Secure care: joint progress report between Scottish Government and COSLA

1. Foreword

We are pleased to present this joint progress report from the Scottish Government and COSLA on actions taken to restore Scotland’s secure accommodation capacity and planning for the future of Scotland’s secure care provision.

Over the past year, we have provided regular updates to Parliament, local elected members, and wider partners on the pressures facing secure accommodation and the importance of ensuring our responses are firmly rooted in children’s rights, and needs, in line with Scotland’s commitment to Keep the Promise.

During this period, we have engaged with secure care providers, local government leaders, practitioners across a range of services and – most importantly – children and young people with lived experience of secure care and related supports. Their insights have deepened our understanding of the challenges within the current system, as well as the potential for meaningful reform.

We understand the pressures created by increasingly complex needs, workforce challenges, and constrained capacity. Together, we recognise the statutory duties placed on placing authorities to identify, plan for, commission and provide secure care for children who require it. The engagement we have had has reinforced the central role local authorities have in meeting children’s needs and the importance of strong, collaborative partnerships between local and national government.

Most powerfully, listening to children and young people has reaffirmed the need for a system that is rooted in relationships, respect and care. Their experiences underline why secure care must only ever be used as a last resort, and that use of those secure care services must always be proportionate and necessary.

This report sets out progress that has been made over the past year, informed by engagement with local authorities, secure providers and wider partners, and the Scottish Government’s response to ‘Reimagining Secure Care’. It also acknowledges that there is more to do. Secure care cannot be shaped by any single part of the system; it must be developed collaboratively, drawing on lived experience, professional expertise, and the needs of children and young people.

The Scottish Government opened a national public consultation on 8 January 2026 which will run for 14 weeks. It is essential that we hear from a broad range of voices - including children, families, local authorities, secure care providers, practitioners, and wider partners. This consultation will explore ideas, challenge assumptions, and build a shared understanding of the changes required.

We are grateful to all partners for their continued engagement and commitment to delivering a secure system that meets children’s needs, upholds their rights and supports better outcomes.

Natalie Don-Innes

Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise

Cllr Buchanan

Cosla