Redress For Survivors (Historical Child Abuse In Care) (Scotland) Act 2021: statutory guidance – eligibility – updated April 2025

Meaning of "relevant care setting"^[3]

General

20. Section 20 of the Act defines "relevant care setting" to mean either:

• a residential institution in which the day-to-day care of children was provided by or on behalf of a person other than a parent or guardian of the children resident there, or
• a place, other than a residential institution, in which a child resided while being boarded-out or fostered. It should be noted that this does not include private arrangements (i.e. those which were not instigated primarily as a result of arrangements made in exercise of public functions) or situations where a child was boarded-out or fostered with a relative or guardian. “Boarding out” for the purposes of the redress scheme would include, for example, the type synonymous with fostering or where a child was boarded out to rural areas to work on a farm.

21. "Residential institution" is in turn defined to mean a children's home, a penal institution, a residential care facility, school-related accommodation, and secure accommodation. Each of these individual categories is then further defined in broad terms in section 21 of the Act, in recognition of the fact that the terminology used for different types of accommodation may not have been applied consistently, and may also have changed over the period to which the scheme applies.

22. To achieve consistency with the underlying purpose of the scheme, which is primarily to provide redress for those vulnerable children who were in long-term care often isolated with limited or no contact with their families, for some categories of setting, the circumstances in which a child came to be accommodated there on a long-term basis will affect eligibility. Further information on circumstances which may not be eligible for redress can be found below.

Types of institution

23. "Children's home": this means a residential establishment which provided long-term accommodation for children in order to safeguard and promote their welfare or otherwise to protect or further their interests. Children’s homes may have provided short-term respite or holiday care in addition to long-term care.

With regards children’s homes, eligibility is not generally affected by the circumstances which led to a child or young person being placed into long-term care there (for example, eligibility is not affected by having been placed into long-term care, in a children’s home, on a voluntary basis by a parent or guardian). However, as set out below, a placement in a children’s home for the purpose of short-term holiday or respite care will not be eligible under the scheme.

24. "Penal institution": this means an establishment in which children were detained or imprisoned on remand or in pursuance of a sentence imposed by a court of criminal jurisdiction (other than a court martial). It includes prisons, remand centres, young offenders' institutions, detention centres, and borstals. We do not consider that very short-term detention in police cells would be covered however, as the redress scheme is for abuse which occurred while a person was "resident" in a relevant care setting, and overnight stays in a police cell for example would not meet that criterion.

25. "Residential care facility": this means an establishment, including a hospital, which provided long-term residential accommodation for children for the purpose of meeting needs arising from a mental or physical condition, whether or not medical care or treatment, nursing, or personal care or support was also provided. When considering residential care facilities, the following additional criteria as regards eligibility should be noted:

• the child must have resided in the residential care facility under arrangements made by or on behalf of a public authority or a voluntary organisation exercising functions in relation to the safeguarding or promotion of the welfare of the child or the protection or furthering of the child's interests. Care received in a residential care facility which was arranged privately by parents is therefore not included.
• the residential care facility must have provided "long-term" residential accommodation. This therefore does not include, for example, hospitals which only provided short-term care for the purposes of medical or surgical treatment.
• If an applicant received long-term care in a residential care facility, it does not matter if the facility itself also provided short-term care for the purposes of medical or surgical treatment. See further discussion on this below.

26. "School-related accommodation": this means an establishment providing residential accommodation for children for the purposes of, or in connection with, their attendance at school. It includes state-funded school hostels and other accommodation provided in connection with attendance at a public (i.e. a state) school. When considering ‘school-related accommodation’, the following additional criteria as regards eligibility should be noted:

• the term "school-related accommodation" only includes accommodation related to attendance at a private school such as an independent or grant-aided school (including a grant-aided special school) in specific circumstances - namely where the child's attendance at the school was arranged and paid for in its entirety by or on behalf of a local or education authority, or a voluntary organisation exercising functions in relation to the safeguarding or promotion of the welfare of the child or the protection or furthering of the child's interests.

27. The term "school-related accommodation" does not therefore include those who resided in a private boarding school in the following circumstances:

• where the child's attendance and residence at the school was arranged and paid for in its entirety by their parents or guardian;
• where the child's attendance and residence at the school was arranged and paid for in full by an organisation other than a local or education authority, or a voluntary organisation exercising functions in relation to the safeguarding or promotion of the welfare of the child or the protection or furthering of the child's interests;
• where the child was in receipt of a bursary or other type of financial assistance for the purpose of attendance and residence at the school, from a person other than a local or education authority or voluntary organisation exercising functions in relation to the safeguarding or promotion of the welfare of the child or the protection or furthering of the child's interests (whether this covered the cost of such attendance or residence in whole or in part).

