The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (Support for Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2019

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations extend the definition of “appropriate adult support” in section 98 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) and support the commencement of section 42 of the 2016 Act by conferring functions under sections 99, 100 and 101 of that Act.

Regulation 3 extends the meaning of appropriate adult support. Appropriate adult support for the purposes of chapter 2 of Part 6 of the 2016 Act and these Regulations now includes support at any stage during a police investigation for victims, witnesses and those suspected or accused of committing an offence.

Regulation 4 confers the function of ensuring that people are available to provide appropriate adult support on local authorities.

Regulation 5 confers the function of assessing the quality of appropriate adult support on Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (commonly known as “the Care Inspectorate”).

Regulation 6 confers the function of giving training in how to provide appropriate adult support on local authorities.

In discharging the functions under regulations 4 and 6, each local authority is permitted to enter into contracts with others.

In discharging the functions under regulations 4 and 6, there is a requirement for local authorities to have regard to guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers in accordance with section 104(2)(b) of the 2016 Act.