Scottish Government

VIII SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES

a) Children in situations of emergency

Asylum seeker and refugee children

400. Scotland has a long history of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers and their children. The UK government's dispersal policy, introduced in 1999, led to large numbers of asylum seekers and refugees settling in Scotland, particularly Glasgow. The Scottish Refugee Council estimates there are currently approximately 10,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in Scotland, mainly in Glasgow.

401. Immigration and asylum are reserved issues. The Executive is responsible for devolved issues which relate to asylum seekers who are living in Scottish communities while their immigration application is being processed. This includes integration initiatives, such as English language classes and interpreting/translation assistance, and services such as health care, education and legal advice.

402. The Executive is committed to supporting the effective integration of refugees and asylum seekers into Scottish society. The Scottish Refugee Integration Forum ( SRIF) was established in January 2002 to allow Scotland's statutory and voluntary agencies to work in partnership to support refugees more effectively. The Forum produced an Action Plan in 2003 which identified a number of key actions designed to make a real difference to the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland. These actions related to improving access to services, translation and interpretation support and breaking down barriers to employment.

403. The Forum was reconvened in December 2005 to draw up a further set of actions to address any new and emerging issues affecting integration since the Action Plan was published. Six subgroups were set up to look specifically at housing, access to justice, employment and training, health and social care, community development and children's issues. The actions, which will primarily be for the Executive to implement, will feed into the Executive's Race Equality strategy and Action Plan.

Discussions with the Home Office on family removals

404. In autumn 2005, there was public, political and Ministerial concern in Scotland about the processes used by the UK Immigration Service to remove failed asylum seekers - in particular the treatment of families with children. Concerns centred round the family removal process, for example early morning removals (so-called "dawn raids") were seen by many as unnecessary. There was concern about children and families being uprooted from communities where they had lived for many years while waiting for their cases to be concluded.

405. In the light of these concerns, Executive Ministers undertook to explore with the Home Office what steps could be taken to ensure that the children of asylum seekers were properly supported while in Scotland and that when a removal was required it was carried out humanely.

406. Discussions between Executive and Home Office Ministers and officials covered a wide-range of issues and led to the development of a significant package of measures, announced in March 2006. This package will ensure that decisions about removals are made on the basis of all relevant information, that removals are carried out using proportionate and humane approaches which respect the interests of any children involved, and that the removals process is subject to independent scrutiny and review. Individual decisions about asylum, and about whether, when and how failed asylum seekers will be removed will continue to be made by Home Office.

407. Glasgow City Council will put in place "lead professional" arrangements to gather information about the health, welfare and education of the children of asylum seekers. This will be made available to the Home Office to ensure it has the relevant information to inform decisions about the timing and handling of family removals.

408. The Executive has asked HMIE to coordinate the inspection of services provided (by local agencies) for the children of asylum seekers in Glasgow up to the point where their request for asylum is granted or the point where they are removed. This Joint Inspection was carried out in autumn 2006 to help ensure the quality of the services provided - the inspection report is due in spring 2007. In addition, Home Office are bringing forward legislation to establish the legislative basis on which the removals process can be inspected. These two inspection strands will address concerns that there has been no basis on which the removals process itself, or the support provided to families and children, was subject to independent scrutiny and public reporting, against clear standards.

409. Enhanced background checks on all Home Office staff involved in family removals are being carried out to ensure it is appropriate for them to work with children. This will address concerns that staff involved in removals, who may have unsupervised access to children at times of considerable stress, have not been subjected to the same level of enhanced disclosure checking required for other staff working with children.

410. The appointment (by the UK Immigration Service) of a Regional Director for Scotland will address concerns that communications between Home Office and local agencies (for example schools) have been haphazard, and that there have not been good systems for ensuring good communications and routes to raise concerns with Home Office.

411. The Home Office has carried out a Review of the UK Removals Process, seeking a range of stakeholder views, including from the four Children's Commissioners. It included a review of the timing and methods used in removals, including whether it is necessary/appropriate to remove families very early in the morning. The findings and recommendations of the Review are expected in early 2007.

