Child Protection Guidance 2021

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Part 1: The context for child protection 36 Version 1.0 September 2021 Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 1.174 Part 3 of the Act deals with the power of local authorities to enhance wellbeing, and again this can be interpreted as being relevant to the establishment of Child Protection Committees. The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 1.175 This legislation introduced the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme to replace the former system of Disclosure for people working with vulnerable groups. It identifies categories of employment or contact (regulated work) where there is the expectation that a PVG check will be required and also provides direction on the responsibilities of employers. Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 1.176 Under section 4 of the 2004 Act, where a local authority has responsibility for the child’s or young person’s education, and it has been established that the child or young person has additional support needs, the authority has a duty to provide such support as is necessary to help them benefit from school education. Under section 9 of the 2004 Act, where a local education authority has responsibility for the child’s or young person’s education and it has been established that the child or young person requires a co‑ordinated support plan, the education authority has a duty to provide this. 1.177 Child protection policy must pay due regard to equality and diversity issues. Access to and delivery of child protection services should be fair, consistent, reliable, and focused on individual outcomes and enablement. Children and families should experience listening, respectful, responsive services. There should be no discrimination on the grounds of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. The Equality Act 2010 restates, streamlines and harmonises equality legislation. It replaces a number of Acts including the Race Relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. 1.178 Public authorities also have responsibilities under equality legislation for ensuring that discrimination does not occur, and for promoting equality of opportunity regardless of race, sex and disability. From April 2011 the public sector equality duty, under the Equality Act 2010, has required public authorities to have due regard to certain matters relating to equality when exercising their functions. These matters are eliminating conduct prohibited by the Act, advancing equality of opportunity, and fostering good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it. Specific duties placed on Scottish public authorities are set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (as amended). 1.179 Account must always be taken of diversity and equality issues. For example, staff will need to consider carefully the types of communication methods they use, adapting them as necessary to cultural preferences, literacy and language skills, communication skills and abilities, so as to overcome the range of communication barriers which a diverse population of children, young people and adults might face.