Chamber and committees

The Promise is clear that there is no place for profiting in how Scotland cares for its children and the Scottish Government supports this principle.

The Scottish Government meets with the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to discuss children’s residential care policy, including profit from care.

Although we have not undertaken a formal assessment of the Welsh Government’s legislative proposals, we continue to engage with the Welsh Government as these develop.

The Scottish Government, working alongside COSLA and local government, will consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland, including through legislation.

Fostering services in Scotland can be owned and operated by local authorities, or third sector not-for-profit organisations. The Care Inspectorate publish quarterly statistics, which includes the number of registered fostering agencies in Scotland. The most recent data was published on 15 August 2024, there are 57 fostering services in Scotland registered with the Care Inspectorate, made up of 32 local authority services and 25 voluntary/not-for-profit organisations.

The link to the most recent statistics is here:

Quarterly Statistical Summary Report - Qtr 1 (2024/25) (careinspectorate.com)

The Scottish Government’s National Practice Guidance on siblings and the Looked after Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 highlights the importance of recording information about a child’s brothers and sisters.

From 2023-2024, data reported by all local authorities to Scottish Government as part of their annual Looked after Children Statistics (CLAS) return will include data on the number of siblings living apart from each other.

Local authorities are responsible for the placement of children and young people and decisions that relate to the most suitable options for meeting their needs.

The Promise is clear that there is no place for profiting in how Scotland cares for its children. The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise and we are working alongside COSLA and local government to consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland.

The latest statistics on exclusions of looked after or care-experienced children show that there were no exclusions of children looked after in the last year in 2022-23 in Orkney Islands. Exclusions rates per 1,000 pupils who were looked after ranged from 7.4 per 1,000 to 291.2 per 1,000 in other local authority areas.

The legal power to exclude children or young people from school rests with the relevant local authority and therefore it is the responsibility of the local authority to have regard to the particular facts and circumstances of each case when deciding if exclusion is necessary. Our national guidance, Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2, is already clear that exclusion should be used as a measure of last resort and that there are particular considerations before the exclusion of care experienced young people.

The Promise Implementation Plan sets out the commitment to support attendance and reduce exclusion of care experienced children from education. To support local authorities to meet the commitment in the implementation plan, we have developed a Framework which aims to focus on improving the educational outcomes of care experienced children and young people which include increased attendance and reduced exclusion. This Framework has recently been tested in nine local authorities and the outcomes are being considered and will be discussed with COSLA and the Association of Directors of Education in due course to inform any future roll out. In addition, in August 2024, the Scottish Government published a new three-year action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools, setting out 20 actions to support efforts to improve relationships and behaviour, which will contribute to efforts to reduce exclusions by maintaining and further embedding our approach to relational approaches and promoting positive relationships and behaviour.

Scottish Government legislation places a duty on local authorities to keep siblings together when they can’t live at home with their family. We published National Practice Guidance in 2021 alongside the legislation to support practitioners with implementation.

This guidance clearly sets out that while the presumption should be in favour of keeping siblings together, a robust assessment must be made with the aim of keeping a child safe and promoting their wellbeing.

No two cases will be the same and the circumstances of each child need to inform the approach taken, within the context of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach.

Where there is evidence that it is not appropriate or safe for brothers and sisters to live together, local authorities have a duty to put measures in place to nurture their relationships.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It is for local authorities to determine their own mechanisms for recording instances of restraint in relation to looked after or care experienced children and young people and any record of this would be held at local authority level.

The Care Inspectorate collects data on the number of restraints that occur in registered care settings, such as care homes for children and young people, school care accommodation services and secure accommodation services. The Care Inspectorate does not collect data on restraint from local authorities. In order to improve monitoring and reporting of restraint of children in these settings, the Care Inspectorate intend to publish its data on restraint annually. The first report is due to be published shortly.

In school settings, existing guidance is clear that any decision to physically intervene must be recorded and monitored by local authorities. The Scottish Government is bringing forward new guidance on the use of physical intervention in schools to help improve practice in this area and prevent the use of restraint and seclusion.

The wellbeing and safety of children and young people is always paramount, and the Scottish Government is clear that the use of restraint should always be a last resort in exceptional circumstances when it is the only practicable means of securing the welfare or safety of the child or another person.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government has worked with local authorities to introduce new data related to siblings into the annual Looked after Children Statistics (CLAS). This data will help establish the extent to which children are placed together with their siblings in care. The definition of siblings includes sibling-like relationships, in recognition of the diversity of family relationships and children’s experiences.

The first year of data collection, 2023-2024, will be treated as a test of change and will provide the basis for further development to data to understand reasons for sibling separation.

After a 20 month independent review, the Hearings System Working Group (HSWG), chaired by Sheriff Mackie, published its report on 25 May 2023.

Following detailed analysis, The Scottish Government published its response to the ‘Hearings for Children’ report in December 2023. Of the 138 ‘Hearings for Children’ recommendations, 63 were accepted in full, 26 were accepted with conditions, 42 were identified as requiring further exploration or consultation, and 7 were not accepted.

In January 2024, a strategic redesign board was then established to drive forward the non-legislative components of system redesign by 2026. Co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA, membership comprises the National Convener of Children’s Hearings Scotland, the Principal Reporter of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Social Work Scotland.

In addition, a public consultation on the legislative elements of the redesign of the children’s hearings system launched on 26 July. That will run for 13 weeks and close on 28 October 2024. The Scottish Government intends to introduce legislation later this Parliamentary term. If passed, the legislative elements and the overall system redesign programme, will be introduced by 2030.

The Our Hearings Our Voice Board (OHOV) worked closely with Sheriff David Mackie and The Promise Scotland during the development of the ‘Hearings for Children’ report. Scottish Government officials have continued to build on this relationship and are keen to ensure OHOV members continue to amplify the voice of those with lived and living experience of the hearings system throughout the redesign work. Further engagement with children and young people is also being undertaken through the Children and Young Persons Participation Framework. Who Cares? Scotland and Barnardo’s have been appointed to lead.