INTRODUCTION
1. This guidance has been issued under section 5(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to perform their functions under Part II of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 under the general guidance of Scottish Ministers. www.legislation.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/ukpga_19950036_en_3#pt2
As corporate parents, local authorities will be committed to ensuring that the children and young people they look after experience the full range of opportunities and life experiences that are open to their peers who are not looked after. Like any good parent, they will want to ensure that their children are safe, while at the same time supporting them in forming lasting friendships. The issue of overnight stays with friends has been highlighted often by young people as something which sets them apart from their peers. In this guidance, the Scottish Government is seeking to assist local authorities in minimising this sense of disadvantage while at the same time recognising the special circumstances of being in public care.
2. The legal background is set out at Annex A.
3. The guidance does not cover the following situations:
a. Contact arrangements including overnight stays with members of the child's birth family. (See Scotland's Children: The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 Regulations and Guidance, Volume 2).
www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/10/20067/44723
b. Arrangements for overnight stays when children are looked after at home and there is no condition of residence.
c. The checks needed when foster carers use a "sitter" to care for the child when they are out, when a foster child has an overnight stay with a foster carer's relative, or when a foster carer or their own children have friends to stay. This must form part of the guidance and information provided to the foster carers when they become approved.
4. This guidance is designed to provide a starting point for local policies and approaches to overnight stays and wider arrangements for ensuring that the child's best interests are met whilst living in care.
5. It applies to all children and young people who are looked after in foster care, kinship care or residential care under a supervision requirement.
6. In general, young people should continue to be looked after until 18, if it is in their best interests. In advance of leaving care, looked after young people will discuss with their social worker the after care services they will require on making the transition to independent living. In recognition of this Pathways planning and the move towards the young person taking responsibility for their own decisions and actions, looked after young people aged 16 or older should, where appropriate, be allowed to make their own decisions on overnight stays.
7. The term 'carer' used throughout the guidance is used to describe foster carers, kinship carers and residential care workers.
8. While this guidance is intended to serve as a practical reference point for local authorities, it should not be regarded as an exhaustive or exclusive reference point. Nor does this guidance constitute legal advice. Users of this guidance should consider whether there is a need also to consult with others, including their authority's or organisations legal advisers, in relation to matters concerning overnight stays.