Care Home Services (Visits to and by Care Home Residents) (Scotland) Regulations 2026: data protection impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment

Anne’s Law – Visits to and by care home residents

The Care Home Services (Visits to and by Care Home Residents) (Scotland) Regulations 2026

Version date: December 2025

Review date: December 2026

Section 14 of the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 introduces modifications to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, enabling Scottish Ministers to place a duty on adult care home providers. One duty requires providers to identify at least one individual as an Essential Care Supporter for each resident and to maintain a record of such individuals.

Care home providers will have a duty to facilitate visits to and by their residents. Suspension of such visits is only permitted where providers have reasonable cause to believe that doing so is essential to do so to prevent a serious risk to life, health or wellbeing.

Even in such circumstances, providers must continue to facilitate some visits, including for end-of-life situations and where they assess that the potential harm caused by suspending visits would exceed the risks posed by continuing them. The legislation creates a presumption that restricting access to an Essential Care Supporter is always likely to cause serious harm to the resident’s health and wellbeing.

This Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) works in conjunction with the Article 36(4) ICO consultation form submitted in advance of this, as the proposal requires consultation with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).