Children in care 'being let down by government'

VULNERABLE children in residential care are being failed by the Scottish Government and councils, leading to lives of unemployment, homelessness and prison, Audit Scotland has warned.

Despite at least 250 million a year being spent on care homes, many children leave with poor educational skills and suffer mental health problems and other difficulties as adults.

Today's report says this is because care plans lack clear action points and long-term goals.

The country's residential care bill rose by 68 per cent between 2001-2 and 200-9, despite efforts to support children in their family homes where it is safe to do so, or place them with family, friends or foster parents, rather than in care homes.

This was partly due to a rise in the number of children needing support, from nine in 1,000 in 1998, to more than 14 in 1,000 in 2008.

Audit Scotland criticised councils for failing to make use of costing models, having no estimates for the costs of alternatives, and not getting value for money.

John Baillie, chairman of the Accounts Commission, said: "Residential care cannot be expected to fix all the difficulties faced by vulnerable children and their families, but there is a lot that councils and their partners could be doing to improve these services."

Robert Black, Auditor General for Scotland, added: "Given the relatively small numbers of children looked after in residential care across Scotland and the very specialised nature of the services, there is considerable scope for a national strategic approach.

"It is encouraging that the Scottish Government has already set up a strategic implementation group involving councils, NHS boards (and] residential care providers, but this must lead to urgent action."

There are approximately 1,600 children in residential care in Scotland at any one time, about one-tenth of the children supported by local authorities.

Karen Whitefield, Scottish Labour's children and early years spokeswoman, said: "Looked-after children are among the most vulnerable in our communities and this report makes it clear that they need better support."

Margaret Smith, the Scottish Liberal Democrats' spokeswoman for education and young people, said: "The life chances for children in residential care can be very poor, so it is imperative that the government does everything it can to improve the care they receive."

A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said: "We are disappointed and frustrated that this report fails to get across the effort being put in by local government to improve the lives of some of Scotland's most vulnerable children. This report would have been more relevant had we not already accepted the findings of the National Review of Residential Childcare, which was published last year."The NRCCI involved a wide range of partners and produced a well thought out and balanced report that we are acting on. However, we cannot deliver change over night, and the sad fact is that we continue to wrestle with the effect on families of problems such as drug, alcohol and other forms of abuse that have bedevilled Scottish society for generations."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We commissioned a major review of the residential sector precisely because we are committed to making a real improvement to the outcomes of children in residential care.

"Our Looked After Children Strategic Implementation Group is driving forward reforms which sit alongside coherent, wide-reaching and multi-agency efforts to ensure we are breaking the cycle of inequalities."