412. There is widespread agreement that families opting to return of their own volition is preferable to forced removals. To that end, the Home Office have trialled an enhanced package of financial support for any asylum seekers opting for voluntary return. This provides a significantly enhanced lump sum, and practical support. The Home Office is also committed to improving information for and communication with local communities to help them ensure asylum seeker families have the best possible advice and information needed to judge what is in their children's best interests. The Executive has undertaken to help take this forward in Scotland.

Provision for unaccompanied minors

413. On arrival in Scotland, Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children ( UASCs) are classed as "looked after" children and are supported by local authorities in keeping with their duty under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide for children in need. Currently, an individual UASC becomes the responsibility of a particular local authority for no other reason than it happens to cover the area where the person first arrived in Scotland or otherwise first came to attention as being in need of support. This is the case regardless of whether that authority is overstretched by the numbers it is already dealing with or lacks the necessary expertise and specialist infrastructure. The local authority in question then notifies the Home Office that it is supporting the individual and will receive additional funding to help provide that support. The child is looked after by the local authority until he or she turns 18 when their asylum case is heard.

414. These arrangements are not considered adequate to ensure the quality of care for these individuals either by the Home Office or local stakeholders in Scotland. The Home Office will shortly issue a consultation paper proposing to reform the way that UASCs are supported while in the UK. If accepted, these reforms will result in all UASCs being transferred to a set number of "receiving" local authorities (in Scotland this is likely to be just Glasgow) . This will allow the development of specialised services, and the availability of well trained and experienced staff, at local level to support these children. It will also ensure a consistent level of service for all UASCs in Scotland and better value for money.

Use of detention for asylum seekers in Scotland

415. Following the opening of a family detention centre in England (Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire) the Home Office decided that failed asylum seekers with children awaiting removal from the UK would all be held there. As a result, children and families are no-longer held for more than 72 hours in the Dungavel detention centre, the only such centre in Scotland, other than in exceptional circumstances. Some families that have been detained prior to removal may be held at Dungavel for a short time prior to transportation to Yarl's Wood. In the unlikely event of a family being held for 21 days or more there is an agreement between the Centre and South Lanarkshire Council that the authority will conduct a welfare assessment. Child protection issues are also notified to social work as and when they occur. The operation of Dungavel is the responsibility of the Home Office.

416. Unaccompanied children seeking asylum are not held in detention. As with all looked after children they are provided with the same levels of support and protection as any other child in these circumstances, including the provision of appropriate accommodation.

b) Children in conflict with the law

Developments in youth justice

417. Tackling youth offending is a key priority for the Executive. There have been a number of Ministerial initiatives aimed at building the necessary infrastructure to tackle youth offending effectively and to expand the range, capacity and quality of services designed to prevent young people from offending and to work with those who are offending. Key amongst these were the 10-point Action Plan and National Standards for Youth Justice, published in 2002 in order to achieve the national targets of reducing the number of persistent young offenders by 10% by 2006 and full implementation of the National Standards.

418. To support these initiatives the Executive has significantly increased funding for youth justice. Funding to specifically deal with youth offending (£3.5m per annum) first came on stream in 2000-01. This has steadily increased and now stands at £63m per annum. This funding has enabled the establishment of multi-agency youth justice teams in every local authority area and a significant increase in the number and range of services to support young people who are offending or at risk of offending. This includes a number of innovative new approaches such as the SSP (school, social work, police) model which has worked well in Scandinavia and is now being trialled in a number of Scottish local authorities.

419. In July 2006 the Executive set out progress towards meeting the 10-point Action Plan and the National Standards. The report suggests that young people's offending is now being tackled more quickly and local agencies are getting a better grip on who the main offenders are - and that the new measures introduced by the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 have helped in concentrating and focussing local action. Some local authorities and agencies have achieved significant reductions in youth offending.

420. The Executive's target to reduce the number of persistent young offenders by 10% by 2006 was not met. This target has proved vital in identifying local successes, highlighting problem areas and improving outcomes for youngsters and communities across Scotland. The framework of National standards, backed up by the major investment in local services has helped local agencies tackle youth offending, and the target has kept the focus firmly on results. A further target has been set - a further 10% reduction in persistent offender numbers by 2008.

