Commentary on Provisions Part 3 – secure transportation Section 25 – standards for provision of secure transportation
106.Section 25 inserts new Part 16A, containing three new sections (sections 90A to 90C) on secure transportation of children, into the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.
107.Section 90A requires the Scottish Ministers to publish standards applicable to the secure transportation of children(71) who are liable to be taken to or placed in, or kept or detained in, secure accommodation. Those providing secure transportation services will, under section 90B(1), be required to meet those standards in so far as they apply to the service that the person is providing. In addition, if local authorities or the Scottish Ministers make arrangements with a third party for the provision of secure transportation services, they must ensure that the service provided by the third party meets the standards applicable to it.
108.The minimum content of the standards that must be prepared and published under section 90A is set out in section 90A(2). These mainly relate to the safety of children being transported, as well as the safety of others. Different standards may be provided for different kinds of secure transportation service. The first standards must be published no later than 1 year after section 25 of this Act comes into force. The standards must be kept under review and the Scottish Ministers may publish revised standards when appropriate. Before publishing or revising the standards, the Scottish Ministers must consult those they consider appropriate. The first standards, and any revised standards, must be laid before the Scottish Parliament.
109.Section 90C deals with reporting requirements around secure transportation services. Where a local authority has provided such a service itself, or arranged for a third party to provide such a service, it must prepare and publish a report on how the service was monitored to ensure that the standards applicable to it were met and on the extent to which the service met those standards. As well as being published, the report is to be sent to the Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Ministers must publish a consolidated report, combining the information provided by local authorities together with information about secure transportation services provided by the Scottish Ministers themselves (or arranged by them). The reports must be prepared within the timescales set out in section 90C(8), that is, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the period of 3 years, beginning with the day section 25 of this Act comes into force, and after the end of each subsequent period of 3 years. The Scottish Ministers can, by regulations, specify a date after which reports no longer need to be prepared. Section 90C(9) also gives the Scottish Ministers power to add other persons or bodies, in addition to or instead of local authorities, to whom the reporting requirements apply.