Legal Orders

In Scotland, Care Experience is not defined by one single legal order. Instead, it is derived from a range of legal statuses and orders where a child or young person becomes looked after or otherwise supported by the Local Authority.

Below is a clear, structured overview of the key legal orders and routes that link directly to care experience status.

 

Orders from Children’s Hearings:

 

1.  Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO)

  • Main legal order in Scotland for children needing care/protection
  • Made by a Children’s Hearing or Sheriff
  • Can include: where a child lives; contact conditions; and support requirements.

 

A child on a CSO is legally Looked After.  They can be: Looked After at Home (living with family but supervised); or Looked After Away from Home (foster, kinship, residential).

2.  Interim Compulsory Supervision Order (ICSO)

  • Short-term emergency version of a Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO)
  • Used while investigations or decisions are ongoing

3.  Movement Restriction Condition / Secure Accommodation Authorisation

Conditions within a CSO:

  • Restrict movement or liberty
  • Authorise placement in secure care

These intensify the level of intervention but remain part of CSO status.  This means the pupil would Looked After Away from Home.

4.  Child Protection Order (CPO)

  • Emergency court order to remove a child to safety
  • Used when immediate risk of significant harm

Leads to temporary Looked After status and often progression to CSO

 

 

Court-based Permanence and Care Orders:

 

1. Permanence Order (Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007)

  • Transfers key parental rights to the local authority
  •  Used when a child cannot return home

 

2. Permanence Order with Authority to Adopt

  • Allows progression to adoption

Still part of care experience pathway (pre-adoption).

3.  Adoption Order

  • Transfers full parental rights to adoptive parents

After adoption the child is no longer Looked After but remains Care Experienced (lived experience of care).  It is important to note that the child and their adoptive parents may not wish to openly declare this status, furthermore, the child may not be aware they are adopted.

4.  Section 11 Order (Residence/Kinship Care Order)

  • Court order granting parental responsibilities/rights to carers
  • Often used for kinship placements

5. Voluntary accommodation (non-court route)

Child becomes Looked after away from home and therefore Care Experienced

 

6. Secure care / justice-related orders

Children in secure care may:

  • Be subject to CSO
  • Be remanded or sentenced but still treated as children in need of care and support