The Restitution Fund (Scotland) Order 2025: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment (CRWIA)

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

The Restitution Fund ( Scotland) Order 2025 affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) will be laid in Parliament on 30 April 2025, with a coming into force date of 24 June 2025, to revoke the current Restitution Fund (Scotland) Order 2021, and to remove the named operator of the Fund, the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund, to make provision for the fund to be operated by Scottish Ministers.

The policy intention is that the operation and processes concerning the Restitution Fund will remain the same.

Restitution Orders may be imposed by the courts under section 253A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”) where an individual has been convicted of an assault on police, under section 90 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.

Restitution Orders mean that offenders can be required to contribute towards the cost of support services for police officers and staff (and other specified persons) who are victims of assault. Monies from the Restitution Orders are paid into the Restitution Fund, which can provide support to victims of such assaults. The Fund will be used to support both physical and mental health and wellbeing.

The financial penalty that is likely to be imposed, in relation to assault on police, is a fine. If the courts decide that a financial penalty is appropriate, they will have the option of using the Restitution Order instead of a fine for the offence of assault. The courts will take account of factors such as seriousness of the crime and the ability to pay in determining the appropriate value of a financial penalty, therefore the value of a Restitution Order imposed for a given situation is likely to be the same as a fine. The financial impact on the offender and their family, and any resulting impacts, are therefore anticipated to be unchanged compared to the imposition of a fine for that offence.

Start date of proposal’s development: 28 March 2024

Start date of CRWIA process: 20 March 2025

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

We do not envisage that removing the current operator of the Restitution Fund, and changing it to Scottish Ministers will have any impact on children’s rights.

The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced a range of measures to support victims’ rights and needs at the centre of the criminal justice process and to improve the support, information and advice that is available to victims of crime. Following the introduction of Restitution Orders, which came into force on 10 February 2021, this included victims of assault on police.

Under the Restitution Fund (Scotland) Order 2021, the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund (SPBF) was delegated to establish, maintain and administer the Restitution Fund. However, in June 2021 they withdrew as the operator to focus on their primary responsibility to act in the best interests of the SPBF. Therefore this affirmative SSI is necessary to remove the SPBF as the operator and to make provision for the administration of the Fund by Scottish Ministers. This technical change will have no impact on the operation of the Restitution Fund.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Evidence from:

• existing research/reports/policy expertise
• consultation/feedback from stakeholders
• consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

Not applicable

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

Not applicable

5. Analysis of Evidence

Not applicable

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

Not applicable