Commentary on Provisions Part 4 – residential and secure care Section 30 – regulation of cross-border placements
137.Section 30 inserts new section 33A into the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, conferring a regulation-making power on the Scottish Ministers to make provision about cross-border placements. A “cross-border placement” is defined in section 33A(4). It is the placement of a child in a residential establishment in Scotland where (a) the child was, immediately before the placement, resident in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and (b) the placement is authorised under the law in England and Wales or, as the case may be, in Northern Ireland. A placement may be so authorised by virtue of (a) an order made by a court in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and/or (b) any provision made by or under an Act of Parliament, and Act of Senedd Cymru, or Northern Ireland legislation (as defined by section 98(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998), whenever passed or made.(99)
138.Mirroring section 190 of the 2011 Act, as amended by section 29 of this Act, regulations under section 33A can include requirements as to: the provision and sharing of information; the provision of services needed to support a child who is the subject of a cross-border placement; and the payment of costs incurred in relation to, or as a consequence of, giving effect to a cross-border placement. Section 33A(2) also specifies that regulations can include provision requiring a cross-border placement to be kept under review. Regulations under section 33A are subject to the affirmative procedure.