Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, February 25, 2016

Official Report 889KB pdf

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Child Protection

The next item of business is a statement by Angela Constance on the programme of child protection work. As the cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, there should be no interventions or interruptions. Members who wish to ask the cabinet secretary a question should press their request-to-speak button now. It might be helpful if at the outset I say that we are extremely tight for time all afternoon, and I expect questions to be brief indeed.

I call Angela Constance. Cabinet secretary, you may have 10 minutes.

15:16  

Last September, I committed to announcing a programme of action on child protection, and to doing so in this session of Parliament. I want to begin my statement by thanking those who work day in, day out to protect Scotland’s children, whether they are social workers, police officers or members of the wider children’s services workforce.

The Government can be proud of its achievements to promote and support children’s wellbeing. The universalist, preventative approach that we have embedded in getting it right for every child is working. For example, we achieved our aim of reducing stillbirths by 15 per cent by 2015 a year early; the latest report of the growing up in Scotland study shows that progress has been made in narrowing the attainment gap and reducing health inequalities in children’s early years; and the number of referrals of children to hearings on offence grounds reduced by 82 per cent between 2006-07 and 2014-15.

We know that intervening early improves outcomes, and that approach will be strengthened by the introduction of the named person and increased numbers of health visitors. They will be the heart of a system that is better able to spot vulnerability and heightened risk of harm. They will also be able to take early preventative action and, where necessary, flag up concerns to specialist services in social work and health and elsewhere.

However, despite all that we do to prevent harm, we know that, for a small number of our most vulnerable children, we still require a system that acts when harm has occurred. We need a system that acts to protect children effectively, efficiently and always with their best interests at its centre. The system’s fundamental elements are already in place: a small but still increasing number of children are placed on the child protection register to better co-ordinate how they are supported and protected; we have child protection committees in every local authority area to enable professionals and agencies to work together strategically; and when issues with tragic consequences arise, initial and significant case reviews, following voluntary guidance, are commissioned.

We have also modernised our unique children’s hearings system through legislation that was passed in 2011, and we have invested in professional development for social workers and all those who work with vulnerable children and families. Moreover, in recent years, we have focused on the risks posed by particular harms, including domestic abuse, parental substance misuse and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

There are many positives in our child protection system—those are evident in all the elements that I have highlighted. However, the Care Inspectorate’s triennial review and the Brock report highlighted weaknesses that we must address, not least in relation to underlying competence and confidence in assessing and responding to risks. Our approach to government is founded on protecting public services and, where appropriate, reforming them. We must ask ourselves the tough questions now to ensure that we are protecting the most vulnerable children by ensuring that they receive the right help at the right time, within a system that is capable of responding effectively to the changing nature of risk.

I am today outlining the actions that this Government will take to strengthen how we protect children. First, we will commission a comprehensive review of the elements that I have just outlined to consider what we might need to change or improve in those underpinning processes and structures. The review will make its recommendations by the end of 2016. It is also timely to consider the impact of the 2011 changes to the children’s hearings system. I will, therefore, ask the children’s hearings improvement partnership to scrutinise practice in and around the hearings system and report its findings later this year.

Protecting children depends significantly on leadership. That, in turn, depends on professionals feeling that they are supported, valued and confident about taking on a role that, although often harrowing, is one of the most challenging and vital roles in our society.

Recent reports have highlighted the effect of poor leadership. Driving improvement amid a sea of competing priorities is undoubtedly complex and demanding, but it is essential that child protection has leaders with a clear vision of the challenges that are faced and how best to respond. Therefore, the second strand of my improvement programme will focus on leadership. We will invest in activities to empower and support senior leaders; encourage and support leadership across the whole system; and support staff through the implementation of change and beyond. Specifically, we will host a national leadership summit in the summer to reaffirm our collective aspiration and commitment; we will provide additional funding to the centre for excellence for looked after children in Scotland to extend its improvement work into child protection; and we will introduce a degree qualification for residential child care workers, so that all practitioners have the skills and support that they need.

The third strand of my reform programme will focus on issues of scrutiny, accountability, transparency and assurance. We need to know that the system is working and that it is continuously improving. Therefore, I have asked the Care Inspectorate to move from publishing triennial reviews of key inspection findings to publishing annual ones. Moreover, at the end of its current inspection programme in 2017, the Care Inspectorate will introduce an approach that focuses inspection on services for the most vulnerable children. We will also work with Education Scotland to build on its inspection approach, to strengthen its focus on promoting children’s welfare.

Alongside more robust scrutiny, we must develop our knowledge and understanding of what works in child protection practice. We will therefore work with the sector to establish a data and evidence programme, so that we can use all available information to drive effective practice, focus improvement and measure impact.

