutory guidance on Part 9 (Corporate Parenting) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

Section 62: Duty to Provide Information to Scottish Ministers

132. Under section 62 a corporate parent must provide Scottish Ministers with such information as they may reasonably require to determine:

• How the corporate parent has exercised its duties under section 58 (corporate parenting responsibilities).
• How the corporate parent has fulfilled its other functions under Part 9 (including planning, collaborative working and reporting).

133. The information required by Scottish Ministers may relate, in particular, to (a) standards of performance, in respect to the corporate parent's exercise of its functions, and (b) the outcomes achieved for the eligible population of children and young people.

134. Corporate parents may provide information to Scottish Ministers in any format which meets the requirements set out immediately above. However it is strongly recommended that corporate parenting reports include all the relevant information, and for these to be submitted to Scottish Ministers when information is requested. As Scottish Ministers are under a duty to report to the Scottish Parliament on how they have exercised their corporate parenting responsibilities at the end of each three year period (section 65), it is likely that requests for information will follow a similar schedule. Any corporate parent wanting to submit a corporate parenting report in response to a request for information will, therefore, need to have an up to date report published at least every three years. Please note that while it is likely that requests for information by Scottish Ministers will come every three years, Scottish Ministers are empowered to ask for relevant information at any time. Corporate parents should have suitable arrangements in place to generate the required information on request.

135. The duty to provide information to Scottish Ministers (section 62) provides a layer of accountability, through which the performance of corporate parents, and the outcomes achieved, may be monitored. On the basis of the information provided, Scottish Ministers may take action to improve the way a corporate parent exercises its functions under Part 9 of the Act (such as issuing a direction under section 64 or updating guidance). However, it is important to note that any assessment of a corporate parent's performance in respect to section 58 (corporate parenting responsibilities) will be undertaken in reference to the corporate parent's other functions.