Concerns over child restraint
HUNDREDS of cases of children being restrained in Glasgow have been reported.
The Children’s Commissioner is concerned poor record keeping could lead to “unsafe and unlawful practice” in Scotland.
There were 412 cases of child restraint used in city schools in the last year. Glasgow City Council said it has a “clear policy” on restraint.
THERE were 412 incidents of restraint being used in Glasgow schools, although the children’s Tsar claimed Glasgow City Council failed to respond to a request for information.
Yesterday the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland released a call for national policies and guidance on the restraint and seclusion of children.
A study of all local authorities showed a lack of consistency in the recording of incidents across council areas.
Commissioner Bruce Adamson claims this could lead to unsafe and unlawful practices.
But Glasgow’s education bosses said the city has a clear policy on physical intervention that was developed in 2015.It is due to be reviewed next year.
All physical interventions, a spokesman said, are recorded on the council’s Health and Safety (HANDS) system.
From June 2017 to May 2018, 212 incidents of restraint were recorded while another 200 physical interventions were noted.
A spokesman said: “In Glasgow we do not record the use of seclusion centrally as it is not a practice that we condone or recommend.”
Mr Adamson said: “Our investigation into the use of restraint and seclusion revealed a complete lack of consistency across authorities.
“Some authorities record incidents, but have no guidelines; some have guidelines but cannot tell us how often they use the procedure.
“We have heard from young people, their parents and carers how these practices are used as discipline or punishment, without an understanding of needs or care for individuals.”
Asked for Glasgow’s response to the consultation, a spokeswoman for the commissioner said Glasgow had not responded to a request for information.
However, the local authority said it had asked for a meeting with Mr Adamson to discuss the city’s policies but had received no response.
A spokesman said: “We recognised at the time when the Children’s Commissioner’s investigation survey request came in that we were not confident in giving a full response as we recognised that we did not have the facility on the HANDS system to record incidents where physical intervention was used under Duty of Care.
“In response we provided our basic figures but specifically asked to meet with the Children’s Commissioners Office to discuss the issues.
“Had we been able to meet [the council] would have been able to explain that we were aware of issues and we had a plan to rectify this.”
The council spokesman also said teaching staff receive training in use of restraint and physical interventions and these are only used in response to risk to the child or another person.
The EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, welcomed the call for more support for teachers confronted with challenging behaviour.