Plans to curb excess profits in children and young people’s residential care lack clarity, Committee warns

The finding is one of many from a new report that calls for significant changes to the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, which aims to improve the services and support provided to people in the children's care system.

As part of the Promise, the Scottish Government committed to tackling excessive profit in residential care. Under the proposals, certain residential care providers would need to provide financial information about the operation of their services to help the Scottish Government understand the fees charged for placements and the final costs paid by local authorities.

The Committee understood the Government’s motivations for doing this but says the changes are underdeveloped. The Government failed to consult on the issue ahead of the Bill’s introduction and the Bill does not outline how the Government would define an excessive profit. The Committee also raised its concerns about what impact this could have on a fragile market and whether this could lead to services closing or diversifying. More broadly, many key stakeholders felt they had not been fully engaged in the development of this Bill and told the Committee that the Bill’s provisions were the poorer for this.

The general principles of the Bill have been supported by the Committee, including proposals to extend aftercare and to offer life-long advocacy to care experienced children, young people and adults. However, the Committee is also clear that more information about how these would work practically will be required before the Bill becomes law.

The Committee recognises the importance of children and young people being able to challenge any potential breaches to their rights via the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. As currently drafted, the Bill does not allow this to happen, as sections 1 and 2, which relate to aftercare, and section 10, which relates to a register for foster carers, amend legislation that pre-dates the Scottish Parliament. The Committee therefore urges the Scottish Government to explore how it might remedy this, as the Bill progresses through Parliament.

The Committee also called for further consideration around proposed changes to the Children’s Hearing System, recommending the Government consider:

• retaining three member panels when substantive decisions are being made
• clarifying the roles of specialist members at Children’s Hearings, who may have particular expertise in child services or healthcare
• revisiting plans for post-referral discussions, to ensure they are more closely aligned with the recommendations of the 'Hearings for Children' report.

Douglas Ross MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said:

“Every Member of the Committee agrees with the Promise made to Scotland’s care experienced children and young people, and as a result we unanimously support the general principles of this Bill.

“However, we are disappointed by the lack of clarity around some of the crucial provisions in this long-awaited Bill and what stakeholders told us about the lack of consultation they experienced ahead of the Bill’s introduction. This includes issues with proposals to tackle excess profits in residential care, which had not been properly consulted on and do not seem to be well thought through.

“We are now calling for substantial amendments to be made before the Bill becomes law. This is an opportunity to bring about real and lasting change for the care community and it is vital that the Government gets this right.”

The Bill also puts forward changes to children services planning, which aim to enhance collaborative working and join up planning across adult and children’s services. The Committee found that the rationale for these proposals was unconvincing and called for further explanation so that benefits, and any unintended consequences, of these changes are clearer.