Legislation

These are the slides from a 5 Nations webinar held in October 2025. This series of webinars shares adult support and protection / safeguarding knowledge across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. 

The theme of this webinar is capacity and decision-making challenges. The sessions are:

This document offers good practice guidance to support Partnerships in developing systems for gathering feedback from adults at risk (and their significant others) on their experience of being involved in Adult Support and Protection.

This work planner and powerpoint presentation outlines the role of the second person / secondary worker within an Adult Support & Protection investigative interview.

It includes information and supporting exercises on:

The Scottish Mental Health Law Review (SMHLR) was commissioned in 2019. It was tasked with considering ways to better realise and protect human rights through Scotland's mental health, incapacity and adult support and protection legislation. The Review also looked at ways to remove barriers to care and support for people currently covered by the legislation. The Review’s final report was published in September 2022 and recommends a series of changes to legislation. It also proposes a range of changes to policy and practice in the short, medium, and longer term.

The UNCRC is a treaty that establishes the fundamental rights of children, applying to all persons under 18 years of age.

The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) is a UK law that brings the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic law, making them directly enforceable in UK courts. It ensures that all public authorities in the UK, including the government, must act compatibly with these human rights.

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 is the key piece of legislation relating to the protection of adults at risk of harm and neglect in Scotland.

There is a Code of Practice to support practical application of the Act.

The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2007 and received royal assent on 22 March 2007.

This paper explores research evidence on the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. In particular, it considers whether safeguarding powers and duties a set out in the Act can achieve a proportionate balance between individual autonomy and the state's duties to protect adults at risk of harm.

This one-page explainer sets out what can be found in the resource Understanding age in Child Protection guidance and Adult Support and Protection legislation. It explains how to get the most out of the resource, especially for those working with 16 and 17 year olds. This one-page explainer also contains additional reflective questions to consider and ideas for group learning sessions on the topic.