The Cross-border Placement of Children (Requirements, Effect and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2026: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

Introduction

In this assessment, ‘cross-border placements’ are used to describe temporary placements of children into residential or foster care in Scotland from another part of the UK. Children placed into Scotland on cross-border placements, remain the responsibility of the placing local authority. For most cross-border placements coming to Scotland, Scottish parties know very little about these children or their circumstances. In many cases, Scottish partners do not know that children have been placed and often find out through crisis interventions.

The Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 includes provision to allow the Scottish Ministers to further regulate cross-border placements of children from England, Wales and Northern Ireland into Scotland, which should only ever occur in exceptional circumstances. The Cross-border Placement of Children (Requirements, Effect and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 (“the Regulations”) provide for the legal effect in Scots law of court orders or arrangements underpinning placements from elsewhere in the UK and set out conditions to be met in respect of temporary placements into residential and foster care.

The overarching aim of the Regulations is to provide a robust legal framework in respect of cross-border placements, thereby ensuring that the welfare of every child who has been placed in Scotland is safeguarded and promoted, and that their rights are upheld.