The Act and the new Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations were developed to modernise the adoption system and ensure more children and young people enjoy a stable home life.

The Act and new Looked After Children Regulations:

·         Introduce the Permanence Order, a new court order which will be flexible to meet looked after children's needs and will provide children more certainty about their future.

·         Introduce regulations around assessment and approval of kinship carers, reflecting their increasing importance in meeting the needs of looked after children.

·         Improve planning and decision making for looked after children, in line with Getting It Right For Every Child, requiring that all looked after children must have a plan for how their needs will be met and that the plan covers the child's immediate and longer-term needs.

·         Require that the child's views are taken into account in making decisions.

Link to the Act

Further information

Scottish Government website