Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland, 2013-14

statistics on child protection, looked after children and secure care accommodation

This document is part of a collection


Secure Care Accommodation

down arrow Average number of residents continues downward trend
star Emergency bed usage is at lowest recorded level

This section presents 2013-14 data on secure care accommodation.

Secure care normally refers to accommodation for vulnerable young people who are likely to abscond and they are at risk of harm to themselves or others. They are usually placed in secure care on welfare grounds by the Children's Hearing System. Children can also be placed on offence grounds by the Hearings System or the Criminal Justice System.

As secure care accommodation is in place for a very specific group of individuals, numbers will be much smaller than for those who are looked after or on the child protection register. There is no apparent connection between trends - while increases have been seen for children on the child protection register over the last year, decreases have been experienced by those who are looked after or in secure care accommodation. The average number of young people in secure care has been decreasing since 2010.

Bed complement

Table 3.1: Secure care unit bed complement at 31 July 2014

Unit Secure Care Bed Complement
Edinburgh Secure Services 12
Good Shepherd 18
Kibble 18
Rossie School 18
St. Mary's Kenmure 24
ALL UNITS 90

There were 90 secure places available in five secure units excluding emergency beds on 31 July 2014 (Table 3.1). There were an additional 6 beds available across these units for emergency and respite use - these would only be used if required and on a very short-term basis. The average cost per week of a secure bed during 2013-14 was £5,328.

Capacity and usage

There was an average of 74 residents in secure care accommodation throughout 2013-14, a decrease of four per cent from 77 residents in the previous year and continuing the downward trend (Table 3.2). The number of young people in secure care accommodation throughout the year ranged from 60 to 84.

Table 3.2: Secure care accommodation capacity(1) and usage, 2011-2014(3)

2011 2012 2013(4) 2014 % change 2013-14
Secure Accommodation
Places at year end 112 94 90 90 0%
Admissions during the year 276 237 215 232 8%
Discharges during the year 268 243 228 226 -1%
Average number of residents during the year 87 85 77 74 -4%
Minimum number of residents during the year 78 74 66 60 -9%
Maximum number of residents during the year(1) 95 93 90 84 -7%
Number of nights emergency bed used during the year(2) 11 70 48 5 -90%
Number of residents emergency bed used for during the year(2) 2 16 15 3 -80%

(1) Capacity: Young people can be admitted and discharged more than once during the year.
During 2010/11, St. Mary's Kenmure reported overcapacity for 9 periods which was due to using their 'mothballed' unit.
During 2010/11, St. Philip's reported overcapacity for 9 periods which was most likely due to using their 'mothballed' unit.
St. Philip's 'wound down' from 1 July 2011 and closed on 5 August 2011.
From 2011/12, St. Mary's Kenmure provide a care services to 24 children and young people in secure accommodation. In addition the service had 3 short term / respite beds which could be used when the service is at capacity.
The Elms Secure Unit closed on 20 December 2012.
During 2012/13, Rossie School reported 2 periods of overcapacity which was due to use of the emergency bed because of internal reorganisation rather than a new person coming into the unit. If excluded, the maximum number of residents during the year would be 89.
(2) Three units reported having an emergency bed: Rossie School, Good Shepherd & Kibble (see background notes for definition of an emergency bed).
(3) Change in reporting period from 2010/11 (from August to July). Previous years were from April to March.
(4) Data revised for 2012/13.
There were 232 admissions in secure care accommodation between 1 August 2013 and 31 July 2014. This was an increase of eight per cent compared with 2012-13, although similar to the 2011-12 figure. There were 226 discharges over the same period (a decrease of only two from 2012-13) - this is the fourth consecutive year these have fallen. Use of emergency beds decreased significantly (by 90 per cent) from the previous year as did the number of young people the emergency bed was used for (down by 80 per cent). This may be partly because the secure estate was never at full capacity during 2013-14.

Chart 11 shows that total occupancy reached its highest capacity of 84 residents in secure care accommodation during one date in May. Total occupancy was at its lowest during a period of three days in November. Timings of these high and low points are not consistent with last year, suggesting the time of year does not have an impact on the demand for secure care accommodation.

Chart 11: Daily occupancy of secure care accommodation 1 August 2013 - 31 July 2014

Chart 11: Daily occupancy of secure care accommodation 1 August 2013 - 31 July 2014

Table 3.3 shows that the number of young people in secure care accommodation on 31 July 2014 was 81. Following a three year decrease from 2009-10, this has increased by nine per cent since 2012-13.

Sixty-four per cent of young people in secure care accommodation on 31 July 2014 were male and just over 40 per cent were aged 16 years and over. Young people in secure care accommodation tend to be older than those looked after and on the child protection registers. Due to the specialist nature of secure accommodation, it is only appropriate for older children. The data shows the vast majority (79 per cent) of young people in secure care accommodation are 15 years or older. This is a very different pattern from what is seen in the child protection and looked after children data where the majority of children are under five and 11 respectively.

Ninety-four per cent of young people in secure care accommodation on 31 July 2014 had at least one additional support need and by far the most common category of additional support need was "other social, emotional and behavioural difficulties" (79 per cent). This is much higher than the proportions reported for children who are looked after or on the child protection register.

Table 3.3: Young people in secure care accommodation by gender, age, additional support needs and length of stay, 2011-2014(1)

2011 2012 2013(3) 2014 % of 2014 total
Gender of residents
Males 59 57 47 52 64%
Females 30 27 27 29 36%
Age of Residents
13 years old or under 9 8 10 5 6%
14 years 17 16 9 12 15%
15 years 25 25 16 31 38%
16 years or over 38 35 39 33 41%
Residents with additional support needs(2)
Any known additional support needs 87 78 73 76 94%
Additional support needs, where known
Medically diagnosed social, emotional & behavioural difficulties 35 31 42 32 40%
Other social, emotional & behavioural difficulties 80 76 68 64 79%
Specific learning difficulties 11 12 11 5 6%
Mental health problems 13 23 26 31 38%
Language and communication disorder 9 12 6 10 12%
Physical or motor impairment * * * * *
Visual impairment 12 * 13 13 16%
Combined sight and hearing loss * 0 * 0 0%
Other 20 32 31 32 40%
Length of stay of residents at year end
Less than 1 month 34 11 18 13 16%
1 month to under 2 months 14 15 8 14 17%
2 months to under 3 months 10 16 12 14 17%
3 months to under 6 months 12 22 18 23 28%
6 months to under 1 year 11 10 10 9 11%
1 year or more 8 10 8 8 10%
Total 89 84 74 81 100%

Information no longer collected

Information on close support was collected from 2010 to 2013. The statistics ceased to be collected in 2013-14. For information on close support, please see previous publications. In addition, information on staffing is no longer collected as this is available from other sources. Please see Background Notes 2.5 to 2.8 for further details on these.

Cross-UK secure care accommodation comparisons

The additional tables on secure care accommodation include a table on secure children's homes/secure care accommodation units, places approved and children accommodated across the United Kingdom. This shows a downward trend in places approved and children accommodated in Scotland and England since 2007. However, in Wales, there is a light upward trend, although numbers are smaller and so even more susceptible to fluctuation. These are available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenSocialWork

Contact

Email: Ian Volante

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