National Bairns' Hoose Governance Group minutes: June 2024

Attendees and apologies

Attendees

• Andrew Watson, Director for Children and Families, Scottish Government (Chair)
• Natalie Don, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Member of the Scottish Parliament (Guest speaker under agenda item 2) (left 14:25)
• Brian Taylor, Deputy Director of Children's Rights, Protection and Justice, Directorate for Children and Families, Scottish Government
• Anna Donald, Deputy Director, Criminal Justice Division, Directorate for Justice, Scottish Government
• Lesley Swanson, Head of Bairns' Hoose Unit, Directorate for Children and Families, Scottish Government
• Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive, Children 1st
• Alistair Hogg, Head of Practice and Policy, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
• Neil Hunter, Principal Reporter, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (Guest speaker under agenda item 5)
• Carron McKellar, Detective Chief Superintendent (DCU), Police Scotland (deputising for DCC Connors)
• Sharon Glasgow, Protecting Children Policy and Practice Advisor, Social Work Scotland
• Tom McNamara, Head of Youth Justice and Children's Hearings, Scottish Government (present for agenda item 5)
• Fiona Dyer, Director, Children and Young People's Centre for Justice (present for agenda item 5)
• Will Griffiths, Bairns' Hoose Unit, Directorate for Children and Families, Scottish Government
• Rachel Campbell, Bairns' Hoose Unit, Directorate for Children and Families, Scottish Government
• Yuki Tsujino, Bairns' Hoose Unit, Directorate for Children and Families, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Mary Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Edinburgh
• Laura Buchan, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Crown Office
• Chantelle Lalli, Justice Lead, Bairns' Hoose Unit, Directorate for Justice, Scottish Government
• Sally Ann Kelly, Chief Executive, Aberlour, CCPS representative
• Joanna McDonald, Deputy Chief Social Work Adviser, Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser, Scottish Government
• Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive, Care Inspectorate
• Justine Craig, Chief Midwifery Officer, Directorate for Chief Nursing Officer, Scottish Government
• John Burns, Chief Operating Officer, NHS Scotland, Scottish Government
• Catriona Dalrymple, Director of Justice, Scottish Government
• Laura Caven, Chief Officer, Children and Young People, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
• Shawna von Blixen, Coordinator, Barnahus Network
• Jillian Ingram, Joint Investigative Interviewing (JII) National Implementation Coordinator / Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM) Lead, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
• Iona Colvin, Chief Social Work Advisor, Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions and apologies (agenda item 1)

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and apologies were noted. The Chair outlined the meeting agenda.

Outlook for Bairns’ Hoose and new implementation group (agenda item 2)

The Chair invited the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Ms Don, to speak on the outlook for Bairns’ Hoose. 

The Minister commended partners for their progress which was highlighted during her visit to North Strathclyde and the visit made by the Minister of Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Ms Todd, to Dalneigh House, Inverness, in the Highland Affiliate partnership. The Minister also welcomed the opening of the Sycamore Centre in Edinburgh. The Minister announced that remaining processes around funding for the current financial year have been concluded and will be confirmed shortly. The Minister then discussed the importance of the two-year extension to the Pathfinder phase in capturing valuable learning and the need to balance that with delivering at pace. The Minister finished by affirming the decision to review the programme structure and establish an implementation group that reflected the delivery phase of the programme and wider stakeholder representation.

Discussion

The Group expressed support for a renewed focus on implementation and the extension to the Pathfinder phase, and welcomed the update on funding.

The Group discussed positive progress in the involvement of local areas and the establishment of networks to share knowledge related to Bairns’ Hoose, including between Pathfinders and social work colleagues. It was welcomed that Affiliate partners would be invited to join the implementation group. It was also raised that conversations with social work partners have transitioned away from funding concerns to the sharing of plans, which was seen as a positive development towards delivery.

It was raised that there would be a need to clarify the purpose and remit of the new implementation group, and disappointment was voiced by one member in not having an independent chair for the new group.

A discussion followed concerning the role of the new implementation group; that the implementation group would provide an opportunity to ensure key delivery partners are effectively engaged, and would serve as a safe space for discussions, knowledge sharing and planning for key milestones within the project plan. It was also highlighted that the implementation group would be a forum in which to provide views and perspectives to Scottish Ministers. The need for the implementation group to meet at the right times and have the right discussions was expressed. It was also noted that the implementation group would serve as a forum to resolve local issues which require a national solution.

The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise voiced her commitment to Bairns’ Hoose and expressed hope for attending meetings of the implementation group when possible. The Minister emphasised the importance of policies concerning intervention and prevention, and the challenges associated with advocating for policies which do not have an immediate outcome. There was agreement that the implementation group and associated working groups would be able to provide valuable learning to support a longer term economic analysis of potential savings.