Professionals tell us that neglect is the primary maltreatment issue that children in Scotland currently face. We have a clear understanding of the devastating long-term effects on children of neglect. We must support practitioners to recognise and respond to neglect appropriately and dynamically if we are to break what is often an intergenerational cycle. Therefore, the fourth strand will focus on neglect and will review current legislation to ensure that we have appropriate and effective measures in place to protect children from actual or risk of harm; develop a holistic picture of neglect across Scotland; and test existing models and implement the best to effect practice improvements. We will ensure that that work links with existing activity in the area, such as the equally safe strategy.

We have much to be proud of in the way in which we champion and care for Scotland’s children. However, our ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up in is not just for some children but for all children. That means having a child protection system that we are confident delivers the right support at the right time for children and families with the greatest need. My statement today is the next phase of our journey towards that goal.

This is a decisive moment. We have an opportunity to honestly, thoughtfully and critically examine what needs to improve and—most importantly—to effect the necessary changes.

I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of her statement. There really is no more important matter than the protection of our children, and we always address the issue in the knowledge that, when we fail, that failure too often results in tragedy. The current process, of which the cabinet secretary says that today’s statement is the next stage, leads back directly to the case of Declan Hainey and the warnings arising from the Jay report into the Rotherham scandal—warnings that such abuse could happen here in Scotland, too. We will always support the Government in acting on child protection.

The Brock report was published in November 2014, yet, by January 2015, its author was complaining of a lack of progress. In response, in February 2015, a summit was held. Now, a full year later and just in under the wire before purdah, the cabinet secretary has announced a comprehensive review of underlying processes and structures, another summit in the summer and—if I understood her correctly—another review of the legislation in the area. If the Brock report recommended anything, it recommended urgency, knowing what the consequences of inertia could be. After two years yielding two summits and two new reviews, does the cabinet secretary really feel that the journey that she describes is anything like fast enough?

I appreciate the fact that Mr Gray has brought up the Brock report, because it was very important in highlighting some of the issues and weaknesses in and around the more formal aspects of our child protection system. As we have done previously, I will put in the Scottish Parliament information centre information on the progress that we have made in implementing the Brock report’s recommendations. I will outline some of the highlights, as I know that time is tight this afternoon.

Many of the Brock recommendations were accepted quickly at the time, as the Scottish Government’s children and families directorate assumed overall leadership of and secured progress on the improvement programme. We are currently liaising with both the Improvement Service and Audit Scotland to commission some further work on the costs and savings attached to early intervention. We had the national leadership summit on child wellbeing last year. Other recommendations in the report are addressed in the implementation of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014—particularly part 3. In addition, Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate are working together to strengthen the quality assurance process.

Important progress is being made in relation to the ministerial working group on child sexual exploitation. Members will have seen the national campaign to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation, which was launched in response to important research that showed that many parents had heard of child sexual exploitation but did not think that it affected their family and did not know how to deal with it. I will place in SPICe comprehensive information showing the linkage between Brock, the Care Inspectorate’s triennial review, the work that we have continued to do since 2007 and how the child protection improvement plan is about taking the matter forward.

I have come to the Parliament today of my own volition—I have not come here unwillingly and have not been dragged here. I want us all, together, to honestly look at and appraise our strengths and weaknesses so that we can move forward, building on what is good and addressing where we need to improve.

I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of her statement, and I put on record the Conservative Party’s commitment to the programme of action on child protection.

We have some empathy with Labour’s concerns. We would like to see more action as soon as possible, although we appreciate that it can take time to determine precisely what is working and where the problems are and to identify the best and most appropriate solution for every child. In that sense, we would welcome updates after the election and towards the end of the year.

In the meantime, given the excellent work of organisations such as the Aberlour Child Care Trust in supporting families through the preventative approach—taking such an approach is always better than having to respond to a crisis—will that approach be rolled out across Scotland? I am aware that it has been successful in Dundee.

Will the cabinet secretary look again at introducing a pilot for counsellors in schools? The evidence base is that that is highly successful in supporting vulnerable children.

Will the programme of action be targeted at the most vulnerable children to ensure that resources are used for those who deserve and need them the most?

Mrs Scanlon will know that I do not get into the issue of whether children are deserving or undeserving of support. Perhaps what she meant is that there is a need to build on the strong platform of universal services, which all speakers have made reference to today.

The improvement work is looking specifically at the more formal aspects of our child protection system. There are some fundamental questions that we need to address around the role of child protection committees. There is an interesting debate about who should chair those local committees and whether that should be a senior officer or someone who is independent.

We have significant case reviews in this country that are compiled in accordance with voluntary guidance, but there are no requirements on timescales or on the circumstances in which significant case reviews should be done.

There are also issues around ensuring that we have a self-learning system, so that all our practitioners have their finger on the pulse and are able to prevent tragedies from happening or, indeed, to act swiftly and efficiently when our child protection system needs to intervene to protect our most vulnerable children. The programme of action is very much about our most vulnerable children and the staff, services and structures at the sharper end of the child protection service.

