Hansard

A year ago, the then Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning set out the Government’s intention to implement a child protection improvement programme. In doing so, she acknowledged the strengths that are inherent in the current system but recognised that there are weaknesses that require to be addressed to ensure that we are doing all that we can to protect Scotland’s children.

In the past year, we have worked closely with partners across the children’s services sector to honestly scrutinise child protection and determine the changes that are required. Today, I am publishing the “Child Protection Improvement Programme Report” and the report of Catherine Dyer’s systems review, “Protecting Scotland’s Children and Young People: It is Still Everyone’s Job”. I can advise Parliament that I accept in full all the recommendations and actions in each report. The effective and efficient implementation of that suite of recommendations and actions will strengthen all aspects of the system to better protect our children.

Before I outline the key findings and indicate the steps that will be taken to ensure implementation, I thank everyone who has worked closely with us on the improvement programme. Their time, effort, knowledge and expertise have helped us to develop meaningful and substantial recommendations. I am grateful to Catherine Dyer for leading the independent systems review and to the members of the review group and the broader advisory groups for their thoughtful contributions.

Every child in Scotland who has been harmed or abused or who is at risk of harm or abuse should receive the best possible support and protection, no matter what their circumstances are or where they live. The risks that children face and our understanding of those risks continue to evolve, and our system needs to continuously adapt to address them.

According to the most recent figures, we have 2,751 children on the child protection register. That represents a 4 per cent decrease on the previous year, but the number has increased by 34 per cent since 2000. Although more children were taken off the register because of an “improved home situation”, more were on the register for more than a year.

Generally, the systems review concluded that, when children or young people are identified as being at risk of significant harm or have been harmed, the system works well to protect them. The need for improvement must be set in that context, but we cannot and must not shy away from the challenge that is before us.

One of the most profound impacts on our children’s welfare comes from neglect. Neglect is the primary maltreatment issue that children in Scotland face. Thirty-nine per cent of children who had been placed on the child protection register had been emotionally abused, and 37 per cent had suffered from neglect. In addition, lack of parental care is the most common reason for referral to the children’s reporter—5,606 such referrals were made in 2015-16.

Over the past 10 years, we have invested significantly to support parenting, to better prevent neglect and to address the issues that give rise to neglect, through initiatives such as the early years change fund, public social partnerships, the Lloyds TSB partnership drugs initiative, the expansion of free childcare and the family nurse partnerships. We have continued that investment with a programme of action on neglect that is working with agencies in three local authority areas to look at how practice change can be effected to work with families more effectively, based on the best available local, national and international evidence. An evaluation of the early work on that programme will report to me at the end of this month, and I will consider carefully the outcomes of that work.

Much has been done over the years to update legislation to strengthen the rights and wellbeing of our children, but one area where the law is out of date is section 12—“Cruelty to persons under sixteen”—of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937. That provision targets physical neglect and harm of children and young people, but it does not take account of our modern-day understanding of neglect. We now know that emotional and psychological neglect can be just as devastating for children and young people as physical harm is, yet section 12 of the 1937 act is still the criminal legislation that operates today. In addition, the archaic language of section 12 means that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has difficulty in prosecuting some offences, because the provision has limitations.

I can therefore confirm that new legislation will be brought forward in the current session of Parliament to introduce a new definition and criminal offence of abuse and neglect of children. As it has taken our society 80 years to make that change, it is vital that we get it right. We will therefore consult this year to determine the scope and nature of that legislation.

Through the improvement programme, we have published an updated action plan for tackling child sexual exploitation—it includes a revised definition and supporting document—to guide practitioners, and we have run a national campaign to raise awareness, particularly among parents, of what constitutes sexual exploitation. We have consulted on a draft human trafficking strategy that includes a focus specifically on children, and we are working with stakeholders and with children and young people in particular to develop a revised child internet safety action plan, which will be published shortly. We are working with the children’s hearings improvement partnership to identify action to strengthen consistency and effectiveness across the children’s hearings system.

I am clear that the improvement programme must not be seen in isolation. The Scottish child abuse inquiry will consider whether further changes in practice, policy or legislation are necessary to protect children who are in care from such abuse in the future. If recommendations for change result from the inquiry, it will be essential that we honour the integrity and spirit of the inquiry and make changes to do all that we can to avoid the abuses of the past.

We must allow the independent root-and-branch review of the care system to shape child protection in the future. The review will look at the underpinning legislation, practices, culture and ethos of the care system and provide care-experienced young people with the opportunity to speak directly to the Government.

The child protection improvement programme has augmented and reinforced our understanding of the factors that can diminish the capacity of parents to meet their children’s needs and keep them safe. Multi-agency planning for and delivery of child protection in local areas is increasingly practised; that should be replicated in national policy, planning and delivery.

