Scottish Government

V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE

a) Support for children and families

174. The Executive has funded a considerable range of support for families and children aimed at improving life opportunities for children. This is holistic support which comes from local authority children's services, adult community care services, health services and other partners.

Young Carers

175. The 2001 Census indicates that there are 16,700 children aged 5-17 with caring responsibilities - 2.1% of all Scottish children. Other studies indicate that 10% may be a more reliable figure given that the Census is completed by adults and is generally thought to under-report the incidence of young caring.

Table 16: Number and age of young carers aged 0-17 in Scotland by hours of caring per week

Source: 2001 Census

176. Taking on caring responsibilities can affect a child's physical and emotional health which can result in immediate and long-term implications for their personal development. There is therefore a clear need to support the young carer through children's services but also to support parents through appropriate adult community care services so that a child does not have to take on a caring role whether it be for a disabled parent or for other siblings because the parent cannot cope.

177. In recognising that in some circumstances children want to undertake a degree of caring for a family member, the Executive is committed to supporting young carers whilst also protecting them from inappropriate caring responsibilities. Improved support for young carers has been realised under the Executive's Strategy for Carers in Scotland (1999) with the number of young carer support projects in Scotland rising from 23 in 1999 to 57 in 2006. The Executive's ethos is that carers are children first and foremost. Support for this group will therefore be mainstreamed into existing policies aimed at improving children's services ( Getting it right for every child) and improving the support available to children at school (the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act) .

178. A self-evaluation tool is being developed so that agencies and partnerships involved in supporting young carers and their families can assess the outcomes being achieved for young carers and where necessary improve their services. Policies to improve the support available to young carers are also being linked to the Executive's wider work to support children and families affected by drug and alcohol misuse.

b) Child protection

179. Protecting the vulnerable in our society especially children is a priority for Scottish Ministers. Following an audit and review of child protection and the publication of the report, It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright, in November 2002, Ministers published a 5 point action plan:

• develop a 3 year programme of sustained activity to reform child protection services;
• bring in a team of professionals with extensive experience of child protection to work with the Executive in carrying this forward;
• develop a tough new multi-disciplinary inspection system;
• develop a children's charter setting out the protection that every child has the right to expect; and
• provide additional resources to ChildLine and Parentline.

180. In 2003 a reform team was recruited, which included secondees from health, police, education and social work, to take forward the 3 year child protection reform programme. In the first year of the programme, working closely with practitioners and agencies, the programmed produced:

• Protecting Children and Young People: the Charter which was widely distributed to practitioners in child protection across all agencies, schools, and for display in local offices etc and was developed with the input of children;
• Protecting Children and Young People: Framework for Standards which took the messages received from children and translated these into 8 overarching standards where the key objective is that children get the help they need when they need it;
• A structure for the development and delivery of multidisciplinary inspection; and
• An agreed, strengthened model for Child Protection Committees ( CPCs) in all 32 local authority areas. CPCs are non-statutory bodies that are directly responsible to the Chief Executives of local authorities and NHS Health Boards, and Chief Constables in their areas.

181. The second year of the programme involved members of the reform team working on a paired basis with individual CPCs to drive forward the reform agenda, developing guidance for the new CPC arrangements and piloting of the approach to be used in joint inspection. Work was also done on raising awareness of what people can do if they are concerned about a child through the publication of Protecting Children and Young People: What you can do to help if you are worried about a child or a young person - which was distributed nationally and contained generic information and localised telephone contacts. A pilot media campaign was also undertaken which introduced a single access telephone number in Grampian which is being rolled-out nationally in spring 2007 as a 24-hour helpline.

182. Other projects being undertaken within the reform programme in its third year include the establishment of a national framework for child protection training for all agencies and a development of a national suite of training to underpin this. Later this year, the Executive is also introducing Significant Incident Review guidance to provide consistent, robust and transparent approach to the handling of such reviews across all agencies and a structured approach to feeding this back into learning for all.

183. While the formal reform programme itself is coming to a conclusion, the key principles of multi-agency working, adopting a child centred approach and making sure children get the help they need when they need it, underpin developments planned for all children's services through Getting it right for every child.

eCare

184. The Scottish Executive is currently developing the eCare Framework to enable electronic multi-agency information exchange for a number of client groups, including vulnerable children and adults. In conjunction with partners in Lanarkshire, we have piloted the delivery of a child protection messaging system using this Framework.

