Two years since the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent, Debbie Nolan reflects on the journey of implementation so far and the learning needed for full commencement.

In April 2024, CYCJ published a series of three blogs describing the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act as a chance to “deliver momentous change”. I wrote those blogs feeling a mix of emotions – pride at having been part of a journey that had taken so many years and collective endeavours; relief at getting the Act to that stage; and hope that the Act would be commenced within the 2025/26 timeline and implemented to improve outcomes for children and young people. Two years on momentous change has been delivered, with significant parts of the Act now in force:

  • In August 2024, the use of Young Offenders Institutions (YOIs) for children ended. Instead, under 18s who need to be deprived of their liberty are placed in secure care.
  • Additional safeguards for the welfare of children placed cross border into residential and foster care in Scotland have been introduced.
  • Since March 2026 children in police custody and appearing at court have additional legally enshrined safeguards to their rights.
  • Work is well underway to develop secure transport standards and regulations on support services for victims in the children’s hearings system.

CYCJ has been active in our commencement and implementation support through: involvement in working groups; working with partners to develop supporting materials and guidance; offering our free Act e-learning; providing inputs to local, national and international events; facilitating local multi-agency impact workshops; running the social work Act practitioner forum with Social Work Scotland; and responding to daily Act related practice queries. We have been constantly evolving our offer based on your feedback and continue to do so. On the journey there has been lots of learning about what supports legislation implementation and what we need to keep doing as we move towards full commencement.

Maintaining individual and organisational commitment

There are so many committed individuals across agencies striving to deliver on the changes that the Act brings, and to make things better for our children and young people. Whilst practice, organisational and system change is challenging and takes time, having dedicated individuals who can drive such change (often on top of the “day job”) has been key. Organisational, alongside individual commitment has been clear, as has willingness to work in partnership to join up approaches and share expertise, experiences and learning. Sustaining this will be important, as will ensuring the involvement of partners who have not been as involved thus far.

Addressing barriers is a work in progress

Where barriers have been identified, these have been worked through in a solution-focused, multi-agency manner. Some of these issues could not have been pre-empted – for example, the spike in the number of children remanded and reduction in secure care capacity following the ending of YOIs.

Efforts are needed at a local and national level

National level activity helps to provide the frameworks to support practice; shapes the conditions for implementation; and tackles the issues that cannot be rectified by any one agency or area in isolation. But practical implementation is largely local and the journey varies across areas and agencies. The national and local offer is important – for example national level guidance or training on its own isn’t enough – it needs to be accompanied by realistic assessments of local impact, resources, tailored needs led support, opportunities for peer learning and protected time, space and support for practitioners to understand and embed change. Sufficient attention must be provided to what the people who are implementing legislation and are “doing” change need, and what can be provided nationally and locally to meet these needs. This should not be an afterthought once legislation is passed, with the Implementation and Resource Group that was established during the Bill’s progression helpful in maintaining this focus.

Context cannot be overlooked

As we said in the original blog, the Bill was passed in one of the most challenging times facing care and justice services. This hasn’t changed and if anything needs, demand, resource pressures (financial, staffing and services), the complex and evolving legislative and policy context, pace of change whilst continuing ongoing service delivery and the cost of living crisis, have increased. Practitioners have reported challenging implementation timescales, failure to situate change within the broader landscape or clearly sequence, workforce overwhelm and change fatigue as the context within which the Act is being commenced and implemented. Understanding and responding to context to meet practitioners where they are is crucial and was reflected in the delay to the original commencement timeline. Whilst this was appropriate, it has also brought risks and uncertainties with new demands, new legislation, and a new Parliament, against a very challenging fiscal backdrop, that will likely see significant public service reforms and savings.

Monitoring, evaluating and learning

Scottish Ministers are required to review and report to Parliament annually on the operation of the Act, which must include whether sufficient resources are in place for the effective implementation of the Act and any intended resulting actions. Whilst there is lots of work underway in respect of data, there are still gaps, and a lack of methodical approach to gathering children and young people’s experiential and outcomes information remains a perennial challenge.

Utilising this learning to support full implementation of the practice change that parts of the Act has brought so far, as well as addressing outstanding challenges and preparing for the next stage of commencement will be crucial. Multi-agency preparations are well underway, with the aim remaining to fully commence the rest of the Act by Spring 2027. CYCJ will continue to have a leading role in supporting agencies on this next phase of the journey. If you would like to find out more, please see our decided Act webpage or contact cycj@strath.ac.uk .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Source: Raising Youth Justice – Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice Read More