Secure care: joint progress report between Scottish Government and COSLA

6. Joint Priorities for 2025 – 2027

The following overarching priorities link directly to the progress outlined above and will shape the next phase of work led by the Scottish Government and COSLA:

6.1 Capacity Restoration

Restore national capacity and resilience through targeted actions, including the establishment of resources where necessary and ensuring facilities are future-proofed to meet the current and future needs of children. This will stabilise existing services, ensure continuity of care, support Scotland’s immediate needs, and inform long-term secure care requirements, while maintaining an appropriate balance between sufficient provision and avoiding overcapacity.

6.2 Consultation

Launch a national consultation on the future of secure care in Scotland. This consultation will bring together the perspectives of those supporting vulnerable children in and around secure care, along with the voices of children and young people with lived experience, to help shape future approaches. It will explore the purpose and function of secure care, funding and commissioning models, including the accepted concepts referenced in the ‘Reimagining Secure Care’ report (such as ‘flex secure’) and secure transport standards.

6.3 Funding and Commissioning

As part of the consultation on the future of secure care, explore future funding and commissioning models in Scotland to ensure the system is sustainable, resilient and able to meet the needs and rights of children and young people now and in the future.

6.4 National Oversight and Co-ordination

Explore the potential for establishing a national secure accommodation placement and coordination function, delivered in partnership with secure care providers and commissioning authorities. This function would aim to strengthen oversight, improve data quality, address regional disparities, and enhance resource efficiency through a professionalised co-ordination model.

6.5 Data Collection and Analysis

Improve systems for gathering and interpreting data on children in secure care to support evidence-based decision-making. This will include:

• Identification of routes and reasons leading to secure care placements, enabling earlier interventions.
• Assessment of the effectiveness of preventative and community-based approaches to reduce reliance on secure care.
• Data insights will directly inform future policy development and strategic planning for secure care services.

6.6 Meeting the Mental Health Needs of all Children

Our ambition is that children remain safely connected to their families and communities, with access to the provision that meets their needs and the needs of their families. This will include bespoke, wrap‑around support including intensive family support and specialist mental health services.

Secure provision in Scotland will be part of a wider continuum of care that adapts to the mental health, care and protection needs of children and young people. Placement in secure accommodation will only occur when all other community‑based and intensive supports have been fully considered and cannot meet the needs of the child or community.

6.7 Community Based Support

Children will be supported in environments that are best suited to meet their individual needs. We will explore, develop and evaluate models such as 'flex secure'. This approach will help identify what works and ensure that care settings are responsive, flexible, and centred around the wellbeing of each child.