28. "Secure accommodation": this is defined to mean a residential establishment, other than a penal institution, provided for the purpose of restricting the liberty of children (whether or not the establishment was also provided in order to safeguard or promote the welfare or otherwise to protect or further the interests of children).

29. In essence, the scheme mainly focuses on abuse in care settings where a public authority or a voluntary organisation exercising public functions, rather than the child's family, became primarily responsible for the day-to-day care of the child, and this was intended to be long-term.

Short-term care

30. Scotland’s Redress Scheme was designed primarily for those vulnerable children who were in long-term care, often isolated with limited or no contact with their families. There are therefore some situations in which an applicant is not eligible for redress:

Short term care for the purposes of medical or surgical treatment

31. As noted above, the definition of "residential care facility" only applies to establishments which provided long-term residential accommodation, and does not include, for example, hospitals which only provided short-term care for the purposes of medical or surgical treatment. These types of circumstances were intended to be temporary in nature and with no intention that responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child would be taken over on a long-term basis by the establishment rather than the child's family.

Short-term care for the purposes of respite or holiday care

32. Regulations have been made by the Scottish Ministers under section 23 of the Act to exclude certain situations from the scheme, to the extent that they were intended to be temporary in nature. They provide that an application for a redress payment may not be made in respect of abuse that occurred when a person was resident in a relevant care setting for the purpose of being provided with short-term respite or holiday care. This must have been under arrangements made between their parent or guardian and another person. This exclusion applies to all care settings. Whilst the abuse of children in all circumstances and settings is wrong and harmful, the exclusion of those abused in short-term respite or holiday care is in-keeping with the core purpose of the redress scheme, which is primarily for those vulnerable children who were in long-term care, often isolated with limited or no contact with their families.

33. In the case of short-term respite or holiday care however, such arrangements were intended to be temporary, and there was no intention at the time of the placement that responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child would be taken over on a long-term basis by another carer, rather than the child's family.

34. In assessing whether a placement was "short-term respite or holiday care" or not, the focus should be on the underlying purpose of the placement at the time it came about, and all relevant factual circumstances will need to be taken into account.

35. By way of example, we envisage that the following types of situation would not fall within the scheme:

• stays in a convalescence home for the purpose of recovering from surgery or illness;
• stays to provide short-term respite and support to both a child and their family;
• stays in the types of "holiday" homes that were provided to give children from inner cities a short break in a healthier environment, or again to provide short-term respite and support to the child and their family.

36. Equally, where a child spent a number of consecutive periods in short-term respite or holiday care or was subject to regularly recurring periods of such care, this would not fall within the scheme, if there was no intention that responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child would be taken over on a long-term basis by another carer rather than the child's family.

37. The length of placement may not always have been clear from the outset, and in some situations care could have become long-term (and therefore potentially eligible for the scheme), even where it may have initially been intended to be short-term respite or holiday care. Each application will be considered on its own merits, having particular regard to the purpose of the stay in question.

38. Where the information provided in an application is unclear or indicates that abuse may have occurred under arrangements which are excluded, further investigation may be required and further information is likely to be sought from the applicant.

39. As a final point it should be noted that a person who experienced abuse in these circumstances is not precluded from applying to the scheme if they also experienced abuse whilst resident in a relevant care setting in circumstances which are eligible for the scheme.

Abuse away from the care setting

40. Section 22 of the Act provides that a reference to a person being "resident" in a relevant care setting includes a reference to being absent from that setting if they remained under the care of the person who provided the residential accommodation, or someone authorised by that person.

41. This ensures that children who were resident in a relevant care setting but who were abused outwith that setting would be eligible to apply to the redress scheme in respect of that abuse.

42. Although not an exhaustive list, and acknowledging that each situation will be considered according to the individual circumstances, examples could include abuse which occurred on a day or holiday excursion, or when away from the foster home.

43. It does not matter whether the child was within or outside Scotland during the period of absence from the relevant care setting.

Cross border placements

44. Only those care settings which are located in Scotland are covered by the redress scheme. Anyone who was placed in a care setting elsewhere in the UK, including in circumstances where a local authority in Scotland retained responsibility for them, are not eligible to apply for redress in Scotland.