Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 14 July 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that social workers are taking children home to ensure their safety due to a lack of alternative accommodation, (a) what action it it taking and (b) how it will ensure that this does not become normal practice
In line with Getting It Right For Every Child and The Promise, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that any child or young person who cannot live at home must be able to stay in a safe, stable and caring environment.
Last year the Scottish Government ran a national recruitment campaign to increase the number of foster carers and we are providing an additional £22.2 million investment to support foster carers and kinship carers. To help ensure more places are available for local authorities in Scotland, new legislation was brought forward in March 2026 to regulate cross-border placements in residential care. Earlier this year the National Social Work Agency was launched, to strengthen and support the social work profession.
Chief Social Work Officers have overall responsibility for ensuring quality and oversight of decisions, ensuring effective governance arrangements for the management of the complex balance of need and risk to children and social workers, in accordance with professional standards. The National Social Work Agency regularly meets with Chief Social Work Officers to understand what appropriate care arrangements are available for children and that professional supports are available for the social workers that surround them.
I met with Chief Social Work Officers, Social Work Scotland and COSLA representatives on 16 June to discuss the challenges around child placements. There was broad agreement that solutions do not lie solely with one organisation and require coordinated action across national and local government. I will co-chair a cross-sectoral roundtable alongside Councillor Buchanan, COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People in early August, to consider what short, medium and long term actions are required to address these challenges.