185. Pre-determined messages are automatically generated whenever a formal child protection activity is recorded on the Social Work IT application. The messages are viewed and acknowledged on the Social Work application, sent to the local eCare Multi-Agency Store, then viewed and acknowledged by partner agency practitioners with agreed permissions. National implementation of this system is planned, with nationally agreed minimum data and technical standards.

186. This is being taken forward by the Executive's Data Sharing and Standards Team which manages the eCare Framework. A new governance structure to support this work has now been implemented, with 14 Local Data Sharing Partnerships reporting to a National Data Sharing Forum. The development of the rollout strategy for the Child Protection Messaging solution is one of the key priorities for 2006-07. The Executive is also currently considering options for an architectural framework for Scotland-wide information sharing.

Disqualification from working with children

187. The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force in January 2005. It introduced a list of persons unsuitable to work with children - the Disqualified from Working with Children List ( DWCL) . Employing organisations are under a duty to refer to the list any individual who has been permanently removed from a child care position (paid or unpaid) because they have harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm. An organisation can also make a referral if the individual has resigned or retired in circumstances where, had he not left voluntarily, the organisation would have permanently removed him because of harm or risk of harm to a child. The legislation does not define harm other than to say that it includes harm which is not physical harm. Scottish courts have discretion to make referrals to the list as do employment agencies and regulatory bodies.

188. In non-court referrals, the referred individual is given the opportunity to make observations on the information provided by the referring body and they in turn have the opportunity to respond to any observations made. At this stage in the process, the individual's name is provisionally included in the DWCL. An individual's provisional listing status is notified to the Scottish Criminal Record Office and should the individual apply for another child care position, that information will show up on a standard or enhanced disclosure check undertaken by Disclosure Scotland. Provisional listing does not disqualify an individual from working in a child care position but where the list has information that the individual is in a child care position, the present employer is informed. It is for the employer to consider any appropriate action e.g. temporary transfer to a non-child care position.

189. Once the exchange of information phase of the DWCL is complete a panel, chaired by a senior civil servant who advises Scottish Ministers on child protection issues along with a member from each of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education and the Social Work Inspection Agency, consider that information in its entirety and determine on the balance of probabilities whether the referred individual is unsuitable to work with children. Referrals to the DWCL made by Scottish courts result in the individual being automatically fully listed. Full listing in the DWCL is for an indefinite period unless the individual appeals against the listing or alternatively after a prescribed period, applies to a sheriff for his or her listing to be removed on the basis that his or her circumstances have changed.

190. It is an offence under the 2003 Act for an organisation to fail to comply with the duty to refer an individual in the prescribed circumstances or to offer work in a child care position to an individual who is disqualified from working with children. It is also an offence for an individual who is disqualified from working with children to apply for, offer to do, accept or do any work (paid or unpaid) in a child care position. A person guilty of one of these offences is liable if convicted to a fine and/or imprisonment for a period up to 5 years.

191. It is planned that this Act will be repealed upon enactment of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill which was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in September 2006. This legislation will provide the framework for an improved vetting and barring scheme which will extend the coverage of positions considered as child care and will also introduce a similar list in respect of adults at risk. The legislation will also increase the number of offences which will lead to the automatic barring of individuals from working in childcare positions. The objectives of the new scheme will be to ensure that those who are unsuitable to have access to vulnerable groups through working with them (whether in a paid or unpaid capacity) are prevented from doing so. Where someone becomes unsuitable this is identified quickly and action taken to prevent their access to vulnerable groups.

192. The proposed legislation will include provision to improve information sharing. Poor information sharing has been identified as a contributory factor in a number of catastrophic child protection failure cases. The proposals include placing a duty on relevant bodies and organisations to ensure timely and effective sharing of information when a child is at risk, and on Ministers to publish a Code of Practice with guidance.

Statutory child death inquiries

193. As part of the child protection reform programme, an inter-agency working group has produced draft guidance on the handling of significant incidents, including child deaths. This was issued for consultation in August 2006 and it is hoped to publish the final guidance in November. This will provide a single, coherent, transparent and consistent approach to the handling of such incidents across all agencies across Scotland. It will also contribute to the learning cycle for practitioners and agencies in introducing reporting and follow up mechanisms across Scotland to ensure information is shared and lessons learned. This approach has been developed in full public consultation and in discussions with the statutory agencies and the voluntary sector. Child Protection Committees will play a pivotal role in the implementation of the guidance.

