Considering the future of secure care for children in Scotland
The Scottish Government has launched a new consultation on the future of Scotland’s secure accommodation and secure care transport standards (8 January).
Secure care is a form of residential care that restricts the freedom of children under the age of 18. It is for the small number of children who may be a significant risk to themselves, or others in the community, and this action from the Scottish Government seeks to build on its response to the ‘Reimagining Secure Care’ report published by the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) in September 2024.
In seeking views on what secure care in Scotland should look like in the future, the consultation considers options to nationalise secure care services in Scotland and to design a funding model that places children’s rights at the centre. It asks whether to the definition of secure care should be broadened, and how to ensure the safe and secure transportation of children to secure care facilities or to appointments during their stay in secure care.
The consultation closes on 16 April 2026.