A national child protection policy will therefore be published, which will identify all the responsibilities and actions across Government that are aimed at supporting families and protecting children. As part of that policy, we will develop a plan to better prevent the emotional, physical and sexual abuse of Scotland’s children. That will build on the work that I have outlined, and it will be designed to respond to emerging threats and challenges as well as to incorporate evidence of practice, activities and interventions that work. The aim is to provide agencies and practitioners with an evolving resource that supports their skills, knowledge and expertise. We all need to feel confident that the processes that are in place to protect children are working effectively.

The systems review recommends that we consider how to create a national child protection register. While work with partners will begin to explore how best to establish a national register and how it might work, we will work in the short term with Police Scotland to develop a flagging system on the national vulnerable persons database that will identify all children who are placed on local child protection registers.

We must ensure that the processes for learning in the child protection system are rigorous, timely and effective. When a child has died or suffered significant harm through abuse or neglect, we must always consider what might have been done differently to prevent that tragedy and what could be done differently to minimise the risk of a similar tragedy occurring. That is why we expect child protection committees to undertake significant case reviews and share them with the Care Inspectorate, so that it can analyse reviews and report nationally on key areas of learning.

The systems review concluded that we could learn more if the Care Inspectorate also received copies of all initial case reviews, and I agree. The inspectorate will take on that expanded role and explore how best to share findings to influence practice. I am also writing to all child protection committees to make clear my expectation that they will all follow the guidance and share all case review findings with the inspectorate. National standards will be provided for those who carry out reviews, to make sure that they have the right skills to conduct reviews timeously and consistently.

Analysis by the Care Inspectorate of recent significant case reviews found that the time taken varied from five months to 37 months, with criminal proceedings often complicating matters. The protocol between the Crown Office, Police Scotland and child protection committees on significant case reviews and criminal proceedings is being reviewed and will be further publicised in order to reduce delays in concluding SCRs.

Inspections are key to the child protection system’s effectiveness. I have asked the Care Inspectorate to host a short-life working group to look at how joint inspections can focus better on the experiences of and outcomes for children who are at the greatest risk of harm. The group will consider all relevant recommendations that emerge from the child protection improvement programme and it will draft a new inspection framework to be ready to replace the current programme of inspections, which ends in December 2017.

Although it is important to have in place the right processes and to evaluate them effectively, it is people who keep children safe. Our front-line practitioners who undertake this most difficult and often harrowing work need to know that they are supported through effective leadership and by effective governance, responsible scrutiny and appropriate management information.

Leadership was identified as a key focus for the improvement programme, not least because too many joint inspections have identified variable and weak leadership. For that reason, the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and I held a summit in June last year for the leaders of services in the public and third sectors that have a role to play in child protection in order to emphasise the importance of collective responsibility and hear experiences.

The systems review considered the importance of leadership and governance and, as a result of its findings, I can announce that I will chair a new national child protection leadership group to support, strengthen and improve activity on child protection. The group will seek to embed consistency and reduce duplication in local areas; it will support the implementation of the recommendations and actions in both reports and will expect agencies to work collaboratively to deliver improvements and achieve sustained, meaningful change. The national leadership group will also identify how best to evaluate improvement and measure progress.

Catherine Dyer’s systems review group was tasked with considering whether a statutory underpinning was required for key aspects of the child protection system. The group concluded that legislation by itself would not deliver improvement and recommended a range of other actions before moving to legislate. I carefully considered that conclusion before accepting it. I am clear that we must see real progress in implementing the improvements that both reports recommend, particularly to achieve consistency of approach.

If there is little evidence in a year’s time of real and substantial progress in delivering improvements, the Government will introduce legislation to provide an appropriate underpinning for child protection committees, the use of the child protection register and the conduct and application of initial and significant case reviews. In particular, it will be vital that I see evidence of consistent good practice in child protection committees; effective leadership in community planning partnerships and engagement by all relevant agencies; adherence to child protection guidance; initial and significant case reviews being undertaken when necessary and shared with the Care Inspectorate; and agencies demonstrating that practice is changing as a result of relevant findings.

We have in place a child protection improvement programme that can and must move rapidly from reflection to implementation. We must move from having pockets of good practice to having a culture of good practice across the child protection system.

The Government is determined to ensure that more of Scotland’s children get the best possible start in life. For the most vulnerable in our communities, that means, at the most fundamental level, protecting them from harm and abuse. We must continue to embed a getting it right for every child approach in children’s services. We must also continue to invest in activity that supports families and intervenes early to prevent difficulties from arising and escalating. However, we also need to have a system in place that empowers practitioners to intervene to protect children when support is not working.

The system must value its workforce, and it should be accountable for and committed to a process of continuous improvement to address emerging risks and challenges and focus on adapting and improving practice based on what works. The recommendations and actions that are contained in the “Child Protection Improvement Programme Report” and the systems review report set out a clear pathway to achieve our vision and ambition for Scotland’s most vulnerable children.