Strategy for reduction in child deaths

194. Protecting Children and Young People: The Charter in 2004 reminds adults of the importance of listening to children and acting on their behalf. The leaflet What you can do to help if you are worried about a child or young person also encourages wider community engagement in helping keep children safe. The Executive also funds confidential helplines - ParentLine for those having difficulty in coping with children and needing some support, and ChildLine where children can talk about issues, eg bullying or violence at home, and receive counselling and support. £500,000 was provided to ChildLine through the reform programme to extend its capacity and open a further call centre in Aberdeen.

195. This activity is supported by the Framework for Standards for all practitioners which requires that children get the help they need when they need it and which forms the basis of the joint inspection of child protection services. The inspection programme will help ensure the quality of child protection services across Scotland.

196. Getting it right for every child will introduce new duties on all agencies working with children to be alert to their needs, to listen to them and record their views, to identify children in need and to act to improve a child's situation. The interests of the child are paramount. Underpinning this is the need for decisions by Sheriffs and Children's Hearings to be taken in the best interests of the child as set out in s16 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Public education campaigns on reducing child death

197. As mentioned above, the Executive has issued a number of publications to help raise public awareness as part of the child protection reform programme, such as the Charter and Framework for Standards. These publications have been widely distributed through schools, social work services, health services and the police. High level annual summits on child protection involving the First Minister and relevant portfolio Ministers have helped raise awareness further.

198. The Executive has also developed quality indicators in the joint inspection programme for child protection, how well are children and young people protected and their needs met? published in November 2005. These indicators help demonstrate how services will be evaluated by the joint inspection team and how practitioners and agencies may wish to assess their services and evaluate their success.

Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological recovery and social integration

199. Local agencies have in place their own protocols and procedures for handling instances of abuse and neglect with specific underpinning by the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, including seeking compulsory measures through the Children's Hearings system. Protecting Children - A Shared Responsibility: Guidance on Inter-Agency Cooperation, published in 1998 provides the criteria for inclusion of children on local Child Protection Registers to provide additional support. Statistics are published annually by locally authority area which indicate how many children (by age and gender) have been put on/come off the child protection registers and record the main reason for their inclusion. Since April 2002 the Care Commission has inspected all residential care homes for children to ensure the quality of services and that children are being properly protected.

Table 17: Children in Scotland registered following a case conference by category of abuse/risk identified

Note: Children referred for child protection inquiries in Scotland in the years ended 31 March 2005 and 2006 who were subject to a case conference and were registered as a result of that conference.
Source (1) : Child protection 2004/05 and 2005/06 surveys, Scottish Executive.
Source (2) % of population based on 2004 and 2005 mid-year estimates from General Register Office (Scotland) using population of 0-17 year olds.

Substance misusing households

200. Following the launch of Hidden Harm-Next Steps in May 2006, Scottish Ministers have brought forward a comprehensive workplan to tackle issues around children in substance misusing households. Action is founded on the principle that chaotic substance misuse is incompatible with parenting and that the safety and welfare of children is of greater importance than keeping families together.

201. The workplan identifies a range of actions and initiatives to improve the way in which young people living in substance misusing households are supported and protected. It describes action already underway as well as setting out priority areas for future action:

• more effective identification of children at risk;
• more effective communications between agencies, particularly those dealing with adults and children, including the sharing of information;
• re- training of social workers and other front line staff in child protection;
• ensuring that drug users with children undergo a multi agency assessment so that decisions can be taken on capability and care plans with a timetable for action;
• a more interventionist approach by social work and related services in working with parental drug users to ensure adherence to care plans;
• developing a new fostering strategy;
• improving advice on contraception; and
• examining governance, capacity and training to ensure that those working in this complex and challenging area have adequate support and advice, are clear about responsibilities and have the right skills.

Support for children ensuring there is no victimisation in legal proceedings and that privacy is protected

202. The Executive has acted, through the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004, to improve conditions for witnesses to enable the most vulnerable, including children, to give the best evidence they can. Implementation of the Act, associated practitioner guidance and public information material will help ensure that a vulnerable child is not victimised in legal proceedings by providing support for the witness when giving evidence, while taking account of the child's views on how that should be done. It also promotes a child's sense of dignity and worth by seeking to ensure that a child's evidence will be taken seriously whether the child is a witness or an accused person.

