Issue - meetings

(i)       to note the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal assent in June 2024;

(ii)       to note the implications on systems, processes and resources, as far as they are currently known, of the enactment of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland)Act 2024;

(iii)      to note the action plan document attached as Appendix 1;

(iv)      to note that the ending of placing children in Young Offender Institutions came into effect in August 2024;

(v)      to instruct the Executive Director Families and Communities to write to Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, following consultation with the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee and the Convener of the Education and Children’s Services Committee, requesting an update on the implementation plan and required funding; and

(vi)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Children’s Social Work and Family Support to report to this Committee once the plan for enactment and associated funding was made known by the Scottish Government.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director Families and Communities which sought to provide assurance that as far as was currently possible the relevant planning and scoping activity was being progressed to fully consider the implementation of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal assent in June 2024;

(b)      note the implications on systems, processes and resources, as far as they were currently known, of the enactment of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024;

(c)      note the action plan document attached as Appendix 1 to the report;

(d)      note that the ending of placing children in Young Offender Institutions came into effect in August 2024; and

(e)      instruct the Chief Social Work Officer to provide Committee with a service update in the planning for implementation of the Act once the plan for enactment and associated funding was made known by the Scottish Government.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to approve recommendations (a) to (d);

(ii)       to instruct the Executive Director Families and Communities to write to Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, following consultation with the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee and the Convener of the Education and Children’s Services Committee, requesting an update on the implementation plan and required funding; and

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Children’s Social Work and Family Support to report to this Committee once the plan for enactment and associated funding was made known by the Scottish Government.

-       COUNCILLOR MARTIN GREIG, Convener