Chamber and committees

I cannot comment on individual cases. However, a child might have family or friends in Scotland, or they might need to be away from a certain area or certain people. I cannot account for all the different reasons why a child might be placed—

Work is being undertaken in England to ensure the capacity of their own sector. For example, I met the relevant minister yesterday to discuss cross-border placements, among other things. He told me about several initiatives that are being carried out in England. One of those is the regional care partnerships—sorry, I might need to come back to the committee with the official term for that—which is a new initiative to try to ensure capacity in England. As Mr Rennie will remember from when I have been in committee to talk about placements into secure care, the number of those placements has reduced over time. That is a result of a lot of the cross-border work that is going on.

No such issue been brought to my attention. I am not sure whether officials could elaborate on that.

Yes. It would be the placing authority’s responsibility, but, through the planning and discussions that would take place in advance, such an arrangement could be worked out. There would be conversations around what would be best suited to the individual child’s circumstances. Perhaps Louisa Brown can help with that.

The timeframe of six-weekly visits is in place, but there may be legitimate reasons why it might not be possible to adhere to that. That is not to allow authorities to say, “Oh, we just didn’t have time to do that.” It could be down to, for example, a social worker being off ill that week or something else having come about to prevent that visit. However, the regulations require that, if the visit cannot go ahead, it must be arranged as soon as possible after the six-week mark.

There was an update. With regard to the timeframe for that child going without education, I would have to pass that to my officials.

The draft regulations specify the information that is to be contained in the notification and the people who must receive it, including key partners such as those in health and education departments, residential or fostering contacts, the chief social work officer and the Care Inspectorate.

When notification takes place, because it has not previously happened, I would expect conversations to happen around what will be required for that child. The purpose of bringing forward the draft regulations is entirely to enable us to understand the needs of children who are placed in Scotland and how we can best support them.

Although I appreciate that there is no duty there, the fact that all those partners are involved in the child’s care and support services should bring about confidence in relation to how that child will be supported.

That would have to be considered before it was agreed where the child was going to be placed, because we would have to consider whether those services were available for that child. If there was going to be a barrier to that child accessing certain services, that placement would probably not be in the best interests of that child. The consideration of where that child should be placed should happen before the notification.

Good morning. Happy new year to everyone. I hope that you had a nice break.

I am very pleased to introduce draft regulations that ensure legal recognition of orders and arrangements for children who are on temporary cross-border placements in care homes and foster care in Scotland. I put on record that the draft regulations are not intended to be a substitute for suitable placements of children being available in their home nations. I am also clear that cross-border placements should occur only in exceptional circumstances when it is in the best interests of a child.

Our intention is to ensure that, when such placements are necessary, they are appropriately considered and assessed and subject to a clear regulatory framework. We have heard that, for many placements in residential care homes in Scotland, local services often know very little about the placed child or their circumstances. Indeed, they sometimes only find out about a placement during a crisis. New notification requirements aim to ensure that that does not happen in the future.

We have heard that children are sometimes placed in settings or services that are not fully equipped to meet their needs. The draft regulations aim to address those concerns by requiring policing authorities to assess the suitability in advance.

Additional conditions are to be met for cross-border placements into residential care homes, including regular visits and placement reviews. Those conditions aim to address concerns that we have heard: that those who are involved in the child’s care in Scotland are frequently not included in existing review processes and that visits might be infrequent. For children who are placed into residential care homes and are subject to deprivation of liberty orders, the order must be reviewed at least every three months to ensure necessity and proportionality.

Again, for cross-border fostering placements, the draft regulations will require placement suitability to be considered in advance and for those with an interest in the child’s care to be notified of the placement. They aim to build on existing practice by requiring that a fostering agreement is in place before the placement starts, in order to cover issues such as arrangements for visits and reviews.

Although most cross-border placements into Scotland are temporary arrangements, there are some limited circumstances in which it could be appropriate for a child to be brought into the Scottish system. For example, if a child’s family relocates to Scotland, the relevant Scottish local authority may agree to take over their care. Those types of permanent transfer have been possible since 2013, and the regulations will preserve them while bringing all the rules on cross-border placements into one place.

I am happy to take any questions that members may have.

I understand your concerns. I again refer to my most recent engagement around the Promise bill, through which those concerns have been brought to me as well. I have tried to provide as much reassurance as possible in relation to the many provisions that are included in the bill and have addressed the overarching need for it and its aims of protecting children and young people.

I understand your concerns in relation to the issue and the wider feeling across Government in relation to the introduction of legislation. I have given you the Government’s response. We are leading work on the matter and we are committed to realising the full aspects of the UNCRC. I will update the committee further in relation to the specific points that were raised in your report with regard to the UNCRC and the Promise bill.