Chamber and committees

It is not a static process so it is not a case of saying that on a certain day, X number of secure care beds are required. It is an evolving process. Children require entry into secure care for a number of different reasons. As I have said, there can be a multitude of reasons why a placement cannot be found or why that can be difficult.

I cannot emphasise more the work that we have under way to ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the system and that every child’s case is considered individually and in a way that is in the best interests of all children involved. I am confident in the Government’s response because, as I have said, the process is evolving and can change daily.

I recognise the concerns that members are bringing to me. I disagree that there was a lack of forward planning. I was very clear during the passage of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, and in each of my previous statements to the Parliament, that a huge amount of planning had taken place to ensure that we were ready for the changes that were introduced as a result of that bill. At the time, there was ample capacity in the secure care system, but it is an evolving matter. As I said, I have laid out the additional capacity. We have four beds currently, and we are looking at implementing other measures to increase that further.

I point to the “Reimagining Secure Care” work. There are complexities in relation to the placement of a child in secure care, which I am sure that we will get into in other members’ questions. I believe that our work on reimagining secure care for the future will continue to help with the issue.

As I noted in my statement, on Monday, to coincide with the start of foster care fortnight, the Government launched a national recruitment campaign. The focus of the campaign is that ordinary can be extraordinary for a child in foster care, which will involve showing that everyday moments can change lives.

Fostering is open to people from all walks of life. No specific qualifications are needed, and people do not need to have children of their own. The campaign will run for seven weeks across television, video, on demand, radio and press. I hope that MSPs will support the promotion of the campaign in their local constituencies and online.

On Monday, I wrote directly to all MSPs to provide details about the campaign. Together, we can help to ensure that every child has the stable and nurturing home that they deserve.

I am not quite clear that I understand the basis of Mr Kerr’s question, so if I do not answer it in my response today, I am more than happy for him to write to me, and I will respond in writing.

I am sorry that members do not have confidence in the statement, but I do not believe that we are dealing with ifs and buts. My statement delivers real action to restore capacity. I have tried to be open and honest with members, and to share with them the range of measures that are available. I would have preferred to have made the statement in June, when I would probably have had more concrete progress to advise on, but I wanted to be as open and honest as I could be.

Not all the measures that I have announced today will be fulfilled, but I am confident that the Government is taking the action that is needed, and that we will deliver for the children and young people who need it most.

That ties in entirely with our preventative approach. I hope that the statement reflects that the key to making the best use of secure care and to preserving space for the children who need it most is to deliver on GIRFEC—lately, The Promise Scotland has helpfully communicated with us on that exact point. It means getting the right preventative and de-escalatory interventions in place at the right time. The aim should be to support children in the right way and at the right time to prevent concerns from developing to a point where a child is in crisis and may need those high-intensity services and interventions. As I have already said, we will reinforce that in our upcoming response to the reimagining secure care report.

I acknowledge the current capacity constraints in secure care. Alongside partners, we are taking a range of actions to address those challenges, and I have been updating the Parliament regularly since the beginning of the year. I highlighted those actions during my most recent statement in late March and, at the end of April, I wrote to the conveners of the Education, Children and Young People Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee.

Today, I will set out again the work that we are doing to bolster our secure care estate, to develop preventative alternatives to deprivation of liberty, and to improve the wider care system. In doing so, we aim to maintain an integrated, equitable approach to children who may require secure care. Decisions around the placement of children in secure accommodation—and the appropriate continuation of placements—remain with the relevant decision makers, including the independent courts, children’s hearings, chief social work officers and secure accommodation providers. Every appropriate action is being taken to protect capacity across the secure estate and, as of 10 am, four secure places were available.

On capacity, I am pleased to confirm that the new national contingency resource opened in Rossie last month. Those beds are now available and are being used to care for children. That represents a significant Government commitment, but we expect to take further capacity restoration action in the months ahead. I am very grateful to providers and other partners for their continued agility as we consider options.

One key factor that will directly inform the extent of capacity restoration action will be the continued recovery at St Mary’s Kenmure. St Mary’s is currently actively augmenting staff capacity and wishes to support an incremental, sustainable and increased capacity as soon as is safely possible. I understand that some key appointments have been made and others are in train.

Our primary focus has been on stabilising and restoring capacity within secure accommodation. This is essential to ensuring that children have continued access to the care and support that they need to keep them and others safe in environments that are best suited to their individual needs. I assure the Parliament that we are approaching that work with urgency and care. Indeed, each action must be implemented in a way that upholds the highest standards of safety and overall equity of access.

By funding a dedicated professional lead at Social Work Scotland for the next 12 months, we are supporting improved awareness and confidence among professionals who work in Scotland’s placing authorities. The policy and practice adviser will work alongside officials in Scottish Government. The recruitment process is now well under way, and the interviews have been held in the past week.

My late April correspondence to committees confirmed that I had intended to deliver a further statement next month, at which point we would be able to confirm other elements of our contingency actions, alongside our response to the “Reimagining Secure Care” report. That said, I assure members that the Scottish Government has been active across the three key domains of the challenge—looking at possibilities before, during and after secure care. All three are essential aspects of a comprehensive response.

In order to be as helpful as I can to Parliament, I will summarise some options that have been generated over recent weeks, although I emphasise that not all of these leads will be realised. I will say as much as I can without breaching potential partners’ confidence or risking child confidentiality. I am grateful to everyone across the sector who has generously supported that activity. At each stage, we have benefited from advice and support from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Social Work Scotland.