421. The multi-agency Youth Justice Improvement Group, led by the Minister for Justice was set up in 2005 to take forward development of the youth justice agenda. The group has reaffirmed the principles of the Children's Hearings system and the welfare based approach to tackling offending in line with the Beijing rules and prevention of offending, in line with the Riyadh guidelines. There has been considerable focus on preventative approaches and working with families at an earlier stage to stop vulnerable children becoming involved in offending. The group also identified a need to work more effectively with those who are involved in offending, including more focus on evidence based approaches to work with young offenders and the quality and effectiveness of practice

The Children's Hearings System

422. The Children's Hearings System, which has the best interests of children at its centre, is the primary forum for dealing with offending behaviour by children. Before referral to the Hearings System is made, consideration should be given to whether a voluntary or diversionary intervention would be an effective means of improving behaviour. When it is considered appropriate, a Children's Hearing may impose compulsory measures of supervision setting out what a child should do or refrain from doing. This may include a requirement on the child to take up and co-operate with programmes and other support measures aimed at addressing their needs and behaviours.

423. If a child fails to comply with the terms of their supervision requirement they can be referred back to a Children's Hearing for further consideration of their circumstances and how to address them. A child cannot be referred to a court for not complying with their supervision requirement.

Children in Court

424. The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that no child under the age of 16 should be prosecuted in Court except on the instructions of the Lord Advocate. The Children's Hearings System rather than the Courts ordinarily deals with children who offend up to the age of 16 - in addition, those children who are subject to a supervision requirement when they turn 16 may continue to be dealt with by the Hearings System until they reach 18. The Lord Advocate has issued guidance to all Scottish police forces on the circumstances in which offences alleged to have been committed by under 16s are to be reported to the Procurator Fiscal (for prosecution) rather than to the Children's Reporter (for the Children's Hearings System) . The categories of cases to be reported are:

• Offences which require by law to be prosecuted on indictment or which are so serious as normally to give rise to solemn proceedings;
• Offences committed by children aged 15 or over which in the event of conviction require or permit the court to order disqualification from driving;
• Offences alleged to have been committed by children (as defined above) aged between 16 and 18; and
• Breaches of antisocial behaviour orders alleged against children aged 12-15.

425. In the circumstances above, the report is submitted by the police to both the Procurator Fiscal and the Children's Reporter. The Procurator Fiscal then decides, in consultation with the Reporter, whether the case should be dealt with by prosecution or by the Children's Hearing System. Internal guidance for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service staff states that the presumption where the child is under 16 is that the case should be referred to the Reporter in all but the most serious cases; where the child is aged over 16, the presumption is that the case should be dealt with by prosecution.

426. The Executive has targeted 16 and 17 year olds as part of its roll-out of schemes designed to divert people from prosecution. Diversion schemes allow a Procurator Fiscal to refer an accused to social work or other agencies where formal criminal justice proceedings are not required. They permit persons accused of relatively minor offences (and where there is no overriding public interest for a prosecution) to be dealt with outwith the court.

427. Where diversion from prosecution is not considered appropriate, children aged 16 and 17 who offend would ordinarily be dealt with through the Court, unless they are already subject to a supervision requirement. The Executive did, however, bring forward proposals as part of the Criminal Justice Bill in 2002 to introduce a pilot scheme whereby first time and minor offenders aged 16 and 17 would be dealt with by the Children's Hearings System. This proposal was withdrawn once it became clear that there it was not widely supported by the Parliament and had no chance of becoming law.

428. Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 gives the criminal court the power to refer a child to the Children's Hearings System for advice and/or disposal following a guilty plea or conviction. For a child under 16 and not subject to a supervision requirement, the court may remit for disposal by a Children's Hearing or may ask for the advice of the Hearing, and then either dispose of the case itself or remit to the Hearing for disposal. For a child up to 18 years, who is subject to a supervision requirement, the High Court may and other courts shall, ask for advice from a Children's Hearing, and then either dispose of the case itself or remit to the hearing for disposal. For a young person between 16 years and 17 and a half years who is not subject to a supervision requirement, the court in summary proceedings only, can ask a Children's Hearing for advice and then either dispose of the case itself or remit to the Hearing for disposal.