203. Specific steps relating to child witnesses include an entitlement for child witnesses under the age of 16 to give evidence from behind a screen or via a TV link and the presence of a supporter for the child. These new court measures and dealings with child witnesses throughout all stages of legal proceedings are supported by the Child Witness Support Guidance Pack. This contains guidance on gathering information about child witnesses; attending identity parades; conducting investigative interviews; providing therapeutic support before court proceedings, attending court familiarisation visits; and, questioning children in court. The 2004 Act also enables Children's Reporters, inter alia, to address the best interests of any child witness in proceedings.

204. Monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the Act by independent researchers has begun but it is too early to say how successful the Act has been in achieving its aims. Evaluation and adjustments will be made as necessary in the light of emerging evidence.

Reporting system and training for those working with children in the identification, reporting and management of case of ill treatment

205. There is an existing legal power under section 53 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 that allows a local authority, a police constable or any other person to refer a child to the Children's Reporter where compulsory measures of supervision may be necessary. The Reporter is then obliged to investigate appropriately and make a decision on any future action to assist or protect the child. Induction training for Reporters and the Reporter Accreditation Scheme, each address the identification and management of ill-treatment of children.

206. Building on this, as part of the Child Protection Reform Programme the Scottish Executive undertook to develop a training framework and a national suite of training materials. This included guidance which has strengthened the role of Child Protection Committees across Scotland. CPCs have a key role in the training and development of staff working with children and families. They are responsible for promoting, commissioning and assuring the quality of inter-agency training and ensuring that this training raises awareness of child protection issues and multi-agency working to make sure children get the help they need when they need it.

Data on crimes committed against children

207. There is no specific information on the number and percentage of children reported as victims of abuse and/or neglect by parents or other relatives/carers. However, the number of children referred to the Children's Reporter under section 52(2) (c) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 ( i.e. 'is likely to suffer unnecessarily; or be impaired seriously in his health or development due to a lack of parental care') was 16,781 in 2004-05.

208. Nor is there any specific data on the number and percentage of cases reported that resulted in sanctions or other forms of follow up for perpetrators. There is however information from the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration on decisions made by Children's Reporter on children referred to them.

Table 18: Reporter decisions on children referred to the Children's Reporter, 2004-05

* This figure counts every child referred to the Reporter once for the year. A child may be referred to the Reporter more than once in the year on different grounds. This is reflected in the breakdown of children for each ground, which does not aggregate to the total when counting each child once.
‡ The number of cases where "No further action" was the outcome reflects the fact that the Reporter may only act where it is believed that compulsory measures of supervision are necessary. Where these are considered unnecessary no further action may be taken by the reporter although the referring agency may put in place voluntary measures.

c) Parental guidance

209. Information about the principles underpinning the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 including the definition of parental responsibilities and rights ( PRRs) were fully described in the last UK report. Section 1 of the Act places a duty on parents to safeguard and promote a child's health, development and welfare; provide direction and guidance to the child; maintain personal relations and direct contact with the child and act as the child's legal representative. Much of the language used in section 1 can be traced to the UN Convention as the Act was designed to give effect to it.

d) Parental responsibilities

Legislative position

210. Changes to the law on parental responsibility were introduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006. The core principles which underpinned these reforms were: the best interests of children; the need to promote and support stability in families; and the need to update the law to reflect the reality of family life in Scotland today. The changes made which directly connect with the rights of the child were:

• The extension of PRRs to unmarried fathers who jointly register the birth of their child with the child's mother (affects approx 40% of children born each year) . It also ensures that where registration as a father in England, Wales or Northern Ireland confers PRRs, it also does so in relation to a child subject to the law of Scotland.
• The strengthening of legislation to address issues of domestic abuse where child contact and residence are concerned. Section 11 of the 1995 Act was amended to provide that courts must take a number of factors into account in determining the child's welfare when making orders about future contact or residence arrangements for children. For example, the need to protect the child from abuse or risk of abuse and the effect such abuse or risk of abuse might have on the child.

211. Following these changes, two new information booklets, Family Matters Marriage in Scotland and Family Matters Living Together in Scotland have been produced and widely distributed. Both of these booklets explain parental responsibilities and rights and emphasise the need to hear and consider children views when important decisions are being made.

