Chamber and committees

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has provided the Scottish Government with the following information regarding the numbers of looked after young people who received Assistance by Way of Representation (ABWOR).

For the three year period from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2017 inclusive, publicly funded legal representation in the form of (ABWOR) was provided to 667 looked after young people who were under 18 years of age and subject to Compulsory Supervision Orders.

ABWOR was also provided to another 53 young people at a Statement of Grounds children’s hearing. This is the initial hearing where the reasons for the reference are put to a young person, if they are old enough to understand the proceedings.

ABWOR was also provided to another 61 young people who were classed as ‘relevant persons’ to a child who was the subject of the hearing, for example the young mother of a child. At present, SLAB does not have the facility to specifically record if such a young person falls within the definition of a ‘looked after young person’ but due to the fact that they are a relevant person to an even younger child, this could be possible.

ABWOR was provided to another 3 young people who were classed as ‘non deemed relevant persons’ and who were seeking to become deemed relevant persons to the child in question, such as a young sibling of the child or other young relative/carer. Again, SLAB does not have the facility to record if such a young person falls within the definition of a ‘looked after person’ but we intend to be able to record this information in the future.

In order to reduce the death rate of care-experienced young people, it is vital to address inequalities in their life chances and wellbeing. The Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for all care-experienced young people in Scotland and to making Scotland the best place to grow up. The Getting it Right for Looked After Children and Young People Strategy (published in 2015), outlines our priorities of early engagement, early permanence, and improving the quality of care. This approach ensures that looked after young people will receive the support they need when they need it, that they receive support services which meet their needs, and that they are provided with safe, stable settings which allow them to thrive.

Specifically, we have a range of work underway to reduce trauma and to support some of our most vulnerable children and young people. The Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 outlines the importance of responding appropriately to the emotional distress linked to both the circumstances that led to a child becoming looked after, and the experience of being looked after in any setting. The Strategy also emphasises that professionals working with looked after children and young people should have the necessary knowledge and skills around issues such as trauma and attachment. Scottish Government officials are working towards setting up a system in Scotland to ensure that all child deaths, whether those children are looked after or not, are reviewed and to learn lessons to prevent avoidable deaths.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced Continuing Care, extended Aftercare support and put Corporate Parenting on a statutory footing. These provisions support a more graduated transition out of care settings and encourage a focus on maintaining supportive relationships.

It is important to emphasise that GIRFEC – Getting it Right for Every Child – underpins all work by the Scottish Government to reduce inequalities experienced by looked after children and young people. GIRFEC puts the rights and wellbeing of children and young people at the heart of the services that support them to ensure the right help is offered at the right time from the right people.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to review the funding allocation process.

I refer to the answer to question S5W-11399 on 2 October 2017. The Scottish Government has paid £4.2 million to Scottish local authorities in 2015-16 to support costs of implementing Continuing Care and this funding commitment rises to £9.3 million by 2019/20 at which point, we expect the net total cost each year to stabilise.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the age at which local authorities cease to track the outcomes of care-experienced young people.

The Scottish Government collects data from local authorities on children and young people who are looked after and/or in receipt of aftercare services, which includes data on their health, housing status and employment status.

The Scottish Government data collection from local authority social work departments ends when either 1) the child leaves care (majority at or before age 18) and does not take up aftercare services; 2) the young person is no longer in receipt of aftercare services (at or before age 26).

We are unable to say what information local government may collect that is not requested by Scottish Government.

Statistics relating to Fatal Accident Inquiries are held not by the Scottish Government, but by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). COPFS do not, however, hold information centrally which identifies that a death relates specifically to a care-experienced young person. All determinations are, however, published by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and can be viewed individually at the following address: https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/fatal-accident-inquiries.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping as many young people as possible out of the criminal justice system.

