Secure accommodation

Secure care currently forms part of a range of measures to bring stability into a young person’s life and reduce reoffending.

Secure care provides a safe and secure environment for young people who require care for their own safety and for those who present a risk to others.

 

 

The Children’s Hearings system

Before a child or young person can be placed in secure accommodation through the Children’s Hearings system, the Children’s Panel must consider that the young person meets the legal criteria set out in section 70(10) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. That is:

• (a) having previously absconded, is likely to abscond unless kept in secure accommodation, and, if he absconds, it is likely that his physical, mental or moral welfare will be at risk; or

• (b) is likely to injure himself or some other person unless he is kept in such accommodation.

The recommendation of the Children’s Panel must be authorised by the chief social work officer of the relevant local authority, which is then responsible for placing the young person.  

The Children’s Hearings system has responsibility for dealing with most children and young people under 16 who commit offences or who are in need of care and protection. For children who commit very grave crimes, the option remains for them to be jointly reported to the Children’s Reporter and the Procurator Fiscal and together they will decide whether prosecution through the court is appropriate. 

The court may then sentence, or return the young person to the hearing to be dealt with. A young person who appears in court accused of an offence, where bail is not considered appropriate, can be remanded to the care of the local authority responsible for them under section 51 of the Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act 1995.

Local authorities are then responsible for placing that young person in secure care. A young person convicted of an offence in court can be sentenced to detention in secure accommodation under section 205 or 208 of the Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act 1995. In these cases, it is the responsibility of Scottish Ministers to place the sentenced young person in suitable accommodation. 

Please note: In the above text, ‘he’ refers to both males and females.

Secure accommodation units

There are seven units in Scotland (two provided by local authorities and the others by third sector providers) and a total of 106 beds.

• Boys only at Kibble in Paisley
• Boys only at St Philip’s Secure Unit in Airdrie
• Girls only at The Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, Renfrewshire
• Mixed at Rossie, near Montrose, Angus
• Mixed at St Mary’s Kenmure in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow
• Mixed in Howdenhall, Edinburgh
• Mixed at The Elms in Dundee.

In total the Scottish Government has provided over £20.5 million to help with the redevelopment of the secure estate since 2005. This redevelopment is not just about increasing the number of secure beds, but also about improving the choice and standard of provision in Scotland.

Securing Our Future Initiative

Securing Our Future Initiative (SOFI) was a short life working group designed to feed into the longer term work on residential care being taken forward by the National Residential Child Care Initiative. SOFI published its report - 'Securing Our Future: A Way Forward For Scotland’s Secure Care Estate', on 27 February 2009. Scottish Ministers and COSLA welcomed the report and accepted in full its nine recommendations. They published 'A response from the Scottish Government and COSLA' on 24 April 2009.