I know that, on the mental health issues that pupils experience, many schools will have a key link to the national health service in order to access advice and support. Mrs Scanlon raises an important issue about mental health and prevention. There are two aspects: we are trying to build on what we have started—that solid foundation of a universal, preventative approach; and we are looking to where we need to improve the sharper, more responsive end of our child protection service.

I recognise the importance of the subject, but I also have a duty to protect the business for the rest of the day. I appeal to members to make their questions brief and to the cabinet secretary to make her responses brief. I will make as much progress as is possible.

I welcome the introduction of the new degree-level qualification for residential child care workers that the cabinet secretary has announced. Will she advise when and how that will be introduced?

We very much want to take the workforce with us and to support it in this endeavour. It is important that residential child care staff have the qualifications to enable parity of esteem with social work staff, for example. We will look to implement the qualification over a number of years. We will look at work-based learning methods and ways to acknowledge prior learning. The qualification will be phased in.

What reassurances can the cabinet secretary give that the £500 million cut to local authority budgets will not impact on the ability of social work and other services to carry out their child protection functions and deliver on the objectives that are set out in the programme of action?

In the interest of brevity, I really do not want to rehash some of the debates that we have been having all week. My intention in coming to the Parliament of my own volition on this area, which is vital to us all, is to move forward the debate about what we need to do to ensure that the wider architecture of our child protection services is fit for the future and will tackle neglect.

From my experience, I know that local authorities take their statutory child protection responsibilities very seriously. I am not aware of any issues with recruiting social workers. That is very different from when I was a social worker under the last Labour Government. Next week, statistics will come out that will reveal information such as the spend in social work, and I am sure that we will all want to scrutinise those figures.

I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of her statement. I welcome elements of all four of the strands of activity that she outlined, including the specific focus on neglect, although Iain Gray was right to highlight some of the concerns about the timeframe, particularly given the frustration that Jackie Brock expressed more than 12 months ago. Given that Social Work Scotland identifies substance misuse as one of the key underlying causes of child neglect, does the cabinet secretary think that it is sensible for the Scottish Government to cut funding to alcohol and drug partnerships by £15 million?

Our local services have statutory responsibilities for child protection. Many issues underlie child protection issues, such as domestic violence, which the Parliament has a good record on tackling. Parental substance misuse is, of course, a huge issue in child neglect. Many members of the Parliament have championed the tackling of child sexual exploitation, domestic violence and parental substance misuse, but we now need to identify who will champion the tackling of neglect in all its forms. It is the biggest single form of maltreatment of children in Scotland.

I absolutely welcome and endorse the briefing from Social Work Scotland, which calls for us to make addressing neglect a national priority. I hope that my statement sends a message to members, the wider workforce and Social Work Scotland that the Government is taking its responsibilities very seriously and that tackling the neglect that Scotland’s children experience is a national priority.

I welcome the cabinet secretary’s comments on the children’s hearings system. I thank the 2,500 volunteer panel members for their work. We modernised the framework on children’s hearings to give us a strong system.

We need a question, Mr Allard.

Will the cabinet secretary explain how the review will keep children’s needs at the centre of this work?

We often debate and discuss in the Parliament the need for post-legislative scrutiny. Our children’s hearings system is precious to and valued by us all, and the time is now right for us to review the implementation of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. I want to ensure that practice the length and breadth of Scotland is consistent and conducted in the spirit of the act.

The cabinet secretary just said that she fully endorses the briefing from Social Work Scotland. However, there is a section in that briefing in which Social Work Scotland expresses concern about the reduction to local authority budgets and the impact that that will have on local authorities’ ability to carry out child protection services. Does she agree with that section and will she ask for those budget cuts to be reversed so that child protection services are protected?

In answer to Cara Hilton’s question, I already addressed the point that we are moving the debate on. Of course resources are important, but it is not as simple as increasing resources across the board to address the issue. Some of what we need to address is about our legislation, some of it is about accountability and some of it is about leadership.

The Social Work Scotland briefing identifies a number of issues on which we could take action now, and I give Mr Griffin an undertaking that I will look at those before Parliament dissolves and identify the actions that we could be taking now.

One of the biggest current harms to children is the impact of domestic violence in the household. What more could be done to protect children in households that experience domestic violence?

I know that that issue is important to Christina McKelvie and to many other members across the chamber. Of course we recognise that violence against women and girls has significant consequences for the lives of children and young people—again, that is identified in the brief from Social Work Scotland. Through our children’s services fund, we support specialist services that offer direct support to children and young people who experience domestic abuse. We have invested £3.4 million from that fund in 2015-16.

I offer my apologies to those members whom I could not call.