Hansard

This group of amendments in the name of Alison McInnes seeks to require mandatory FAIs into the deaths of children who were looked after by a local authority. Given that the provision would affect all natural-cause and expected deaths of looked-after children, many of which happen as a result of life-limiting conditions, it is difficult to see how the public interest, including that of the families, would be served by holding an FAI in such circumstances. The amendments also fail to recognise that a judicially led inquiry is not the only means of investigating the deaths of children in the care of the state. As Glasgow City Council confirmed during stage 1, the deaths of looked-after children are already provided for in the reporting requirements of the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which require local authorities to notify Scottish ministers and the Care Inspectorate of a death within one working day. That reporting responsibility has been further extended by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 to include the reporting of deaths of any care leaver up to the age of 26 and any young person in a continuing care placement. Deaths of children in residential establishments, half of which happen as a result of life-limiting conditions and other health issues, are investigated and reviewed by the Care Inspectorate, which identifies any lessons to be learned and makes recommendations on the review of legislation, policy or guidance. Such deaths are already the subject of investigation by the procurator fiscal, and the Lord Advocate has discretionary power to hold an FAI into such deaths when that is considered to be in the public interest. The Crown Office liaises with the Care Inspectorate and refers to its reports in order to inform decisions on whether to hold a discretionary FAI. The committee will also be aware of the child death review. Ministers agreed that Scotland should set up a national child death review system to review the deaths of all children and young people, not just those in care. Between January and June, a steering group met to develop a model for the system, and its report and recommendations will be submitted to ministers very shortly. I do not believe that it would be appropriate or sensible to legislate to extend the mandatory category to include deaths of looked-after children in advance of the review’s work. The Care Inspectorate reported that, in the three-year period from 2009 to 2011, there were 30 deaths of looked-after children in Scotland, which means that, as a result of this provision, there could be an additional 10 FAIs per year. Of course, the resource impact is not the only consideration. At stage 1, both Glasgow City Council and CELCIS did not support extending the mandatory category in this way. Glasgow City Council considers the current arrangements that I have just described for the reporting and review of deaths of looked-after children to be suitable and sufficient, and CELCIS did not recommend making this a mandatory category, because it felt that there was no certainty that it would lead to improvements in services for looked-after children and those leaving care. In its letter of 19 October to the committee, it reiterated its view that it was not necessary to extend the provision for mandatory FAIs to all accidental or sudden deaths of looked-after children in residential care. On that basis, the Government does not support these amendments, and it agrees that the combination of the provisions in the 2009 regulations and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and the proposal to have discretionary FAIs in such cases strikes the right balance. We believe that the proposals in these amendments would not be welcomed by bereaved families of looked-after children. Some looked-after children continue to live in the family home following involvement with the children’s hearings system, and 11 of the deaths from 2009 to 2011 were of children who were living at home or with relatives. Others live away from their family home—for example, with a foster carer or in residential accommodation—and 12 of the deaths reported were in residential care, while four were in foster care. Children usually become looked after to promote their care—for example, respite care for children with complex difficulties or disabilities—and to protect them from neglect and abuse. Families and those known to the child might not wish to have the death become the focus of a public inquiry. I also remind the committee that, under the bill as it stands, the death of a child in secure accommodation would trigger a mandatory FAI. For all those reasons, I ask the member to withdraw her amendments.