There was a discussion concerning the mapping of cost benefits, and the relevance of research conducted in London and the wider international community in assessing impact. It was agreed that research conducted by The Lighthouse in London was of particular relevance and would be shared with the Group. 

The Chair voiced support for ministerial involvement in the implementation group when possible and led a discussion concerning the inaugural meeting of the implementation group. It was agreed that the first meeting of the new implementation group would be conducted in-person with a hybrid option. There was agreement that, in recognition that many partners are based outside of Edinburgh, meetings are to be held alternately outside of Edinburgh and considerations will be given to locations.

Actions

• 7.1: Lesley Swanson to share a link to research commissioned by The Lighthouse, London, that provides an economic analysis on potential future savings to public expenditure to offset the costs of intervention within a Children’s House. 

Minutes from last meeting (agenda item 3)

The Chair invited any comments on the minutes of the previous meeting held on 6 February 2024 and, as there were no comments forthcoming, the minutes were approved. The Group agreed that actions from the February meeting were now considered closed. These are noted below.

• 6.1 Bairns’ Hoose Unit to close off actions owned by Children 1st when a wider review of outstanding National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group actions is undertaken. 
• 6.2 Group members to provide comments/feedback on the Changemakers video clips directly to Children 1st (to be fed back to the children and young people).

Bairns’ Hoose Unit and Pathfinder programme update (agenda item 4)

Lesley Swanson (Bairns’ Hoose Unit, Scottish Government) provided an update of the main points:

• A two-year extension to the Pathfinder Phase is now confirmed. The second year of the Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder programme will continue to focus on learning and, from year three, work on developing a Bairns’ Hoose blueprint will begin.
• Progress is being made on the revised project work plan and this will be shared with the implementation group.
• Data from the Standards Self-Assessment and Readiness Tool (StART) is currently being analysed, and is being shared through the Knowledge Exchange Forum coordinated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
• A working group is currently being set up to co-produce a set of indicators for Bairns’ Hoose partnerships with the aim of establishing a national baseline data for Bairns’ Hooses across Scotland. The indicators will then be used during the evaluation phase of the project, and can also be used as an ongoing tool to help partnerships in their continuous improvement of services. 
• The analytical and learning plan also includes a literature review which will be shared later this year.
• An update was provided on the Knowledge Exchange programme and improvement support for Pathfinders. 
• It was re-affirmed that funding for the financial year has now been resolved and that steps to release funding for the Development Phase 2 and Thematic Funds will soon be taken.

The Group was invited to provide input concerning the updates. It was voiced that the Knowledge Exchange programme sessions had been valuable and Pathfinders benefited from continued knowledge sharing.

A question was raised concerning access to the Knowledge Exchange programme, which is currently limited to Pathfinders, and this led on to the discussions considering inclusion of Affiliate partnerships. It was agreed that the Knowledge Exchange programme should be extended to Affiliate partners rather than have two parallel forums. This will be considered further in collaboration with key partners. 

Children in Conflict with the Law and Bairns’ Hoose (agenda item 5)

Neil Hunter (Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration), chair of the short-life working group commissioned to produce considerations of including children in conflict with the law within the scope of Bairns’ Hoose, provided a report of the group’s findings and recommendations.

Key points

• Neil outlined the membership and approaches utilised by the group, emphasising that inclusivity had been at the heart of the group. Neil highlighted that membership included partners from a range of relevant areas which allowed the group to approach the question from a number of angles.
• It was emphasised that, while consensus was desirable, the purpose of the group was to produce recommendations based on their considerations.
• It was reported that there was agreement among the group that the current approach for child custody requires reform. 
• The group recognised that, while the children who cause harm are often the same children that have been harmed, Bairns’ Hoose is unlikely to meet their needs in the first instance. Nevertheless, the group was of the view that these children should not be precluded from Bairns’ Hoose.

