"Extracts from the (UN) report: Law and policy setting out the provision of guardianship services across the UK is varied. The service is most developed in Scotland, where the Scottish Government has fully funded the Scottish Guardianship Service for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and child victims of trafficking since 2013, managed and delivered by the Scottish Refugee Council and Aberlour Child Care Trust. The Scottish Guardianship Service supports young people by helping them navigate the immigration and welfare processes. Unaccompanied and separated children in Scotland should be referred to the Scottish Guardianship Service and, in many cases, this will be done by the LA. An evaluation highlighted the benefits of this scheme and which has so far been widely praised for its inclusion of all unaccompanied and separated children within its remit.

In 2015 the Scottish Parliament legislated to place guardianship on a statutory footing under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. Section 11 of the Act places an obligation on Scottish Ministers to provide a guardian not just to children and young people who have been identified as victims of trafficking but who may be or who are vulnerable to becoming victims of trafficking and where no person in the UK has “parental rights and responsibilities” towards that child.

In England and Wales, in contrast, there is no formal scheme, nor any legal obligation to provide a guardian. Instead, it is considered that the requirement that a child is supported by a responsible adult, or special representative, can be satisfied by assigning the child a social worker."
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