Scotland's Redress Scheme: scheme contributor information

13. Wider redress reporting

94. Under section 99 of the Act, organisations that have made a fair and meaningful contribution to the redress scheme must produce an annual report, known as a 'redress report', detailing their wider redress activities. This report should include details of any steps the contributor has taken to provide emotional support or meaningful apologies to survivors amongst other relevant actions taken by the organisation, these are detailed below

95. This report gives organisations the opportunity to set out all they have done to acknowledge and address their role in the context of historical child abuse, recognising that redress involves taking a range of actions to meaningfully respond to the past, not just making financial payments to survivors.

96. For survivors of historical child abuse in-care in Scotland, the annual report provides a valuable opportunity to help them understand what wider redress activities are available and may assist them in their own journey for redress. This extends to survivors who may not have applied, or have no intention of applying, to Scotland’s Redress Scheme.

Requirement to produce a report

97. The Act sets out categories of organisations that will be required to submit a redress report to the Scottish Ministers. These are:

• organisations included on the contributor list in the first nine months of a reporting period; and
• any other organisation directed to report by Scottish Ministers. This could be, for example, an organisation that is named in a redress application that is not on the contributor list.

98. More information on reporting periods and deadlines is provided later in this section.

99. These reports will be collated and published annually by the Scottish Ministers in a combined report.

100. While this is the minimum requirement specified in the Act, some organisations may wish to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the harms of the past by submitting a voluntary redress report to the Scottish Ministers for publication.

Details on the content of the report

101. There are general requirements for what an organisation must include in a redress report. These include:

• information about any support which an organisation has provided for individuals who were abused as children. Some examples of relevant activities include:
  • funding for emotional, psychological or practical support
  • advice and assistance on accessing historical records
  • advice and assistance on tracing and reuniting families
  • activities relating to the acknowledgement of abuse and providing a meaningful apology to survivors

any other relevant examples of support provided to survivors. For example, some organisations may have held memorial events for survivors of abuse or shared with them details of new policies and procedures to prevent the harms of the past from ever happening again.

102. Redress reports must not include the names of individuals or any other information which could be used to identify an individual. Names and identifying information may only be used where an organisation can demonstrate that the individual has been consulted and has given a clear and specific statement of consent.

103. If an organisation has not taken any action to provide wider support to survivors, this must also be reported, and reasons why this is the case.

104. Scheme contributors will recognise the importance of providing this ongoing support and acknowledgement to survivors in a meaningful way and so will wish to include details of their wider activities beyond those outlined above. It will be for individual organisations to determine what additional material they wish to include within a redress report, but this might include, for example, details on what safeguards they have put in place to protect children currently under their care.

Reporting periods and deadlines

105. Under section 99 of the Act, scheme contributors will be required to submit a redress report within two months of the end of the reporting period. The first reporting period begins on 7 December 2021. The reporting period then begins on the same date every successive period of 12 months. The reporting periods will continue until a date is specified in regulations by the Scottish Ministers.

106. As mentioned above, other organisations, such as any non-contributors named in a redress application, may be required to submit a report if directed by Scottish Ministers. This group will have three months to respond to this request, or longer if this is specified in the reporting direction.

Failure to submit a redress report

107. If an organisation does not submit a redress report after they have been directed to do so, either as part of their annual requirement as a scheme contributor or at the request of the Scottish Ministers, then the fact that no report has been received will be published.

108. Scheme contributors may also face being removed from the contributor list if they do not complete a redress report after Scottish Ministers have given them a formal direction to do so. Failing to produce the report would go against the terms of any contribution to the scheme. However, such a removal from the contributor list would be considered only as a last resort if all other attempts to engage with an organisation have failed.