Aberdeen City Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee was today (Tuesday 8 November) updated on progress in an inspection on the city’s compliance with a national review of secure care for young people.
A ‘Secure Care Pathway Review’ inspection is currently being undertaken across Scottish Local Authorities by the Care Inspectorate and the outcomes for Aberdeen will be reported back to the committee by the Chief Social Work Officer when the inspection report is published in autumn next year.
The inspection which commenced in August, comes in the wake of the Children’s Commissioner’s report “Statutory Duties in Secure Accommodation: Unlocking Children’s Rights published last June which looked at the level of compliance by Local Authorities with their statutory duties when determining that it was in a young person’s best interest to be placed in secure care.
In particular, the report placed strong emphasis on the need to safeguard the young person’s rights and ensuring that their views are consulted and recorded prior to arriving at a decision to place them in secure care.
The report and the inspections are underpinned by the Scottish Government’s The Promise and the statement “Scotland’s response to the small number of children who need secure care must look radically different”
Aberdeen City Council was held up as an example of good practice in the Children’s Commissioner’s report for ensuring that children are informed of their rights and pointed towards supportive adults who could assist them to appeal if they wished to do so.
The report also considered social work practice in Aberdeen City as positive and the Children’s Work team has undertaken a detailed review of its Secure Care Practice Guidance to ensure identified learning was incorporated into the guidance.
Committee Convener, Councillor Martin Greig, said: "It is reassuring that the professionals are doing all they can to look after the care needs of vulnerable young people.
“The social work teams are making a difference by giving support and protection that rightly puts the welfare of the young person first. A wide range of help is offered to keep young people safe.
“Secure care is one option that is available to ensure the safety of the young individual and others. It can be a traumatic experience so is only used as a last resort and following careful consideration. It is reassuring that our processes are subject to supervision and scrutiny. I look forward to seeing feedback and comments from national inspections."