Scotland currently has 106 secure care places, spread across seven dedicated secure care units. These units provide a full curriculum of care, delivering a range of educational, health and behavioural programmes for our young people. In addition, the units undertake tailored programmes of work to prepare the young people for their transition back into the community.
A gap between the demand and supply of secure places became apparent from late 2007. The excess capacity left independent providers financially unsustainable. In light of these capacity issues, the Scottish Government made a commitment with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to work with providers to find a sustainable way forward for the secure estate.
An independent working group, Securing Our Future Initiative (SOFI), was convened under the auspices of the National Residential Child Care Initiative in September 2008. It was asked to develop proposals for making the best use of Scotland's secure resources to improve outcomes for young people and their communities; and to address the challenges facing providers and purchasers as a result of excess capacity.
SOFI published its report on 27 February 2009 and made nine recommendations, including the mothballing of 12 of Scotland's 118 secure care places and the introduction of more effective commissioning. Ministers and COSLA published their joint response on 24 April 2009, accepting the recommendations in full.