Hansard

Since my statement in January, the Government has been taking a range of actions to address Scotland’s secure care accommodation capacity.

As I have set out consistently in the chamber, secure accommodation services are the most intensive, restrictive and specialised form of care for children and young people. There are 78 beds across Scotland’s secure accommodation estate, provided by four independent charitable organisations. Based on all known past placement patterns and the higher ends of all evidenced projections, that provision should be sufficient to meet Scotland’s needs. However, in recent months, there has been a considerable strain on Scotland’s available secure accommodation capacity.

Four factors are particularly relevant: the pause on admissions to St Mary’s Kenmure, which limited its secure accommodation capacity from the contracted 24 beds to 12, reducing the capacity across the secure estate by almost 20 per cent, which has displaced demands to the other three providers over the period; the complexity of some children’s needs, which can require the use of multiple beds, and the associated staff, to care safely for a single child; the increased duration of some placements as a result of the increased sentenced and remanded population; and cross-border placements.

As I set out in my statement in January, the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 saw Scotland take a major step forward to keep the Promise, by introducing a series of reforms. It is with thanks to secure providers and wider care and justice partners that we can proudly say that Scotland does not imprison our children. Those reforms—although they were the right thing to do and were well prepared for—have required a period of adjustment. That is why, in these early post-commencement stages, it is important that we continue to work with that same collaborative, learning spirit as matters settle.

Members will recall that, following its inspection in October, St Mary’s Kenmure was served an improvement notice by the Care Inspectorate. That rightly triggered a pause on new admissions while improvements were made. That total pause on admissions was lifted by the Care Inspectorate on 18 December, but the maximum capacity at St Mary’s has been capped at 12. Following a further visit on 13 March, the Care Inspectorate was satisfied that significant improvements had been made in a number of areas, and it agreed to lift the improvement notice.

St Mary’s has been focusing on meeting the requirements of the improvement notice, and its focus is now on moving towards sustainable restored capacity as soon as safely possible. The centre is redoubling its efforts to augment staff capacity over spring. Work to fill those specialist roles is already in hand, but will, of course, take some time. I will update the Parliament further on that progress before summer recess, and I visited St Mary’s earlier this month to hear directly about the centre’s improvement journey.

As members are aware, secure accommodation demand is complex and volatile—capacity can shift at least daily. This morning, there was one place available in secure accommodation in Scotland, but it is entirely possible that that position could change during the course of my statement. That unpredictability in demand is why our key actions relate not just to restoring capacity, but to improving confidence among practitioners and decision makers when it comes to suitable alternatives to secure care.

Meeting the needs of children who may require secure accommodation is not just about numbers of vacant beds. It is about creating and sustaining environments where children receive the highest quality of care. Those services require a specialist and skilled workforce, and I acknowledge and pay tribute to the dedication of that workforce.

In my previous statement, I outlined the Government’s commitment to work collaboratively with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Social Work Scotland and others to develop a secure care contingency action plan, and I thank all providers and partners for their contributions. I will write to the conveners of the Criminal Justice Committee and the Education, Children and Young People Committee with fuller details in April.

On immediate priorities, we have moved to restore Scotland’s secure accommodation capacity. I am therefore pleased to announce the establishment of a new four-bed national contingency resource with support from the Scottish Government. Part of Rossie’s specialised residential estate will be repurposed and specially staffed in order to offer a new four-bed secure care provision. That will directly alleviate some of the pressure on secure care accommodation. That fully funded resource is expected to be operational in the next month, subject to Care Inspectorate registration.

I am grateful to Rossie for its agility and innovation in helping to identify a tangible solution. The centre has just had very positive Care Inspectorate gradings, and members can be confident that the new provision will be a significant and effective augmentation to Scotland’s offer.

As well as boosting capacity directly, we are also supporting improved awareness and confidence among professionals working in Scotland’s placing authorities. I am therefore pleased also to confirm that we are funding a dedicated professional lead at Social Work Scotland for the next 12 months. The policy and practice adviser will work alongside officials in Scottish Government to enhance our partnership with local government and improve the co-ordination of relevant services across the country. The post should also enable us to accelerate our collective efforts to evolve Scotland’s secure care provision, in line with the Promise.

We also continue to focus on alternatives to secure accommodation, focusing on early intervention and preventative services. We are backing our contingency actions with up to £2 million this year alone. In addition, following the recent budget, funding of up to £8.4 million is being made available by the Scottish Government to cover the placements of sentenced and remanded children over the next two years. That is a significant further financial commitment to support the system and its sustainability.

Refreshed guidance on community alternatives to depriving children of their liberty has also been prepared and was published last week. I thank the Children’s and Young People’s Centre for Justice and the Youth Justice Improvement Board for bringing that work to fruition.

As members know, secure care should be used only when absolutely necessary. We are also working with third sector organisations to identify high-intensity wraparound services, which are intended to offer credible support to high-need children, and to encourage safe, early step down from secure care. The Parliament will be updated further on that before summer recess.

In the medium to long term, we are committed to developing a more resilient and responsive system of secure care provision, capacity preservation and placement management. Also ahead of the summer recess, we will publish our response to the “Reimagining Secure Care” reports, which will set out our longer-term vision for the future of secure care within a trauma-informed, Promise-keeping context.

I expect that response to confirm the continuing necessity of secure care and to underline the value that we place on those specialist services, but also to cover the need to extend secure care beyond its current configuration. We will focus on a holistic approach that includes preventative measures, improved alternatives to secure care and a stronger focus on transitions to support children to return to their communities, and to their families, wherever that is safe and appropriate.

As with all Promise-keeping efforts, there is a shared responsibility between national and local Government alongside delivery partners. I want us to improve the co-ordination and integration between different parts of the system to ensure that our system is both compassionate and responsive.

Children in secure care often require multiple services, including mental health support, education and vocational training, among others. We therefore need to foster greater collaboration with health services, local authorities, education providers and the third sector. We are also considering where quantitative data, real-time data and enhanced management information can help us to predict and forecast demand.

I hope that this statement reassures members as to our focus and resolve on these matters. It is clear that, since January, improvements have been and are being made. I want to reassure all those who are involved in the provision of secure care, from the children who need its support and the staff in secure care centres to local authorities and community and justice partners. My message is that the Government will work with them to take urgent supportive action where it is needed, and to develop sustainable and integrated solutions. Our priority will always be to ensure that children have access to the care and support that is necessary to keep them, and others, safe.

I am aware that members will have further questions, and I would be pleased to answer those now.