How do legislation and codes of practice shape care work?
The legislation and codes of practice that govern contemporary care in Scotland, what the main laws and codes require, and how they protect service users and guide care workers.
An SQA Higher Care answer on the legislation and codes of practice governing care in Scotland: equality, data protection, adult support and protection, the Health and Social Care Standards and the SSSC Codes of Practice. Covers what each requires and how it protects service users.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to know the main legislation and codes of practice that govern care in Scotland, to explain what each requires, and to explain how they protect service users and guide the care worker. Law and codes turn care values into enforceable duties, so this dot point underpins almost every practice question.
The answer
Why law and codes matter
The main legislation
Adults with incapacity and protection
The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 protects people who cannot make some decisions for themselves, requiring that any action taken is the least restrictive option and benefits the person. Together with adult support and protection law, it underpins safeguarding in care.
The Health and Social Care Standards
The SSSC Codes of Practice
Examples in context
If a care worker shares a resident's medical details with a neighbour, they have breached data protection law and the SSSC Code of Practice on confidentiality, and could face legal and professional consequences. If a service refuses to adapt mealtimes for a resident's religious requirements, it risks breaching the Equality Act. When the Care Inspectorate inspects a home against the Health and Social Care Standards, it judges whether residents actually experience dignity, choice and being included. Showing how a specific law or code applies to a concrete situation like these is what lifts a Higher answer from recall into applied understanding.
Try this
Q1. Name two pieces of legislation that govern care work in Scotland. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two: Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 2018 / UK GDPR, Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, health and safety law.
Q2. Explain the difference between legislation and a code of practice. [4 marks]
- Cue. Legislation is law everyone must obey, enforced by the courts; a code of practice sets professional standards of conduct, enforced by a professional register such as the SSSC.
Q3. Describe the purpose of the Health and Social Care Standards. [2 marks]
- Cue. They set out what people should expect from any care service in Scotland, framed as personal outcomes built on dignity, respect, compassion, inclusion and wellbeing.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher Care6 marksExplain how legislation protects service users in a care setting.Show worked answer →
A -mark explain question. Markers reward a named law linked to the protection it gives, not a list of Act titles.
Strong answers pair each law with an outcome: the Equality Act protects service users from discrimination by making it unlawful to treat them less favourably because of a protected characteristic; data protection law protects personal information by requiring it to be kept securely and used fairly; adult support and protection law gives councils powers to investigate and act where an adult at risk may be being harmed.
The discriminator is the link from the law to the service user's protection.
SQA Higher Care4 marksDescribe the purpose of a code of practice in care work.Show worked answer →
A -mark describe question. Develop two points or one point in depth.
A code of practice sets out the standards of conduct and practice that care workers and their employers must meet. The SSSC Codes of Practice describe how registered social service workers should behave (protecting rights, respecting dignity, being trustworthy and accountable) and what employers must do to support them. The Health and Social Care Standards set out what people should expect from any care service, framed as personal outcomes such as dignity, compassion and being included.
Accurate description of what a code requires earns the marks.
Related dot points
- The care values that underpin contemporary care practice, what each value means in a care setting, and why applying them protects the health, wellbeing and dignity of service users.
An SQA Higher Care answer on the care values that underpin practice: dignity, respect, choice, confidentiality, equality, anti-discrimination, safety, privacy and independence. Covers what each value means in a care setting and why applying them protects service users.
- Confidentiality as a care value: what it means, why it matters, how care workers maintain it, and the circumstances in which it can lawfully and properly be broken.
An SQA Higher Care answer on confidentiality: what it means, why it matters to service users, how care workers maintain it through need-to-know sharing and secure records, and the circumstances such as risk of harm in which it can properly be broken.
- Equality, diversity and anti-discriminatory practice in care: the types and effects of discrimination, and how care workers and services promote equality and challenge discrimination.
An SQA Higher Care answer on equality, diversity and anti-discriminatory practice: what discrimination is, its types (direct, indirect, prejudice, stereotyping), its effects on service users, and how care workers and services promote equality and challenge discrimination.
- Applying care values to practice: how care workers put dignity, choice, rights, confidentiality and anti-discriminatory practice into action in real care settings, and the consequences of failing to.
An SQA Higher Care answer on applying care values to practice: how care workers turn dignity, choice, rights, confidentiality and anti-discriminatory practice into everyday actions in care settings, person-centred care, and the consequences when values are not applied.
Sources & how we know this
- Higher Care Course Specification — SQA (2018)
- Higher Care - Course overview — SQA (2025)