Children’s Social Work Statistics 2022-23 - Secure Care

Secure Care Statistics for Scotland for 2022 to 2023 that cover data on children in secure care accommodation.


Secure care accommodation

Secure accommodation is a form of residential childcare that restricts the freedom of children under the age of 18. It is for the small number of children who may be a significant risk to themselves, or others in the community, and whose needs and risks can only be managed in secure care’s controlled settings. It is a nurturing environment that is able to address specific needs and behaviours whilst providing care, including health and education.

There are various legal routes to secure care[1], but the majority are placed there via the children’s hearing system or the courts.

Bed cost and complement

Across the five secure care accommodation services in Scotland, up to 84 beds were available for those under the age of 18 during 2022-23 – a figure which remains unchanged from the previous year. On 31 July 2023 there were 78 beds available (Table 1) due to Edinburgh Secure Services closure on 30 June 2023. The weighted average cost of a bed was £6,680. The weighted average takes account of the variation in cost amongst the five secure care services. Four of the service providers reported having at least one additional emergency/short-term use bed.

Table 1 Bed complement

Secure care accommodation bed complement on 31 July 2023 [Note 1], [Note 2].

Accommodation

Number of beds

Good Shepherd Secure Unit

18

Kibble

18

Rossie Secure Accommodation Services

18

St Mary's Kenmure

24

All units

78

[Note 1] Excludes emergency or short-term beds.

[Note 2] Please note that Edinburgh Secure Service closed on 30 June 2023. Prior to closure Edinburgh Secure Service had 6 secure care beds.

[1] Centre for youth and criminal justice – routes into secure care information sheet

Capacity and usage

During 2022-23, there were 154 admissions to secure care accommodation – up 3% from the previous year. On average, there were 59 residents – a 20% decrease on the previous year and continuing the downward trend since 2020. Of these, 37 residents were from within Scotland (down 10% on 2022) and 22 were from outside Scotland (down 33% on 2022), as seen in Chart 1.

Chart 1 Average resident numbers.

Average number of residents in secure care accommodation during the year, 2014-2023 [Note 1].

[Note 1] Children can be admitted and discharged more than once during the year.

Emergency beds were used for a total number of 17 nights – continuing the noticeable reduction starting in 2021 (Table 2). The large drop in the use of emergency beds after 2019 may have partly been driven by the overall decline in the number of admissions over the last few years as well as the decrease in the average number of residents. In total, five residents used an emergency bed during the year.

Table 2 Usage during the year.

Secure care accommodation usage during the year, 2014-2023 [Note 1], [Note 2].

Usage during the year

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Percentage change since previous year

Admissions

232

249

256

248

210

217

194

177

149

154

3%

Discharges

226

245

253

257

213

210

194

178

160

144

-10%

Average number of residents

74

82

85

76

80

79

82

76

74

59

-20%

Average number of residents from within Scotland

67

76

72

56

45

53

53

47

41

37

-10%

Average number of residents from outside Scotland

7

6

13

19

35

26

28

29

33

22

-33%

Minimum number of residents

60

71

77

67

73

71

75

64

65

45

-31%

Maximum number of residents

84

89

90

87

86

88

88

84

82

70

-15%

Number of nights emergency/ short-term beds used [Note 3]

5

146

50

90

284

398

209

40

20

17

-15%

Number of residents using emergency/ short-term beds [Note 3]

3

13

11

25

42

55

28

17

8

5

-38%

[Note 1] Children can be admitted and discharged more than once during the year.

[Note 2] Three services reported having an emergency bed: Rossie School; Good Shepherd; and Kibble.

[Note 3] The large drop in figures relating to emergency beds may have partly been driven by the overall decline in number of admissions over the last few years as well as the decrease in average number of residents.

Resident characteristics and length of stay

On 31 July 2023, there were 60 residents in secure care accommodation – continuing the downward trend since 2019 and the lowest number of residents at year end since recording began (Table 3). Of these, 36 (60%) were male and 24 (40%) were female. The largest proportion of residents were aged 16 or over (43%), followed by 14-year-old residents (27%) and 15-year-old residents (22%). Just over a quarter of residents (28%) had a recorded disability. For the 60 residents in secure care accommodation on 31 July 2023, 23% had a length of stay between 6 months to under 1 year, with a further 20% staying between 3 months to under 6 months or between 1 month to under 2 months respectively.

Table 3 Resident characteristics.

Number of children in secure care by sex, age, disability, and length of stay on 31 July 2014-2023 [Note 1], [Note 2].

Category

Subcategory

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Percentage of 2023 total

Sex

Male

52

59

65

46

39

60

44

44

33

36

60%

Sex

Female

29

26

23

34

43

24

37

34

34

24

40%

Age

13 years old or under

5

7

9

14

12

*

5

9

7

5

8%

Age

14 years

12

18

18

18

18

*

13

13

18

16

27%

Age

15 years

31

28

27

26

25

21

26

16

18

13

22%

Age

16 years or over

33

32

34

22

27

55

37

40

24

26

43%

Disability [Note 3]

Yes

-

-

34

27

39

27

7

18

21

17

28%

Disability [Note 3]

No/unknown

-

-

54

53

43

57

74

60

46

43

72%

Length of stay

Less than 1 month

13

17

20

26

10

21

17

17

12

9

15%

Length of stay

1 month to under 2 months

14

16

14

13

14

16

14

10

10

12

20%

Length of stay

2 months to under 3 months

14

13

14

12

13

9

6

5

10

11

18%

Length of stay

3 months to under 6 months

23

26

24

25

27

22

18

29

18

12

20%

Length of stay

6 months to under 1 year

9

*

10

*

14

11

16

14

13

14

23%

Length of stay

1 year or more

8

*

6

*

0

5

2

3

4

2

3%

Total

Total

81

85

88

80

82

84

81

78

67

60

100%

[Note 1] For cells shown as " - ", figures are not available. Cells containing " * " represent small numbers that are suppressed to maintain confidentiality. Other cells may be suppressed to avoid calculation of other suppressed values.