Support for parents

212. The Executive wants every child to have the best possible start in life. Helping children realise their potential is key to giving them a sense of fulfilment and equipping them for the future. Parents do an invaluable job in enabling children to reach their potential and it is likely that, in order to help them, all parents will need information and support at some point in the lives of their children.

213. The Executive is not currently developing an overarching strategy to support parents, but there is a wide range of cross-cutting action underway offering support to parents and families. This includes the development of positive parenting skills through Sure Start Scotland, funded parenting classes and peer support groups. The Executive also provides funding to a range of organisations to support parents such as ParentLine Scotland, Parenting Across Scotland, Homestart, Parent Network Scotland and One Parent Families Scotland. These organisations provide a range of training and classes for parents to help them deal with difficult behaviour, general parenting skills etc.

214. In addition, the Executive established Starting Well, a national health demonstration project for early years based in Glasgow flowing from the White Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland. It aims to demonstrate that child health in Glasgow could be improved by a programme of activities that both supported families and provided them with access to enhanced community-based resources. It has been independently evaluated and the learning is being shared across Scotland. In Glasgow, following Phase Two of Starting Well (2005-2006) there has been a commitment by the NHS Board and its local partners to mainstream the work as part of local implementation of Health for All Children (Hall 4) .

215. The Executive is determined that parents should take responsibility for parenting their children well and has introduced parenting orders through the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 to help achieve this. Where a parent has refused to take advantage of the help and support made available to them and where their behaviour is having a negative impact on their child, parenting orders make it compulsory for a parent to access the support they need. They are an additional tool to be used as a last resort for those working with families in difficulty.

216. The Executive's pre-school education and childcare census 2006 found there were 4306 childcare and pre-school education centres in Scotland. These centres provide a wide range of services including nursery education, out of school and breakfast clubs, parent and family support groups and health services. In addition there were 5460 registered childminders.

Domestic abuse

217. The National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland launched by the Executive in 2000 includes recommendations for action locally and nationally. The main activities outlined were:

• Enforcing current and identifying need for new legislation;
• Improvement and expansion of services;
• Education of the public and professionals to improve understanding of domestic abuse; and
• Improvement of data collection to enable an accurate picture of abuse to be drawn.

218. The Strategy estimated that between 25% and 33% of women in Scotland will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives. While no precise figures exist about the number of children experiencing domestic abuse in Scotland, extrapolating from what is known about women, it can be assumed that it is extensive. It was estimated by the Executive in 2001 to be in the region of 100,000 children.

219. The Executive has allocated £6 million over 2006 to 2008 to ensure a minimum standard of direct support is provided to children experiencing domestic abuse in Scotland. This input together with approximately £2 million contribution from local authorities will ensure a key worker service in Women's Aid refuges and beyond, whilst also allowing Women's Aid/local authorities to establish an outreach service to children experiencing domestic abuse in the wider community.

e) Separation from parents

Measures to ensure that a child is not separated from their parents except when such separation is in the best interests of the child

220. The Executive is committed to ensuring that children are brought up by their parents wherever possible. Section 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 gives parents responsibilities, underpinned by the best interests of the child, to safeguard and support their children. Where it appears that a parent is having difficulty in meeting their responsibilities, the local authority may provide additional support to the family. Only when it becomes apparent that remaining with their parents is not in the best interests of the child would a child be removed.

Opportunity to participate in proceedings and make their views known

221. There is provision at sections 6, 11(7) and 16(2) of the 1995 Act which provide that, taking account of the child's age and maturity, the views of the child must be taken into account, where practicable, in decisions which affect their lives.

Safeguards for children in alternative care

222. The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 set up the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. The Care Commission inspects care services including care homes for children and young people and providers of foster care services against National Care Standards. The standards are designed to ensure a high quality service for children and that appropriate safeguards are in place by setting out what each individual child or young person in residential care or foster care can expect from the service provider.

223. The Executive has also undertaken considerable activity to ensure the protection of children in foster care. Funding has been provided to the Fostering Network to produce a Code of Practice for Foster Care Recruitment and £12m has been provided to local authorities to improve recruitment and retention of foster carers, and to increase placement choice. With regard to private fostering, the Executive has issued information to local authorities and those who provide private fostering reminding them of their responsibilities. The Executive is monitoring the use of this information and its impact.

224. Moving forward, the Executive is developing a National Fostering Strategy to build on current activity and to ensure fostering is supported even more effectively in the future.