Substantial progress has been made over the last 10 years in keeping young people, including care-experienced young people, out of the criminal justice system:

• The number of young people (12-17) prosecuted in Scotland’s courts has fallen by 78% from 9813 in 2006-07 to 2203 in 2015-16;

• The average number of under 18s in custody has decreased by 77% from 223 in 2006 to 51 in 2016;

However, we know that care-experienced young people are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, and in custody. The Scottish Prison Service 2015 Prisoner Survey found that of the 327 young men under 21 in HMYOI Polmont who responded, 33% reported being in care as a child, while around 2% of all Scotland’s children are looked after.

Our priority is to improve life chances for children and young people involved, or at risk of becoming involved, in offending. Implementation of the youth justice strategy Preventing Offending: Getting It Right For Children and Young People will secure further progress for vulnerable groups. It includes a strong focus on supporting young people with complex needs - many of whom are looked after children.

The Independent Care Review will help shape further improvements as we continue to drive a preventative, whole system approach to offending to improve life chances and help keep communities and young people safe from crime and disorder.

We do not yet have detailed information on the number of young people who have requested Continuing Care. The first full year of data will be collected in 2017-18 and, depending on data quality, published from 2019 in the annual National Statistics publication Children’s Social Work Statistics. We will monitor this information and any other evidence offered by Scotland’s local authorities to clarify numbers in the years post-implementation and will use this evidence in our collaborative approach to policy development.

Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. An additional support need can arise for any reason and be of short or long term duration. Additional support may be required to overcome needs arising from learning environment; health or disability; family circumstances or social and emotional factors. Looked After Children and Young People are deemed to have additional support needs until they are assessed otherwise. This includes support for mental health issues in school, regardless of whether the school is a mainstream school or not.

Education authorities and all those working in our educational establishments have a responsibility to support and develop the mental wellbeing of pupils, with decisions on how to provide that support taken on the basis of local circumstances and needs. Some will provide access to school based counselling. Others will be supported by pastoral care staff and liaise with the Educational Psychological Services, family and health services for specialist support when required.

Our new 10-year Mental Health Strategy was published on 30 March, and sets out our vision to improve mental health in Scotland. A key section in the Strategy deals with prevention and early intervention and there are a range of actions aimed at ensuring all children and young people, in a variety of circumstances, have good mental health and that agencies act early enough when issues emerge and impact on young lives.

The Scottish Government commissioned resources for young people and promotes those developed by other organisations including the Children and Young People's Commissioner in Scotland and Who Cares? Scotland. These have been specifically developed for children and young people to help them understand their rights.

As part of the Whole System Approach, we would expect the rehabilitation of under 18s to be supported as set out in the answer to S5W-11415 on 2 October 2017.

A number of organisations are working together to provide support to young people both while in custody and upon their release. This advice and support includes education, employment, housing, access to addiction services and general support with practical matters to deter the young person from further offending; to support them to make positive choices and to maximise their life chances.

The Scottish Government provide funding to Up-2-Us to deliver their Time for Change project which supports extremely vulnerable high risk girls and young women to improve transitions and achieve a more settled and positive lifestyle. Funding is also provided to the Wise Group to deliver a Get the Life You Want pre-release course for young people in Polmont Young Offenders Institution. The course is aimed at fostering an increased motivation, a more positive mind set and development of coping strategies.

The Scottish Government has funded a group of dedicated through-care services for over 18s. In these projects, third sector organisations are working in partnership to provide a voluntary service for those leaving prison. These services provide a one-to-one service between the individual and a professional mentor, who will meet with the individual to help plan their release, before meeting them on the day of release to assist them with any practical problems. The mentor will continue to offer support, advice and encouragement, as required, for up to 6 months. The Scottish Government and its partners have invested £18m in these services over 2012-17.

In addition the Scottish Prison Service provide Through-care Support Officers within prison to work with individuals not only prior to release, but upon release from custody and for up to 3 months thereafter release, meeting them in the community and providing practical support and advice to assist their rehabilitation and reintegration.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.