Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2026
I do not believe so. I believe that the focus over a number of years has been on enacting the transformation that is required to enable the Promise to be delivered. I appreciate that we have known that we have a cluttered legislative landscape, but a number of aspects have led to the timing of the review.
I understand the frustration among some people that the bill does not seek to re-enact relevant provisions of pre-devolution laws relating to children, such as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, to bring them within the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. We are not seeking to create fresh law within the 2024 act’s scope in relation to how we provide for aftercare and a national register of foster carers. Instead, we are seeking to amend the 1995 act.
I have considered carefully how best to proceed. Put simply, there is no right or wrong way to do this and, sadly, there is no clear-cut or simple way to do it, either. Given that the two new sets of provisions will require to interact with part 2 of the 1995 act, it would not be helpful to have one part of the law within the 2024 act’s scope and one part outwith it. Piecemeal change would add to the very clutter that we have discussed as an issue and it would make it harder, not easier, for those who will benefit from the bill’s provisions—people who are entitled to aftercare, foster carers and children in foster care—to navigate the law.