429. The Executive has undertaken a pilot of a Youth Court dealing specifically with 16- 17 year olds, who would otherwise have been dealt with through the adult court. Youth courts are designed to deal with persistent young offenders through a fast track process and with specially designed disposals geared to the specific needs of 16-17 year olds. The youth court model encourages a multi-agency approach to tackle repeat offending and the swiftness of the process not only reduces the opportunity for further offending in the period between charge and court appearance but it also allows victims of crime to see a more speedy outcome. An initial external evaluation of the first pilot found that the youth court procedures were operating effectively and initial indications with respect to the impact on youth crime were viewed as encouraging. An extension of the pilot was announced in November 2006.

430. In 2004-05 a total of 7652 persons aged under 18 (including 123 under 16s) were convicted in Scottish courts. Of these, 749 resulted in a custodial sentence, including 20 for persons aged under 16.

Publicly funded legal assistance for children

431. Legal aid and advice and assistance are available to children in criminal and civil court proceedings. The budget for legal aid is not cash-limited, but payments are made subject to statutory tests on the basis of fees allowed by regulations. Children's legal aid fees of approximately £2.9m for approximately 2,900 cases were paid out of the Legal Aid Fund in 2004/05. Changes to the legislative procedures involving children are constantly monitored and amendments can be made to legal aid regulations to ensure that publicly funded legal assistance can be provided. No changes have been made recently.

Sentencing of under 18s

432. It continues to be the case that children under 18 cannot be sentenced to capital punishment or life imprisonment in Scotland. Section 207 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that it is not competent for a court to impose imprisonment on any person under 21 years of age. Offenders aged between 16 and 21 who, without this provision, could have been imprisoned, can be detained in a Young Offenders Institution. Section 207 also provides that a social enquiry report must be obtained before detention is imposed and that detention is only to be imposed where no other method of dealing with the offender is appropriate.

433. Section 205 of the 1995 Act provides an exception to the general rule of a mandatory life sentence for murder in respect of any under 18 who is convicted of murder. Instead, they can only be sentenced to detention without limit of time in such place and under such conditions as Scottish Ministers may direct.

Remand and under 18s

434. Internal guidance available to Procurators Fiscal on bail in cases involving child offenders makes reference to Article 37(b) of the UN Convention and accordingly states that a child offender should be released on bail or ordained to appear at court unless there are compelling reasons for having him detained pending trial. This section of the guidance was revised in February 2004. The Lord Advocate has the power to release any person detained pending trial on bail, with the practical result that, where the prosecutor does not oppose bail, the accused will not be remanded in custody by the court.

435. Where a child is remanded in custody pending trial, Section 51 of the 1995 Act provides that children under 16 who are not certified as unruly or depraved should be committed to a local authority to be detained in secure accommodation or in a suitable place of safety. Children aged 16-18 and under local authority care may be dealt with in the same way as children under 16 or may be remanded in prison. Children aged over 14 and certified by the court as unruly and depraved are to be remanded in prison or in a remand centre.

436. Internal guidance for Procurators Fiscal provides that they should only seek to have a child detained as unruly or depraved in exceptional circumstances where, taking into account all available information from the police, the children's reporter and the local authority, it is considered that the child cannot be safely detained in local authority secure accommodation.

437. For those children aged 16-18 who are not under local authority care the situation is the same as for those who are in care. They can be detained in local authority secure accommodation or may be remanded in a prison or a young offender's institution.

Age of criminal responsibility

438. The Scottish Executive has noted the comments of the UN Committee with regard to the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Scotland.

439. The position was last reviewed in 2001 and at that time Ministers concluded that age 8 years continued to be an appropriate threshold, in the context that:

• More than 99% of children who offend are dealt with through the Children's Hearings System;
• the System is welfare based, i.e. when a child offends this is addressed in their own best interests - there is no punitive outcome; and
• For the small number of children prosecuted in the courts, referral to the Hearings System for advice and/ or disposal is the normal outcome for all but a tiny minority.

440. Although other countries have a higher age of criminal responsibility, this may often be shifted depending on the seriousness of the offence. Many other also countries respond to children who may have offended through a process and with measures designed to be punitive in nature. In short, Scotland responds differently.

