Chamber and committees

The Care Inspectorate publish quarterly statistics which includes the numbers of registered care services in Scotland. The link to the most recent statistics, published on 15 August 2024, can be found here:

https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/publications-statistics/219-statistics-and-data/statistics/quarterly-statistical-reports/quarterly-statistical-summary-report-qtr-1-2024-25

These show that, as at 30 June 2024, there are 353 residential care services in Scotland (to note this does not include residential schools). This is made up of 115 local authority services, 166 private services, 71 voluntary/not for profit services and 1 health board.

The Scottish Government does not monitor the financial health of private providers of residential children’s homes. 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 Care Inspectorate range of powers include that they can require providers to make proper provision for children’s needs. However, how private providers do that and how they are funded is their responsibility.

We continue to engage with the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to understand and learn from how responses to this issue are developing across the UK.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information in relation to children’s residential homes. Residential children’s homes can be owned and operated by health boards, local authorities, private, or third sector not for profit organisations.

The Scottish Government has some limited information in relation to fostering agencies. Fostering services can be owned and operated by local authorities, or third sector not for profit organisations. We are publishing a consultation on the future of fostering later this year which will include questions on the role of independent fostering agencies.

I am giving careful consideration into how remaining ScotWind funding should be deployed in both the current and future years. Through our emergency controls and savings announced on 3 September, I will seek to minimise usage of ScotWind in 2024-25.

Successive Scottish budgets have demonstrated Scotland’s commitment to addressing the climate change crisis, using all the power and resources at our disposal to accelerate the just transition to a net zero, climate-resilient and biodiverse Scotland.

Funding and spending decisions for 2025-26 will be set out in the 2025-26 Scottish Budget in December.

The Scottish Government welcomes the 2021 Competition and Markets Authority report. We continue to consider the recommendations relevant to Scotland in line with implementation of the Promise. We are working alongside COSLA and local government to consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland.

In 2020-2021, there was a total of £118.9m spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. A breakdown by provider is not available for this year.

In 2021-2022 there was a total of £133.4 million spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. This can be broken down to £110.5 million for care homes run by the council and £22.9 million for care homes not run by the council. A further breakdown by voluntary and private providers is not available.

In 2022-2023 there was a total of £139.6 million spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. This can be broken down to £115 million for care homes run by the council and £24.6 million for care homes not run by the council. A further breakdown by voluntary and private providers is not available.

The data for 2023-2024 will be published in February 2025.

Statistics on school exclusions are collected and published biennially.

In 2020-21, there were 1,650 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. In 2022-23, there were 1,912 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. As children can be excluded more than once per year, a single child may be counted more than once in these figures.

A link to the latest statistics is provided here: Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2022/23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

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 information on how many looked after or care experienced young people have been subject to restraint.

The Care Inspectorate oversees reporting and monitoring on the use of restraint in care services and 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. 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.

The implementation of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers was an agreement between Scottish Government and COSLA. Part of this agreement was that where local authorities were already paying above the national minimum allowance, this would continue so that kinship or foster carers currently in receipt of the allowance would not be worse off because of this commitment. Therefore, while the national rate has been implemented, the allowances paid by local authorities may still differ. Officials are working with Social Work Scotland to ensure that all local authorities are publishing their allowances online, so that rates paid are transparent.

Seabed leasing for offshore wind is administered by Crown Estate Scotland (CES), which sets the terms of lease. Leasing terms may vary between leasing rounds to ensure that such agreements remain fit for purpose and reflect the latest statutory requirements and policy positions.

As part of the ScotWind bidding round, applicants were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to CES. The SCDS outlines the commitment and ambition for supply chain activity within Scotland, the UK and overseas, across four project phases – development, manufacturing and fabrication, installation, and operations & maintenance.

The Scottish Government and CES will continue to review the leasing requirements for future leasing rounds, informed by best practice to deliver the best outcomes for Scotland and in line with our social, economic and environmental principles, including the need for any legislative changes to support the updated leasing conditions.