Table 19: Number of children looked after away from home in Scotland - by type of accommodation

Note 1: Excludes children looked after at home with parents
Note 2: Table excludes children who are on a planned series of short term placements
Note 3: Includes estimates for those local authorities unable to provide information which do not include those aged 18-21 so totals may be an undercount.
Source: Children looked after survey CLAS 2004/05 and 2005/06 surveys, Scottish Executive

Table 20: Number of children looked after in Scotland - by statutory reason for being looked after

Notes
Table excludes children who are on a planned series of short term placements
Includes estimates for those local authorities unable to provide information which do not include those aged 18-21 so totals may be an undercount.
Source (1) : Children looked after survey CLAS 2004-05 and 2005/06 surveys, Scottish Executive
Source (2) : % of population based on 2004 and 2005 mid-year estimates from General Register Office (Scotland) using population of 0-17 year olds.

Table 21: Number of children ceasing to be looked after by length of time looked after in Scotland

Notes
Table excludes children who are on a planned series of short term placements
A child may cease to be looked after more than once during the year and will be counted once for each episode of care ending
Includes estimates for those local authorities unable to provide information which do not include those aged 18-21 so totals may be an undercount.
Source (1) : Children looked after survey CLAS 2004/05 and 2005/06 surveys, Scottish Executive
Source (2) : % of population based on 2004 and 2005 mid-year estimates from General Register Office (Scotland) using population of 0-17 year olds.

Table 22: Number of children ceasing to be looked after by destination in Scotland

Notes
Table excludes children who are on a planned series of short term placements
A child may cease to be looked after more than once during the year and will be counted once for each episode of care ending
Includes estimates for those local authorities unable to provide information which do not include those aged 18-21 so totals may be an undercount.
Source (1) : Children looked after survey CLAS 2004/05 and 2005/06 surveys, Scottish Executive
Source (2) : % of population based on 2004 and 2005 mid-year estimates from General Register Office (Scotland) using population of 0-17 year olds.

Secure accommodation

225. Children are only detained in secure care if they meet the requirements of Section 70(10) of the Children (Scotland ) Act 1995, ie if they are likely to injure themselves or another person or if they are likely to abscond. If they meet these criteria, a Children's Hearing may decide that it is in the best interests of a child - either because of concerns about their welfare or their offending behaviour - for them to be placed in secure accommodation, but this must be used as a last resort and should be for the shortest time possible.

226. There are currently 108 secure unit places in Scotland in 5 secure units. The Executive has however made available £18m to assist with a programme of redevelopment of the secure estate. This will lead to a total of 125 places being in place by end 2007 and improvements in the standard of accommodation. The reconfigured estate will also ensure there is female only accommodation for the first time, avoid, as far as possible, under 16s being remanded to young offenders' institutes and provide a better geographic spread of places to help keep children closer to home where that is appropriate.

227. There were 273 admissions to secure accommodation in 2004-05 and 281 discharges. There was an average of 87 residents in secure units throughout 2004-05 with a range from 76 to 95. The average length of stay is not recorded however the following table gives the length of stay percentages, covering the period 2000-2005.

Table 23: The percentage of young people discharged from secure accommodation at any point between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005 and 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 - by length of stay.

Note: Children can be discharged more than once within a year
Source: Secure accommodation census, Scottish Executive

228. The National Standards for Youth Justice 2002 set out clear principles for the assessment of, and planning for, young people entering and leaving secure care. These were prepared to ensure that each child was placed in the most appropriate circumstances on their discharge. These standards were to be met by March 2006 and progress towards them was published in July. 40% of all young people leaving secure in 2004-05 returned to the same type of placement as they were in before being admitted. In most cases, children were living with parents/friends/relatives prior to admission and returned to them on discharge.

f) Adoption

229. A two phase review of adoption policy was commissioned by the Executive in April 2001 and was conducted by an independent Adoption Policy Review Group. The review was required because: existing legislation was over 25 years old and had not been substantially updated for 10 years; the number of adoptions was falling and the re was unmet need for families to adopt; and the profile of children needing permanent families had changed - more were older and had strong bonds with birth parents or other carers and complex needs that required support.

