The draft Regulation of Care (Child Contact Services) (Equality) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 and Regulation of Care (Child Contact Services) (Scotland) Order 2025 (the “Regulations”) seek to bring child contact centres within the regulatory remit of the Care Inspectorate (the “Inspectorate”).
The Regulations, made using powers conferred on Scottish Ministers under section 10 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, introduce key changes to the regulatory regime for child contact centres in Scotland.
Once the Regulations come into force in April 2027, child contact services will be subject to the whole regulatory regime of the Inspectorate and service providers will have to ensure compliance with the relevant health and social care standards.
How are child contact centres currently regulated?
Child contact centres in Scotland are currently unregulated, with the majority of centres being managed by a single charity. The lack of regulation and expected standards has resulted in a range of approaches to the running of centres, the training of staff/volunteers and the provision of services.
What changes are proposed to the regulation of child contact centres in Scotland?
The Regulations will make several substantial changes to the regulation of child contract centres. In particular:
1. The Regulations bring child contact centres within the regulatory remit of the Inspectorate. As a consequence, child contact services will be subject to requirements incumbent on other providers of care services including:
- mandatory registration requirements;
- compliance with the health and social care standards;
- inspections from the Inspectorate;
- compliance with enforcement decisions of the Inspectorate; and compliance with the Inspectorate’s complaint handling procedure.
2. The Regulations will lead to enhanced scrutiny of the compliance of child contact centres with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, establishing an additional obligation on the Inspectorate to notify the Equalities and Human Rights Commission if it considers that a child contact service provider has, or may have failed to comply with its duties under the Equality Act 2010. The Regulations refer specifically to an obligation to notify any failure to make reasonable adjustments to premises so as to facilitate their use by disabled people but are clear that the obligation extends to other failures.
Comment
The Regulations seek to bring child contact services in line with other regulated care services and will result in increased scrutiny on the provision of child contact services and the operation of child contact centres.
Scottish Ministers have acknowledged that the increased regulation will likely lead to additional costs and service providers should therefore ensure that appropriate plans are in place and actions taken to manage additional costs and ensure that their centres are registered and compliant with the relevant requirements before the Regulations take effect.
In particular, service providers should review their policies in light of their duties under the Equality Act 2010 in anticipation of the increased scrutiny which will be applied. These changes represent a major change in the regulatory landscape for child contact centres. Child contact centres should be aware of the associated legal, regulatory and reputational risks that may arise if they are not acquainted with their new obligations.
These changes are also relevant to those who use the services of child contact services as it may increase costs. The majority of child contact centre services appear to be funded by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (“SLAB”) and any increased costs of child contact centres may have a corresponding impact on the costs to SLAB. Local authorities, who are involved with families who use such services, should also be aware of the changes and the potential impact the changes may have on the services used by families that local authorities are working with.
If you would like to discuss any of the matters mentioned in this post, please contact Fiona McLeod, Lewis Newlands, Katie Nicholson or Jaya Pal-Singh.