Recommendations

• (a) Scotland’s long established integrated approach to child welfare, protection and justice has been to focus on the needs not deeds of children at risk or in trouble.
• (b) The significant weight of evidence suggests that it is impossible to separate children who cause harm from those who have been harmed. In effect they are the same children.
• (c) It is therefore inconsistent with Scotland’s long established policy and practice to wholesale preclude children, including those who are deemed criminally responsible, who are in conflict with the law and who may have caused harm from the development of the Bairns’ Hoose. This preclusion should not be supported as a point of principle.
• (d) Nonetheless the development of Bairns’ Hoose model in Scotland is, in relative terms, a small-scale development in the context of all children’s services, as well as being highly specialist in nature. The Bairns' Hoose developments provide very personalised and bespoke trauma informed, therapeutic and recovery focus to children who have been exposed to abuse, exploitation and significant adversity. Bairns’ Hooses, therefore, are not designed to be nor are they likely ever to be appropriate, suitable or at a scale for which the vast majority of children who come into conflict with the law and who, by doing so, may have harmed others could be supported. Bairns’ Hoose developments must focus on those children most in need and at risk. 
• (e) Entry to the Bairns’ Hoose pathway is designed to be closely and carefully managed, reflecting the specialist and scarce nature of the resource. The interagency referral discussion (IRD) process is one of the key pathways and entry points to a Bairns’ Hoose. The IRD continues to mature and embed across Scotland and is a means by which the unique needs and circumstances of every child at risk of significant harm can be assessed, determined, and forward planned on an interagency basis. IRD processes need significant strengthening and further investment across Scotland.
• (f) The pathway to Bairns’ Hoose needs to be carefully managed - firstly, to ensure the retention of the integrity, purpose and efficacy of the Bairns’ Hoose model and; secondly, to ensure that the sense and perception of Bairns’ Hoose as a safe, supportive and therapeutic space is maintained and developed. Scottish childcare professionals are well versed in the management of children with a range of issues and needs in to and out of specialist service domains and this will continue to the case in managing those individual children who are in conflict with the law/may have caused harm in and out of Bairns’ Hoose where that is considered to be the/an appropriate resource for them. 
• (g) For the vast majority of children who are in conflict with the law (including where those children may have caused harm to others), Bairns’ Hoose is likely to neither be an appropriate nor available resource. Hence children in conflict with the law will continue to be exposed to significant stress and potential trauma in an environment which is now almost universally accepted to be inappropriate to their needs as children.
• (h) This new approach to children in conflict with the law who find themselves arrested or in custody - is not Bairns’ Hoose - but can borrow and learn from the experience, practice and standards of Bairns’ Hoose.

The Chair outlined the importance of balancing Bairns’ Hoose as a safe space with the needs of the child, and highlighted developments in the area of justice improvement. It was agreed that the Group would accept the recommendations concerning Bairns’ Hoose in principle but further correspondence would be made with members not present in case any members had a differing view or other comments to make.

Discussions

Group members expressed their agreement with the recommendations. It was further highlighted that a number of policies are being advanced in the direction of the wider recommendations and that it may be worth considering recommendations (g) and (h) again once these policies have been progressed.

A discussion was held concerning the importance of including children in conflict with the law in decisions about them and that a system based on Bairns’ Hoose may be beneficial to them.

It was raised that online harm is an increasingly significant issue and that this includes both children being harmed as well as doing harm. It was agreed that it was important for the Scottish Government to consider this issue holistically. 

It was highlighted that the role of the police is to respond to crime rather than trauma, and that the police do not always have sufficient information to determine whether a child has been traumatised and requires support, in particular where online harms have been a factor. A point was raised that aspects of the current process of criminal justice have the potential to cause additional trauma for children. The Group noted work underway to develop solutions such as rolling iterative reform, and bolstering early support for families and communities.

A further discussion was held concerning the language used to describe children who have harmed and how it differentiates them from children who have been harmed. An observation was made that children are often judged on how they process and express their trauma.

The Chair reaffirmed the decision to endorse the recommendations and that, within the remit of Bairns’ Hoose, there was a need to consider how recommendations (a) to (f) would affect the vision, and the balance between system complexity and focus. It was reiterated that a number of policies were moving in the direction of recommendations (g) and (h) but there is value in considering the unity and pace of these.

It was agreed that the implementation group would be the appropriate forum to further consider the impact of recommendations a, b, c and d in relation to Bairns’ Hoose and in particular the impact of recommendation c on the Bairns’ Hoose Vision. The broader recommendations beyond Bairns’ Hoose will be considered further by the Scottish Government Youth Justice Team in the context of the refreshed Youth Justice Vision, and by the Chair in relation to the wider policy landscape across Scottish Government.

Actions

• 7.2 Endorse recommendations (a) to (f) made by the short-life working group in principle but write out to members not present to seek their views, given the number of apologies received for the meeting.
• 7.3 The Chair to bring recommendations (g) and (h) to the attention of the wider Scottish Government by writing to chairs of key external groups. 

Any other business

The Bairns’ Hoose Unit will engage with potential members of the new implementation group over the summer and draft the terms of reference for the new group to be shared ahead of its first meeting.

The first meeting of the implementation group is planned to be in late September.