Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019 information: FOI release

Information requested

The names of the councils that participated in the social work focus group on the implementation of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019.

Copies of any correspondence, minutes or documents of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Bill Implementation Group relating to the publication of a report on the impact of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, including any discussion of plans, timelines or decisions about publication.

Response

You first asked for ‘the names of the councils that participated in the social work focus group on the implementation of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019’.

It might help if I clarify that there has not been a single ‘social work focus group’. Rather, two multidisciplinary focus groups have so far been held within the date range of your request.

Representatives from the following local authorities participated in these groups:

• East Renfrewshire Council
• Dumfries and Galloway Council
• Midlothian Council
• East Ayrshire Council
• Aberdeenshire Council
• East Lothian Council

Social Work Scotland also participated in the groups.

You next asked for ‘copies of any correspondence, minutes or documents of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Bill Implementation Group relating to the publication of a report on the impact of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, including any discussion of plans, timelines or decisions about publication’.

The information you have requested is available from the Implementation Group website, where all papers of the Implementation Group are published. The minutes available there cover all Implementation Group discussions. While there does not appear to be a specific discussion on the publication of a report on the impact of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, impacts of the Act were discussed throughout many of the meetings. There was also discussion at several of the meetings about the Scottish Government focus groups, which are intended to examine the impact of the Act on various sectors and groups of people. It is the stated intention to publish a report at the conclusion of the focus groups, and this may be the report you are referring to. You can find a discussion of the focus group outcomes in the minute of the March 2025 meeting.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. Further information on this exemption is available in the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on section 25.

You may be interested in the letters issued by the Scottish Government to Police Scotland and Social Work Scotland, inviting them to nominate representatives to attend the focus groups. These have been published on the Scottish Government website as part of a response to another Freedom of Information request (202600508387). See Annex A Part 1 of 3, Items 16 and 17.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.