Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a unified statutory framework regulating the use of restraint and seclusion on children across all state care and education settings, as set out in the letter from the Children and Young People’s Commissioner on 14 February 2025.
The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the need to practice restraint and seclusion. Across all settings we are clear that the use of restraint should only be used as 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.
A statutory framework covering all settings, including secure and residential care, health services and education settings would not be the most effective way of achieving a reduction of restraint and restrictive practice. Any scaffolding and support for children and young people in relation to restraint and seclusion, is best considered and addressed by each area independently to ensure that any support, training, guidance and reporting meets their needs in those particular settings.
The Scottish Government is committed to working with key partners, including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner and the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group, to continue to reduce the use of restrictive practices through embedding transformational practice change and supporting developments in trauma responsive care.