Chamber and committees

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Through-care Support Service has been running since April 2015. 42 Through-care Support Officers (TSOs) work across 11 SPS establishments. The TSO service is available on a voluntary basis to all adults leaving SPS establishments at the end of short term sentences (except for individuals either already accessing other throughcare support services, or subject to post-release social work supervision). This service is not for care experienced people alone but is flexible to enable the TSO to identify and respond to each individual’s needs, and where necessary to assist them to engage with other specialised services as required.

SPS commissioned an independent evaluation of the Through-care Support Service. That study shows that the service has been effective in supporting those serving short sentences in Scotland to address some post-release issues and to support better transition from custody into community. Over the past 2 years, 78% of those who have engaged with the TSO service have never returned to custody.

Launched in July 2017, the Scottish Government’s Vision and Priorities for Justice is explicit on the need to ensure that people released from short prison sentences are well-prepared for liberation, and are provided with effective support following release.

A number of organisations provide services to young men leaving custody to support successful transition and rehabilitation back in to their communities. Tailored support is provided on an individual needs-led and trauma-informed basis. It will typically include support around accommodation, education, training and employment, health, substance misuse and finances.

Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. An additional support need can arise for any reason and be of short or long term duration. Additional support may be required to overcome needs arising from learning environment; health or disability; family circumstances or social and emotional factors. Looked After Children and Young People are deemed to have additional support needs until they are assessed otherwise. As part of this assessment education authorities must also consider whether a co-ordinated support plan is required. However, education authorities must provide and review their support for looked after children and young people whilst they are deemed and it is established that they have additional support needs. The information on the number of assessments which have been carried out is not known by the Scottish Government as this information would be held by local authorities.

Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2015-16 statistics published on 20 June 2017 show that for young people who were looked after from August 2015 to July 2016 and those who left school during 2015-16,

• The proportion of looked after leavers with one or more qualification at level 5 or better has more than doubled (from 15% to 40%) since 2009-10 – indicating the attainment gap is narrowing for some of our most vulnerable young people.

• 71% of looked after children were in positive follow up destinations compared to 40% in 2009-10.

A number of organisations provide services to young people leaving custody to support their transition back to the community. These services are not restricted to care-experienced people. Instead, they seek to identify and respond to each person’s own needs in order to support their rehabilitation, their reintegration to the community following release, and their ongoing desistance from crime.

A range of projects deliver such services. For young people leaving HM/YOI Polmont the Wise Group’s ‘Get the life you want’, the Moving On PSP and Access to Industry’s “Passport” provide specialised support. The national “New Routes” mentoring service for 18-25 year old males leaving prison after short sentences, and the “Shine” monitoring service for women leaving prison, on remand or on community sentences, both provide flexible one-to-one support. The Scottish Prison Service’s Throughcare Support Service also provide support to those completing short prison sentences, where they are not already engaged with another service.

These services are voluntary in nature, and differ widely in scale and scope. Take up rates will therefore vary. Projects seeking to engage with smaller groups of eligible people have commonly secured take up of around 75%. Other services serving the wider prison population are tasked with ensuring all eligible individuals are offered the opportunity to take up the offer of support, and where the Scottish Government funds projects, agreement will be reached on the target number of individuals expected to participate in the project.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12412 on
15 November 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Under Section 122(5) of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011, Scottish Ministers have the power to enter into arrangements (contractual or otherwise) with any person other than a Local Authority, Children's Hearings Scotland or the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration for the provision of the advocacy service. It is therefore likely that when we introduce our delivery model, any national scheme funding will be delineated from Local Authorities in order to ensure independence and integrity.

It is anticipated that the Queensferry Crossing will be fully operational by the end of the year. We opened the bridge in August 2017 to deliver the benefits as early as possible and, as is normal for a project of this scale and complexity, final testing and commissioning will run into 2018.

The independent Care Review is expected to last 2-3 years. The timescales and the method by which the Review reports its findings to the Scottish Government is a matter for the independent Care Review. For further information, please contact the Chair of the Review, Fiona Duncan via [email protected]

Exclusion should be used as a last resort, and should only be used as a proportionate response where there is no alternative, with the wellbeing of the child or young person being the key consideration. Local Authorities remain responsible for the provision of education for the child or young person during any period of exclusion.

The Scottish Government is the primary funder of the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS). CELCIS is promoting and supporting self-evaluation activity within Scotland’s schools and local authorities, to steer practitioners towards systems and practice which is proven to have a positive impact on looked after children’s education.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, Education Scotland and other agencies, has invested significantly in a wide range of approaches which focus on improving positive relationships and behaviour and promoting community safety. There are a range of strategies and programmes which schools can and do use to improve relationships and behaviour and prevent the need for exclusion. These include the use of behaviour support teams; the development of whole school solution oriented approaches, restorative approaches and nurture approaches; and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

The Scottish Government have also set up the Independent care review being led by Fiona Duncan to identify what changes might be required to the current care system to put children and young people's needs at its heart.