We hope to confirm shortly the offer of another Government-funded national contingency resource. Officials have also contacted and visited former secure accommodation and residential childcare sites in Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire, to see whether those sites could be brought back into service to support restored capacity. We have also asked each current secure provider how they might be able to assist with restoring capacity. We might even consider new-build flexible secure provision, in line with what is set out in the Promise and the “Reimagining Secure Care” report. Beyond direct secure capacity, officials have reached out to NHS Lothian colleagues to learn about multidisciplinary health-led teams that offer trauma-informed alternatives. Officials have spoken with a range of potential third sector partners.

I have been clear that secure accommodation should be used only when absolutely necessary. That is why we are also working closely with third sector partners to identify and develop high-intensity, wraparound services that offer credible, safe alternatives to the deprivation of liberty. These services will help to improve outcomes, reduce reliance on secure care and deliver the ambitions of the Promise. Further information will be included in our response, which will be published next month, to the “Reimagining Secure Care” report.

Members are aware of how crucial early help and support is in preventing families from reaching crisis in the first place. To ensure that holistic family support is available in our communities and to help families thrive and prevent crisis, we have increased funding for children’s services planning partnerships, through the whole family wellbeing fund, to £38 million this year. I am pleased that the latest social work statistics, which were published in April, suggest that progress is being made. There has been an 18.1 per cent reduction in the number of children and young people who are in care since the Promise was made in 2020. Although that only tells part of the story, it is encouraging progress.

This activity will continue to be informed by the next stages of “The Promise Progress Framework”, which was published jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and The Promise Scotland last year. It will also be informed by the work that is being led by The Promise Scotland in the year ahead to further develop “Plan 24-30” and the route maps for change.

Children’s care services also rely on a skilled and specialist workforce. That is why we continue to focus on ensuring that a sustainable supply of graduates are entering into the Scottish social work profession. I am pleased to announce today that the Scottish Government will be uplifting the value of the postgraduate social work bursary that is administered to eligible students by the Scottish Social Services Council to £11,000 per year from the 2025-26 academic year.

Another part of our unwavering commitment to Scotland’s children is our continued support for the development of bairns’ hoose, which includes £10.5 million in additional investment for 2025-26. With 10 pathfinder and affiliate partnerships now established across Scotland, that funding will strengthen efforts to enhance care, health and justice outcomes for children and young people who are affected by trauma.

As this week marks the first week of foster care fortnight, it is important for me to be clear that foster carers and kinship carers provide safe, stable and loving homes to children and young people who cannot remain with their families. That is why we introduced the Scottish recommended allowance in August 2023, which will help to ensure that all eligible foster and kinship carers receive a consistent minimum level of financial support. While we consider the findings of an independent review of the SRA, which will be published later this month, we will increase the SRA in 2025-26 with an additional £1.9 million.

This week, we also launched a national marketing campaign aimed at recruiting more local authority foster carers, and, by the end of 2025, we will publish a new vision for kinship care, reaffirming its central place in the care system. These broader measures aim to support children before they come into crisis and before they may need interventions like secure care.

As confirmed in the programme for government last week, I will introduce legislation ahead of the summer recess to further advance the changes that are required to keep the Promise to Scotland’s children and to our care-experienced community. Following the bill’s introduction, I would welcome the opportunity to meet with members from across the chamber.

I hope that this statement reassures members of our continuing focus on secure accommodation capacity and that we are maintaining our commitment to the highest standards of care across the entire system. I am aware that members will have further questions, which I will be pleased to answer now.

I recently confirmed to the Education, Children and Young People’s Committee my intention to introduce a bill to the Parliament prior to the summer recess. That was also set out in last week’s programme for government. Members know the parliamentary procedures for the introduction of legislation and will appreciate the fact that I am not able to give any further detail on the content of the bill ahead of its introduction.

However, I note that we have carefully considered the views that were gathered through the numerous consultations that were undertaken last year, including on the next stages of reform of the children’s hearings system, the future of foster care, the definition of care experience and the support that is available to those who are moving on from care.

I look forward to introducing the bill in the coming weeks and strongly welcome the opportunity to engage with members on it, as I said in my statement.

Absolutely. Mr Greer is correct—he has not yet received that update. I will be writing to him shortly with more details.

I can confirm that we laid the commencement regulations on 24 April to set that in motion. The first set of national standards on secure transport will be prepared, published and laid in Parliament within one year of those regulations coming into force. The regulations will come into force in September 2025, so the secure transport standards will be laid in Parliament by September 2026.

A working group has been set up to consider the development of those standards. As I say, I will be writing to Mr Greer, and if there is anything else that he would like me to include in that communication, I am more than happy to do that.

The annual social work statistics confirm that between July 2023 and July 2024, there were an average of 60 children in secure care, against an average overall availability of 71 beds. The placement embargo was imposed at St Mary’s in October 2024, following the Care Inspectorate’s improvement notice, which, as the member is aware, confined St Mary’s to offering nine beds to children who were already in its care.

St Mary’s made sufficient progress by March 2025 to enable it to open up a further three beds. Four new secure beds in Rossie have now been fully funded by the Scottish Government and they opened up last month.

Updated guidance has been issued by the Care Inspectorate this year, enabling providers to have more flexibility over the use of emergency beds.

As my statement indicated, we expect to take further capacity action in the next short period, and we are looking at a range of measures to support that.

Yes, of course. As I mentioned in my previous answer, the First Minister has committed in writing to the MAA to explore the oral history project. He has asked officials to work with campaign groups, including the MAA, stakeholders and people with lived experience to discuss how best to take forward the work and to agree timescales. My officials have already been in touch with the MAA on that.