441. The table below sets out the age of children referred to the Children's Reporter.

Table 66: Children referred to the Children's Reporter on offence and non-offence grounds by age, 2004-05

Privacy of children in conflict with the law

Children's hearings

442. Section 43 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that a Children's Hearing must be conducted in private and that members of the public are not allowed to attend. The only persons who would normally be present will be those who are necessary for a proper consideration of the child's case. Section 44 of the 1995 Act prohibits the publication of any matter anywhere in the UK that is either intended to or is likely to identify any child who is subject to proceedings at a Children's Hearing. This was extended by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 to protect the identity of child victims of youth crime.

Civil proceedings

443. The Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, section 46 provides for the protection by the court of the identity of young persons: In any proceedings, the court may direct that no report may reveal the name, address, or school, or include any particulars calculated to lead to the identification, of any person under the age of 17 years concerned in the proceedings, either as being the person by or against or in respect of whom the proceedings are taken or as being a witness and no picture may be published as being or including a picture of any such person. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 provides for the protection of the identity of children or before a Sheriff in relation to certain orders or on referral from a Children's Hearing.

444. Proceedings under the Adoption Act 1978 must take place in private unless the court otherwise directs.

Criminal proceedings

445. Section 142 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that no person shall be present at Summary criminal proceedings brought against a child, except officers of court, parties to the case and their solicitors, witnesses, bona fide members of the press and such other persons specially authorised by the court. A child in this case will be under 16 or 16-18 and currently under a supervision requirement. The provisions do not apply where the child is charged jointly with an adult.

New legislative provisions

446. The Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 introduced a range of new measures to tackle antisocial and offending behaviour by children.

447. ASBOs for 12-15 year olds are preventative orders intended to protect people in the community, including children, from further acts or conduct that would cause them alarm or distress. Scottish Executive guidance on the use of ASBOs for under 16s makes clear that they should complement the Children's Hearings System which should continue to be the primary forum for dealing with offending behaviour by children. ASBOs are only intended to deal with a small number of persistently antisocial behaviour children for whom alternatives are not working - and that is the way they are being used. The provisions have been implemented for almost two years and, so far, only a handful of ASBOs for under 16s have been sought. There is a presumption that court proceedings involving Antisocial Behaviour Orders ( ASBOs) for under 16s will be held in private.

448. While the ASBO provisions for under 16s are similar to those in England, there are important differences. ASBOs in Scotland can be applied to young people aged 12 and above, compared to 10 and above in England. The 2004 Act also specifically prohibits the use of imprisonment as a sanction for breach of an ASBO by an under 16.

449. The Children's Hearings System also plays a key role in relation to ASBOs. Before granting an Interim ASBO the sheriff must take account of the views of the Children's Reporter. It is likely that the majority of children being considered for an ASBO will be well known to the Hearings System and the Reporter will be able to pass on a range of relevant information that will ensure the best interests of the child is taken into account, for example whether the child has any particular additional support needs or behavioural difficulties that might be contributing to their offending behaviour. Executive guidance is clear that ASBOs are not intended to address behaviour that is merely different or the result of a medical or developmental condition. Before granting a full ASBO, the sheriff must take account of advice from a Children's Hearing as to whether an ASBO is necessary to protect people from further antisocial behaviour. When an ASBO is granted against an under 16 the sheriff also has the power to refer the child to a Children's Hearing to consider whether they need help and support through a supervision requirement.

450. The 2004 Act amended the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 to allow for Restriction of Liberty Orders (ie the use of electronic monitoring) to be imposed on offenders under 16 who are dealt with by the court system. The 2004 Act also provides that a court cannot grant an RLO for an under 16 unless it is satisfied that the relevant local authority will provide appropriate services to support and rehabilitate the child whilst they are subject to it.

451. Intensive Support and Monitoring Services ( ISMS) (also described as "tagging") for children within the hearings system were introduced by the 2004 Act. ISMS can only be used as a direct alternative to secure accommodation. ISMS consists of a wrap around package of care and work with the young person to change their behaviour, reduce risks and increase resilience, coupled with an electronic monitoring device which helps to provide structure and boundaries to a child's life. Additional resources have been allocated to 7 local authorities to fund the support services associated with ISMS. Evaluation is currently underway and a decision on how and when to roll-out ISMS is expected shortly.

