Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland: 2021 to 2022

Where a child under 18 has been charged they may be considered for Early and Effective Intervention, referred to the Children’s Reporter (see also Figure 2) or prosecuted in court. If prosecuted they may be released on bail or remanded to secure care or a young offenders institution until trial. If sentenced to custody, they will be detained in secure care or a young offenders institution.

Bed cost and complement

Across the five secure care accommodation services in Scotland, 84 beds were available for those under the age of 18 (see Table 3.1) – a figure which remains unchanged from the previous year. The weighted average cost of a bed was £6,342. Three of the five services reported have at least one additional emergency/short-term use bed.

Table 3.1 Secure care accommodation bed complement on 31 July 2022 [Note 1]

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

Capacity and usage

During 2021-22, there were 149 admissions to secure care accommodation – down by 16% since the previous year. On average there were 74 residents, a 3% decrease on the previous year. Of these, 41 residents were from within Scotland (down 13% on 2021) and 33 were from outside Scotland (up 14% on 2021).

Emergency beds were used for a total number of 20 nights – continuing the noticeable reduction which started last year. The large drop in the use of emergency beds 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 addition, St Mary's Kenmure no longer offers emergency or short-term beds (3 short-term/ emergency beds were offered in previous years). In total, eight residents used an emergency bed during the year.

Table 3.2 Secure care accommodation usage during the year, 2014-2022 [Note 1], [Note 2]

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

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

Resident characteristics and length of stay

On 31 July 2022, there were 67 residents in secure care accommodation – the lowest number of residents at year end since recording began. Of these, 33 (49%) were male and 34 (51%) were female. The largest proportion of residents were aged 16 or over (36%), followed by 15-year-old residents (27%) and 14-year-old residents (27%). Just over a third of residents (31%) had a recorded disability. For the 67 residents in secure care accommodation on 31 July 2022, the most common length of stay was between 3 months to under 6 months (27%) followed by 6 months to under 1 year (19%) and less than 1 month (18%).

Table 3.3 Young people in secure care accommodation by sex, age, disability, and length of stay on 31 July 2014-2022 [Note 1]

[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] Trans, intersex, and non-binary individuals are grouped with males for the purposes of maintaining confidentiality.

[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. 

Cross UK Comparisons

Cross UK comparisons for Secure Care Accommodation data for Scotland, England, and Wales can be found below.  Please note that Scotland totals include young people 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 3.4 Cross UK comparisons of number of secure care accommodation services, places approved, and children accommodated, 31 March 2014-2022 [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3], [Note 4], [Note 5], [Note 6]

[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.