[Note 2] Please note that Edinburgh Secure Service closed on 30 June 2023. Prior to closure Edinburgh Secure Service had 6 secure care beds                 

[Note 3] Since 2016, the binary question was asked: “does the young person have a mental or physical impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities?”. Prior to 2016, additional support needs categories were asked for.

Placement prior to admission

During 2022-23, just over a third (34%) of children admitted to secure care had a prior placement in a residential school with a further 30% from foster care or a children’s home (Table 4). A further 14% were in a prior placement with relatives, friends or the parental home.

Table 4 Admissions.

Number of children admitted to secure care during the year by sex and placement prior to admission, 2022-23 [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3].

Sex [Note 2]

Parental home / Relative / Friend

Foster care / Children's home

Residential school

Young offenders institution / Prison

Secure care

Other [Note 3]

Unknown

Total

Male

16

28

29

0

7

15

1

96

Female

5

17

23

0

4

8

0

57

Total

21

46

52

0

11

23

1

154

Percentage of total

14%

30%

34%

0%

7%

15%

1%

100%

[Note 1] Children can be admitted more than once during the year.

[Note 2] Where Male or Female sex was not specified these children have been included in the total.

[Note 3] 'Other' placement prior to admission may include supported accommodation, independent living, hospital, assessment centre and close support.

Destination on discharge

A total of 144 children were discharged from secure care during 2022-23. Of these the most common destination after discharge was to a residential school (25%) or into foster care or a children’s home (24%). A further 18% were discharged to a parental home or to relatives or friends (Table 5).

Table 5 Discharges.

Number of children discharged from secure care during the year by sex and destination on discharge, 2022-23 [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3].

Sex [Note 2]

Parental home / Relative / Friend

Foster care / Children's home

Residential school

Young offenders institution / Prison

Secure care

Other [Note 3]

Total

Male

16

21

17

5

4

22

85

Female

10

14

19

1

2

12

58

Total

26

35

37

6

6

34

144

Percentage of total

18%

24%

26%

4%

4%

24%

100%

[Note 1] Placement immediately after discharge during the year. Children can be discharged more than once during the year.

[Note 2] Where Male or Female sex was not specified these children have been included in the total.

[Note 3] ‘Other’ placement after discharge includes supported accommodation, independent living, hospital, assessment centre or close support.

Medical care during stay

A total of 138 (96%) children received medical care during their stay (Table 6). Common types of medical were care or treatment to assist mental well-being (94%), general health discussions or advice (94%) and general physical health care or treatment (94%). Further to this 86% of children received sexual health care during their stay and 82% received dental treatment or check-ups.

Table 6 Medical care.

Number and percentage of children discharged from secure care during the year who received medical care during their stay, 2022-23 [Note 1].

Type of medical care

Number

Percentage of all children

Percentage of those receiving medical care

Any medical care

138

96%

100%

General health discussion or advice received

135

94%

98%

Immunisations

44

31%

32%

Dental check-up or treatment

118

82%

86%

Mental health care or treatment

54

38%

39%

Sexual health care or treatment

124

86%

90%

Care or treatment to assist mental well-being

136

94%

99%

General physical health care or treatment

135

94%

98%

Medical care or treatment received - details unknown

100

69%

72%

[Note 1] Children can be discharged more than once during the year.                                             

Cross UK Comparisons

Cross UK comparisons for Secure Care Accommodation data for Scotland, England, and Wales can be found below (Table 7).  Please note that Scotland totals include children who are from elsewhere in the UK. Similarly, the totals for England and Wales may include some children from other parts of the UK.

Table 7 Cross UK comparisons.

Cross UK comparisons of number of secure care accommodation services, places approved, and children accommodated, 31 March 2014-2023 [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3], [Note 4], [Note 5], [Note 6], [Note 7].

UK nation

Category

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

England

Number of secure children's homes

16

14

14

14

14

14

13

13

13

13

England

Places approved

276

232

232

232

233

237

232

231

231

208

England

Children accommodated

211

194

192

184

189

162

171

130

157

131

Wales

Number of secure children's homes

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Wales

Places approved

22

22

22

22

22

22

22

22

18

22

Wales

Children accommodated

18

11

18

19

15

10

13

12

8

8

Scotland

Number of secure care accommodation services

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

Scotland

Places approved

90

90

90

84

84

84

84

84

84

84

Scotland

Children accommodated

80

85

84

81

81

84

82

72

68

62

[Note 1] Please note that the legal routes into secure care can vary between the UK countries.

[Note 2] Source for England and Wales available from Statistics: secure children’s homes.

[Note 3] For Northern Ireland, official/national statistics are not produced on secure care accommodation.

[Note 4] The figures from outside Scotland include children placed on welfare grounds only.

[Note 5] Scotland total includes a number of children from the rest of the UK, so trends in each country based on the children's origin may be different.

[Note 6] To allow for comparison with England and Wales, Scotland's data within this table is at 31 March for all years with the exception of 2020 for which it is at 29 February.

[Note 7] Please note that Edinburgh Secure Service closed on 30 June 2023. Prior to closure Edinburgh Secure Service had 6 secure care beds.

Contact

Email: childrens.statistics@gov.scot

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