452. Courts, in dealing with those persons aged 12 and above who have been convicted of an offence involving anti-social behaviour, have access, as a result of the 2004 Act, to a new disposal, the Community Reparation Order ( CRO) . These orders require the offender to complete between 10 and 100 hours of unpaid work in the community. It is anticipated that very few if any CROs will be imposed on under 16s as the vast majority of such cases are dealt with through the Children's Hearings system.

453. A new power of dispersal was introduced by the 2004 Act to bring relief to communities and deal with antisocial behaviour in particular trouble-spots. A senior police officer must consult the local authority before designating an area where antisocial behaviour is a significant, persistent and serious problem. Police have power to disperse where groups are causing alarm or distress (by presence or behaviour) in the area. It is only an offence if instructions to disperse are not followed.

454. There was concern expressed during the passage of the Act that the dispersal powers were targeted specifically at children. This was never the case and initial evidence is that this is not how the powers have been used. Only 2 out of 6 dispersal orders taken out by August 2006 were targeted specifically at children, for example those engaged in gang fighting and antisocial behaviour. Both orders have been adhered to with no children being charged for not dispersing. In one area the local authority and other local agencies are now looking to provide productive activities for young people in the area to avoid large groups gathering under the influence of alcohol.

Children in detention

455. The Executive's policy is to avoid, wherever possible, depriving under 16s of their liberty under any circumstances and if it is necessary, it must be for the shortest appropriate period of time. Occasionally, there are circumstances under which detaining under 16s in a Young Offenders Institution ( YOI) (which in Scotland holds offenders under the age of 21) or an adult prison cannot be avoided. These circumstances are quite distinct:

• Under 16s who must be detained can be held in a YOI for a very short time pending availability of a secure place;
• Under 16s held in a YOI because it is judged that is more appropriate than a secure unit - and held under an 'unruly certificate' issued by the courts;
• In exceptional circumstances held in an adult prison for a very short period pending their transfer to a YOI;
• In very rare cases where instructed by the court.

456. The majority of those children who are recorded as being held in YOIs are children whose behaviour is so challenging that the courts have certified them as "unruly". These special arrangements in are in place in order to protect those children whose behaviour is so challenging that it would be inappropriate to place them in local authority secure accommodation at that point in time.

457. The decision to detain an under 18 convicted of an offence lies with the court. The Executive has however made available to the courts a number of statutory disposals which provide alternatives to custody, for example Restriction of Liberty Orders, Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, Community Service Orders and Community Reparation Orders. All under 18s held in a YOI are provided with health, education and welfare services provided by professionally qualified staff, for example social workers, teachers, doctors and nurses.

458. Retention in or transfer to a YOI from a secure unit will only be considered if a child's behaviour remains or becomes completely unmanageable within the current placement or where, for example, the child is convicted of further serious charges which suggest that the child would present an unacceptable risk to the safety of other residents or staff. Conversely, where a child makes suitable progress he or she will be considered for a move from a secure establishment to an open setting within the child care system. The policy is also to avoid wherever possible an under 16 being detained in police cells.

459. The Executive has introduced a number of initiatives to help meet the policy aim of keeping children out of detention wherever possible:

• increasing the number of secure accommodation places provision to 125 by 2007 to avoid as far as possible placement of under 16s in YOIs;
• Intensive Support and Monitoring Services as a direct alternative to secure accommodation; and
• The Intensive Support Fund designed to improve the quality of community based supervision of children involved in offending. Projects aim to provide an alternative to secure accommodation and include specialist foster care, intensive support and structured care programmes and residential intensive support units.

Table 67: Under 18s held in prison, by age

Source: Scottish Prison Service
Age is at time of first entry during the year or start of the year if already in custody
*There was a third person aged 14 but they are not counted here as they didn't spend a night in custody and were released the same day.

