Secure care sector warns against Scottish Government’s monopoly move |
The Scottish Government’s decision to fund a single secure care provider has sparked alarm among sector leaders, who warn it risks creating a monopoly, driving up costs and undermining care quality, warns Roisin McGoldrick.
The Secure Care sector in Scotland is generally unsung and mostly unknown. It provides, through a small number of charitable organisations secure & intensive care services for vulnerable young people. In June, the Minister for Children and Young People, Natalie Don-Innes, commended the “care and professionalism” shown by the sector which she rightly described as “vital and valued”. The Good Shepherd Centre (GSC) is one of those providers, we work collaboratively with the Scottish Government to supply high quality and secure care.
In October, days after we updated the Minister and her officials on our available capacity and our plans to expand and invest, in line with the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act which will come into full effect next year, we were blindsided when decades of collaborative working appeared to be abandoned by the government in favour of funding a single monopoly provider. Natalie Don-Innes’ announcement that the Scottish Government would invest substantial amounts of public funding in the Kibble Campus in