
1 

(1) This Order may be cited as the Regulation of Care (Child Contact Services) (Scotland) Order 2025.
(2) It comes into force—
(a) for the purpose of making subordinate legislation, as soon as it is made,
(b) for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (3), on the day after the day on which it is made, and
(c) for all other purposes, on 1 April 2027.
(3) The purpose referred to in paragraph (2)(b) is SCSWIS doing anything it considers necessary or expedient to give full effect to this Order on or after 1 April 2027.
(4) In this Order—
 “the Act” means the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010,
 “SCSWIS” means Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland, constituted under section 44 of the Act.
2 

(1) The Act is modified as follows.
(2) In section 47(1) (care services), at the end, insert—“
(n) a child contact service.”.
(3) In section 74 (conditions as to numbers)—
(a) in paragraph (d), at the end, omit “and”, and
(b) after paragraph (e), insert—“, and
(f) in the case of a child contact service, limit the number of persons in respect of whom the service may facilitate contact.”.
(4) In section 105(1) (interpretation of Part 5 of the Act), after the definition of “child care agency”, insert—“
 “child contact service” has the meaning given by paragraph 19A of that schedule;”.
(5) In schedule 12 (care services: definitions), after paragraph 19, insert—“
19A. 
A “child contact service” is a service which has as its sole or main purpose the facilitation of contact between a child and a person with whom the child is not, or will not be, living (including the handover of the child to that person); but the expression does not include a social work service.”.
3 

(1) Where immediately before 1 April 2027 a person was providing a child contact service, and continues to provide that service on that date—
(a) the service is treated for all purposes as if it had been registered under section 60 of the Act (grant or refusal of registration) at the beginning of that date, and
(b) the person is treated as if that person had been registered to provide the service.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the service ceases to be treated as registered by paragraph (1)—
(a) where the person providing the service has on or before 30 September 2027 applied for registration of the service under section 59 of the Act (registration of care services), at the end of the date on which the decision of SCSWIS to grant or refuse the application under section 60 of the Act takes effect, or
(b) in any other case, at the end of 30 September 2027.
(3) The service ceases to be treated as registered by paragraph (1) before the date mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) or, as the case may be, (b) when the first of the following occurs—
(a) a decision of SCSWIS to cancel the registration of the service under section 64 of the Act (cancellation of registration) takes effect,
(b) a decision of SCSWIS to cancel the registration of the service on an application under section 70(1)(b) of the Act (application for cancellation) takes effect,
(c) the person ceases to provide the service,
(d) an order under section 65 of the Act (emergency cancellation of registration) takes effect (but see paragraph (4)).
(4) Paragraph (3)(d) does not apply if the order is—
(a) revoked under section 65(9)(b) of the Act, or
(b) modified under section 65(9)(c) of the Act and the sheriff appeal court orders that paragraph (3)(d) is not to apply.
(5) The following provisions do not apply to a service treated as registered by paragraph (1) in relation to it being so treated—
(a) in the Act—
(i) section 60(4) and (5) (certificate of registration),
(ii) in section 70(4) (grant of applications under Chapter 3 of the Act in respect of conditions), the words “and issue a new certificate of registration”,
(iii) section 73(1) and (2) (notice of SCSWIS’s decision under Chapter 3 of the Act),
(iv) section 76(2)(b) (fees in respect of annual continuation of registration),
(v) section 101(2) (definition of “manager” for giving of notice),
(b) in the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, section 7(2)(c) (regard to be had to aims and objectives),
(c) in the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Registration) Regulations 2011—
(i) regulation 4 (records, notifications and returns),
(ii) regulation 5 (registers),
(d) in the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011, regulation 17(2) (notification of appointment of manager).
(6) In its application to a service treated as registered by paragraph (1), regulation 10 of the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011 (fitness of premises) applies as if for its paragraph (2)(a) there were substituted—“
(a) are suitable for the provision of a child contact service;”.
SIOBHIAN BROWN
Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers
St Andrew’s House,
Edinburgh
19th November 2025