Table 68: Under 18s held in prison, 2005-06

Notes
The remand and sentence figures do not add to the total because some served time both as a remand and a sentenced prisoner. The remand figure includes those who are convicted but are still awaiting sentence.
Average time is not necessarily one continuous period

Table 69: Under 18s held in prison, continuous periods in custody, 2005-06

Notes
The remand and sentence figures do not add to the total because some served time both as a remand and a sentenced prisoner and sometimes these periods would follow directly on from each other without the prisoner leaving custody. The remand figure includes those who are convicted but are still awaiting sentence.
*Some had more than one period of custody

Advocacy for children in detention

460. The Executive strongly supports the use of advocacy services for children in secure care. Independent advocacy and a representation service is available to all such children. It is a needs led service and children are able to attend the regular visits by Who Cares? Scotland advocacy staff or request extra meetings. Evaluation of the service is routinely collected from both the children and secure care staff who use the service.

461. All prison establishments have in place local authority social workers who prioritise advice to vulnerable children. There are around 65 social workers working in Scottish prisons. All prisons also have "Links Centres" where a variety of advice services are available from independent agencies to all prisoners, including under 18s. They also have access to a number of complaints routes: internal, confidential complaints procedure which is overseen by an independent complaints commissioner; and access to members of the Visiting Committee who are independent from prison and can investigate any complaints.

Recovery and social re-integration

462. The Children's Hearings System focuses not only on the deeds of a child, but on their needs. Children's Hearings make decisions which are in the best interests of each child, taking their welfare needs into account at the same time as addressing their offending behaviour. This is a fundamental principle which underpins Scotland's system of youth justice and facilitates the physical and psychological recovery of children while making sure their offending behaviour is addressed. Objective 2 of the National Standards for Youth Justice is specifically concerned with improving the range and availability of programmes which would assist in rehabilitating children and ensuring they are integrated into society.

463. An exercise to map the range and availability of services carried out in 2003/04 showed that each local youth justice team had identified the number of places needed for children with particular needs. Details were collected on all projects, under 4 types of response - prevention, diversionary, intensive and restorative justice/services for victims.

Table 70: Provision of youth justice services, by category of response, 2003-04

464. Access to programmes and other services, and the full and timely implementation of action plan and supervision requirements will continue to be the subject of joint inspection.

465. To support this work, with specific regard to reintegration of those who have been detained in a secure setting, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 outlines the powers and duties that local authorities have to provide throughcare and aftercare for those children who are looked after by local authorities. The Executive also supports a number of related initiatives and projects:

• The provision of close support places for those leaving secure care;
• Intensive Support and Monitoring Services providing children with a supported method of reintegrating with their community;
• Scottish framework for through care and aftercare assessment and planning - Pathways produced in 2004; and
• The Intensive Support Fund - objective of improving the support available to those returning from secure care to their communities.

466. Given the ethos of the youth justice system in Scotland, all of the funding made available to partners - £63m per annum - can be described as contributing towards the rehabilitation and integration of children into society.

467. Specific projects to assist with rehabilitation and integration which are directly supported by the Executive, such as those funded by the Intensive Support Fund are independently evaluated. Services provided by local authorities and other partners are subject to their quality assurance procedures and will also be subject to the joint inspection of services for children in due course.

468. For children aged 16 and over who are dealt with through the adult criminal justice system, probation orders offer the most flexible of the available community disposals and are designed to address an individual's offending behaviour. To support the work provided for within a standard probation order a significant number of support programmes or interventions are funded to address the needs of specific groups such as young offenders.

469. The use by courts of community sentences, particularly probation orders continues on an upward trend: in 2004-05, 740 probation orders were imposed on offenders aged 16-17 and 576 Community Service Orders. Overall the number of probation orders increased by 9% in 2004-05 and community service orders by 12% over the previous year. The most recent national reconviction figures indicate a reconviction rate (for all offenders) over a 2 year period of 42% for Community Service Orders and 58% for Probation Orders compared with 60% for those discharged from custody.

Support for victims of crime

470. The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration ( SCRA) introduced a Victim Information Service ( VIS) in February 2006. The Children's Reporter provides information about a case, in which an offence has allegedly been committed by a child or young person, to victims and other specified interests. Evidence shows that the victims of crime committed by children are often children themselves. SCRA is currently evaluating the VIS to inform its development. Work is also being undertaken to ensure that services for victims of youth crime are consistent with those offered to other victims and take other approaches such as restorative practices into account.

471. A range of initiatives are in place to support all victims of crime, for example funding for Victim Support Scotland, a voluntary organisation that provides emotional and practical support to victims of crime. Generally speaking, children over the age of 14 years have access to these support mechanisms in their own right, and parents and carers have access these services on behalf of children below the age of 14 years.

