Cross-Border Placements Regulations: island communities impact assessment

Islands

Since the first cross-border (deprivation of liberty) petition in 2019, there have been a further 35 placements of children into residential care in Scotland. Of these, 35 placements have been from England and one from Wales. To date, there have been no placements from Health and Social Care trusts in Northern Ireland. The placements seem to arise from lack of adequate provision, primarily in England.

Of those 35 past/current placements, two have been on a Scottish island.

There are policy considerations specifically relevant to Scottish Islands. Whilst all of the cross-border placements involve some degree of distance from a child's home and loved ones, this would be accentuated with a cross-border placement to an island. Relevant issues to consider are: distance, geography, connectivity and demography, which could impact the child or young person in a number of ways, including:

• There is potential that a move to areas that are as geographically remote as the islands, particularly for children and young people originally based in England/Wales/Northern Ireland, could potentially have adverse consequences for the child placed there. It is possible that the child or young person could feel disorientated due to the differences from home and this could lead to feelings of isolation.
• On a practical level, their journey to arrive at the placement would be more extended than to a mainland placement – and the same would apply to any family and friends visiting them.
• This could impact on their relationships and in-person meetings with family and friends, due to the distance. Maintaining ongoing and regular contact with birth families and friends is critical to ensuring the child is well settled in placement.
• The child will have a social worker and whilst meetings can be done online, face-to-face is often the preferred mode of communicating.
• Independent advocacy provision will be offered and consideration will need to be given to how that contact is maintained.

However, in the possible scenario of a placement on an island once the Regulations are in force (subject to Parliamentary approval), it would be outwith the scope of the policy to influence any potential impact; it would be for the placing authority applying for the DOL order (and the High Court in granting/rejecting/reviewing the order) to take into account whether or not a cross-border placement to a Scottish island is the right placement for the young person. It could be unlikely that a cross-border placement on a Scottish island would be the right thing for the young person, given the extended distance it would place them from their home environment.

The scope of the policy is to provide for legal recognition in Scots law of these cross-border DOL placements, to ensure compliance with Article 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Furthermore, the Regulations and accompanying administrative agreements will seek to better regulate the placement process – for example, by bolstering information-sharing requirements from the placing authority to relevant Scottish authorities. Overall, the policy will therefore have a minimal impact on island communities, but it will ensure that island authorities are more timeously and appropriately informed about placements which may affect them.

There is also the potential that cross-border DOL placements could put a strain on Local Authorities and services. However, these placements are already occurring and Scottish Local Authorities will have no new statutory obligations placed upon them via the Regulations. Indeed, the legislation will make clear that obligations to the placed child in terms of providing/procuring services for them and paying for the placement rest with the authority which has placed them in Scotland. Associated enforcement machinery has been provided for in the Regulations, to ensure that there is a clear incentive to adhere to these obligations and that action can be taken against any placing authority which reneges on these.

In the past, many Scottish Local Authorities have been unaware of the accommodation of children subject to DOL order placements in their local area. To avoid this happening again in the future, the Regulations set out a requirement for the placing authority to notify a key range of contacts when a placement is made, to ensure the DOL order can be appropriately recognised in Scots law. This includes notification of the placement to the Chief Social Work Officer and person acting as the Director of Education in the Scottish Local Authority where the child will be accommodated and the relevant Scottish Health Board, amongst others. In relation to the islands, we feel there will be no impact that would differ significantly from any other part of Scotland.