Simpler laws: Creating a clearer ‘care system’

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The phrase 'making care laws clearer' beside an illustration of a person helping someone climb up a giant book.

Scotland’s laws around its ‘care system’ are extremely complicated, and this has a real impact on people’s lives.

When the law is cluttered and complicated, it’s hard to be sure how to follow it.

Sometimes, different laws seem to give conflicting advice and define terms in different ways. Navigating them can be challenging to anyone.

The conclusions of the Independent Care Review described legislation, policy and practice around the ‘care system’ as cluttered and complex. Simplifying the landscape of legislation has become known as decluttering the landscape.

Why is decluttering so important?

For the law to function effectively, people need to understand how to follow it. Decluttering the landscape plays a role in making sure that:

the workforce understands their duties and how to implement them
that all care experienced children and adults understand their rights and entitlements, and the processes which exist around them and their lives.

An example of when the law can become complicated

Say there’s a young person in residential care, who’s going to reach adulthood soon. There are cross-border issues around funding, and it’s not clear whether the young person has legal capacity.

To understand the legal issues involved, multiple Acts, pieces of guidance and regulations would have to be considered— as would the ways in which these interrelate.

It might be difficult for the young person to easily understand – and therefore exercise – their rights and entitlements. And it can be challenging for the people working with the young person to be confident they were implementing their duties in a manner fully consistent with legislation.

Children shelter beneath an umbrella, which is held up by an enormous hand.

What is The Promise Scotland doing around decluttering?

The Promise Scotland has been working for some time on how decluttering might look in practice— finding clear ways in which the legislative landscape surrounding the 'care system' might be simplified.

In 2024, we commissioned Current Laws Around the Care System, a report setting out the complexity of the ‘care system’s’ legislative framework.

This work has played a core role in the legislation route map for Plan 24-30, which identifies actions needed for Scotland to keep the promise.

It also led to further work in 2025, which set out a possible way to begin to declutter the landscape.

In January 2026, the Scottish Government announced a review of this legislative landscape.

The review will build on our work at The Promise Scotland, and be carried out by Professor Kenneth Norrie with support from CELCIS.

It will advise on how a simplified legal landscape can deliver real, practical benefits for children, families, and the workforce. We are looking forward to working with them as the review progresses.

A proposed approach to decluttering

The Promise Scotland’s work around decluttering will be among the options which Professor Norrie and CELCIS will be considering.

In this approach, the core Acts relating to Scotland’s ‘care system,’ would be amended and combined into a single, streamlined piece of legislation.

This would consolidate elements of:

It would also incorporate the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, if passed by the Scottish Parliament.

This approach would include a review of language and terms

The approach would also involve a review of language and terms, so that – where possible – they can be consistent throughout the Act.

Children and young people told the Independent Care review about the negative impact which some current legislative language can have, and this would be an opportunity for some of it to be addressed.

This approach isn’t comprehensive

When the Independent Care Review was published in 2020, legislation relating to “the care system” included:

44 pieces of legislation
19 pieces of secondary legislation
3 international treaties.

The proposed new Act would combine 7 pieces of legislation, and perhaps some of their related secondary legislation. That's a good start— but it's not enough to declutter the landscape on its own.

It's not comprehensive in all aspects of children and young people's lives.

For example, it doesn't consolidate Acts around health and education, which would remain separate.

Finally, the proposed Act only introduces justice provisions which focus on the Children's Hearings System. All other provisions around justice have been left out.

This approach would still require new legislation

When it comes to keeping the promise, it’s not enough to consolidate existing laws. While decluttering the landscape is a critically important step, new legislation will be needed in the next term of the Scottish Parliament in order for the promise to be kept in full.

This will need to cover secure care, profit, scrutiny and inspection, governance, and a range of other areas.