Data on children in conflict with the law

472. In 2004-05, 17,494 children and young people were referred to the Children's Reporter on offence grounds (see Table 68 above) .

473. There is no specific data on recidivism rates of those in the Hearings System on offence grounds. In 2004-05 however, 1260 of the 17,494 children referred to the Children's Reporter on offence grounds were identified as persistent young offenders (ie a child in the Children's Hearings System with 5 or more offending episodes within a 6 month period) . This is 7% of children referred to the Children's Reporter on offence grounds.

474. Of those aged under 18 who were discharged from custody or given a non-custodial sentence in 1999, 56% were reconvicted within 2 years.

c) Children in situations of exploitation

Children in employment

475. The Children (Protection at Work) (Scotland) Regulations came into force in April 2006 bringing legislation in Scotland into line with EU Directive 94/33 on the protection of children at work. The regulations limit to 12 hours per week the number that any child below 16 can work during term time. This is a reduction from the previous maxima of 17 hours per week for those under 15 and 20 hours per week for those aged 15.

476. The regulations reinforce the Executive's commitment to safeguard the educational opportunities and the health and physical wellbeing of children in employment by limiting the hours they work, while allowing them to continue to enjoy the rewards and experience of work. It is however apparent that monitoring and enforcement of the restrictions on the employment of children is inconsistent. Better monitoring is required and the Scottish Executive is committed to consulting on what a proportionate and effective system of monitoring might entail.

Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse

477. The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 takes forward the Executive's commitment to protecting children from risk or harm, including sexual exploitation. This provides for a list of those deemed unsuitable to work with children.

478. The Executive also brought forward the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 which strengthens the law protecting children from those who would sexually abuse or exploit them. It introduces a range of new offences including paying for the sexual services of a child under 18; causing or inciting the provision of sexual services by a child under 18 or child pornography; arranging or facilitating the provision of sexual services by a child under 18 or child pornography; and grooming a child under 16 for the purposes of committing a sexual offence. The Act was widely supported by those working with vulnerable children as a useful tool to help reduce sexual exploitation and child prostitution.

479. The Executive also helped with the roll out of the Violent Offender and Sex Offender Register ( ViSOR) in Scotland. ViSOR is used to store and share information and intelligence on those individuals who have been identified as posing a risk of serious harm to the public. ViSOR was rolled out to the police in Scotland in early 2005, supported by funding from the Executive. Implementation across Scotland makes it easier for the police to share intelligence on sex offenders and violent offenders.

Sale, trafficking and abduction

480. The Home Office and the Executive recently consulted on proposals for a UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking. One of the aims of the consultation document was to improve and expand our knowledge of the scale of child trafficking in the UK and following the consultation, further development work is underway on formalising the next steps for the Action Plan which we expect to include specific actions relating to child trafficking. A summary analysis of the consultation responses is now available on the Home Office website and this will help to inform the development of the Action Plan.

d) Children living or working on the street

481. The Rough Sleepers Initiative has been in operation since 1999. Local authorities receive funding to assess and provide for the accommodation and support needs of people sleeping rough or at risk of having to sleep rough. The Executive is not aware that families with young children are living on the street in Scotland. Some teenagers may sleep rough. Where that is the case these children would be assisted by projects funded by the Rough Sleepers Initiative but local authorities will also have duties to provide for them under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended.

482. The Rough Sleepers Initiative provides outreach services that respond to the needs of children sleeping rough and offer some protection from exploitation, for example violence or sexual exploitation. The Executive does of course encourage children sleeping rough to come forward for assistance. Given their circumstances, those that do will be deemed as having a priority need for accommodation under homelessness legislation.

483. The Executive has also provided funding support for a refuge for young runaways based in Glasgow. The refuge accommodates around 100 children each year, mainly aged 12-15. While it is primarily for children from the Glasgow and central belt areas, runaways who arrive in the city from elsewhere can also access the refuge. The refuge provides a safe base where children can get support and help from workers who put their needs first and listen to their concerns and fears. When a child is admitted, the police and local authority are notified so that family or carers can be reassured about his or her safety.