A national consultation on whether to introduce legislation to support the Getting it right approach took place from December 2006 to March 2007 based on a draft Children's Services (Scotland) Bill. The consultation yielded 226 responses from a mixture of individuals, agencies and representative organisations. The full report is 158 pages, although a much shorter summary version is also available.
Ministers have decided not to progress the Children's Services (Scotland) Bill in this parliamentary year but may consider possible legislation later. Responses to the draft Bill consultation indicated that more work needs to be done to resolve the complex issues affecting change across children's services. In addition, some agencies are concerned at early legislation without further detailed implications for services. Further work in pathfinder areas and other development work throughout Scotland will help determine how best to improve any legislative changes.
A lot can be done under current legislation to implement Getting it right. The Government is focussing on policy delivery improvement to support culture, systems and practice change.