230. The Phase I report was published in June 2002. It made 33 recommendations which were accepted by Scottish Ministers, for example, Scotland to join a National Adoption Register at an appropriate time and the introduction of national care standards for Adoption Agencies. The Phase II report, published in June 2005 made 107 recommendations the bulk of which were supported by Scottish Ministers in their response to the Report which was published as a consultation paper. Key themes which emerged during consultation were that the welfare of the child should be the most important factor when considering who should be able to adopt, anything that simplified and shortened the adoption process was welcomed and that adoption support services should be extended to all parties involved in adoption.

231. Following that consultation, the Executive introduced the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament in March 2006. The main policy objectives are to:

• modernise and improve the legal framework for adoption and permanence planning;
• create greater long-term stability and permanence (the sense of belonging to a family) for children who cannot live with their original families;
• improve procedures, services and support for adoptive and foster parents and everyone involved in adoption and permanence;
• ensure the most vulnerable children have the protection and security they need;
• create a modern, child-centred adoption and permanence service that responds to the changing needs of individual children.

232. Key provisions in the Bill are:

• Replacing existing freeing orders and parental responsibilities orders with a single order called a permanence order, which will increase stability for children who cannot live with their original families but which will be flexible enough to cater for the needs of individual children;
• Allowing joint adoption by unmarried couples (including same-sex couples) ;
• Better adoption support services for people affected by adoption; and
• Widening existing requirements in relation to views of birth parents and guardians, to add a requirement to take account of the wishes of other relatives (Article 21(a) ) .

233. Many of the Bill's provisions extend and improve existing adoption services, particularly those already provided by local authorities and other adoption agencies. It is expected that the Bill, once enacted, will encourage more people to adopt.

234. The UK ratified the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption in February 2003. Scotland therefore operates within the Hague Convention and is contributing to the UK input to the Council of Europe's current efforts to draw up a revised treaty on adoption.

235. The law on adoption, including intercountry adoption, has recently been updated for England and Wales by the Adoption and Children Act 2002. Although this Act contains provisions updating Scottish law on intercountry adoption, these were not commenced but will instead be replicated in the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill. This means that there are differences in the regimes north and south of the border at the moment ( e.g. in the treatment of adoption by relatives) which Home Office Entry Clearance Officers are aware of. Concerns that improper financial gain might influence adoption from some countries is the key reason for new restrictions on bringing children into the UK in certain circumstances.

Adoption data

236. Adoption applications are made to the Sheriff Courts in Scotland. Applications are also considered by the Court of Session. The figures supplied relate to the year in which the outcome of the application occurred.

Table 24: Number of granted adoption applications by local authority area

237. Children habitually resident outside the UK may be adopted by British residents in the child's state of origin where the adoption order is recognised under UK law or brought to the UK by British residents for the purposes of adoption in the UK courts. British citizens living outside the UK may also adopt children habitually resident outside the UK through procedures agreed with the child's state of origin. Figures are only held for the number of applications involving a home study assessment in Scotland and sent to the Scottish Executive for processing. Not all of these applications are by British citizens.

Table 25: Number of Overseas adoption applications

Table 26: Number of children removed from and taken to Scotland by a parent or family member

Note: m=mother, f=father, a=aunt

g) Periodic review of placement

238. Central to the Supporting Young People Leaving Care Regulations, which were introduced in April 2004, is the duty of local authority to carry out an assessment of the needs of young people in care prior to them leaving care. Supporting information, Pathways, has been produced to help local authorities carry out this duty effectively .

239. The new permanence orders in the Adoption and Children Bill also offer considerable flexibility to review placements and to reflect fully the situation of individual children. Only a local authority will be able to apply for a permanence order. They can be sought with or without a measure granting authority for the child to be adopted, dependant on the needs of a particular child. Where such authority is granted, the permanence order will ensure that the child remains properly looked after between the granting of the permanence order and the granting of an adoption order. This will be similar to the current process of "freeing" a child for adoption, but the child will have greater security between the making of a permanence order and the making of an adoption order,.

240. Should the child not be adopted, it will be possible to apply for a variation of the permanence order to allow parental responsibilities and rights to be reallocated which is not currently possible. Where a local authority does not consider adoption to be an appropriate option for a child, a permanence order can been made without authorising adoption of the child. In this case, parental responsibilities and rights will be granted to appropriate persons. In practice this situation may be similar to long-term fostering: a child will live with a family, with the intention that the placement is permanent. If, however, a local authority later decides that adoption is appropriate, it will be able to apply at a later date for that authority. The intention is that the permanence order will be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of every individual child.