This statutory guidance provides corporate parents with information and advice about how they should fulfil the duties set out in Part 9 (Corporate Parenting) of the 2014 Act. These duties come into force on 1 April 2015. Subject to specific exemptions, all corporate parents must have regard to this guidance. Compliance will be monitored through reviews of corporate parenting reports (carried out by Scottish Ministers) and independent inspection.
This guidance sets out the parameters within which corporate parents should develop their own approaches, either individually or in partnership. Those approaches should also be shaped by the corporate parent’s primary functions, and informed by the needs, views and experiences of looked after children and care leavers.
This guidance should be read alongside the guidance for Part 1 (Rights of Children), Part 3 (Children’s Services Planning), Part 4 (Provision of Named Persons), Part 5 (Child’s Plan), Part 10 (Aftercare) and section 96 (Assessment of wellbeing) of the Act.