§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average cost per child in care per week in Scotland.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe estimated average cost of a child in residential care or foster care was £50 per week in 1977–78. This excludes local authority central staff and administration costs and loan charges, which cannot be identified separately.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total annual cost of keeping children in care in Scotland at the latest date for which figures are available; and what was the equivalent cost in 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1975, respectively.
§ Mr. FairgrieveExpenditure in respect of children in residential care or foster care was as follows:
1955–56 £1.7 million 1960–61 £2.5 million 1965–66 £3.8 million 1970–71 £6.5 million 1975–76 £20.0 million 1977–78 £26.5 million Figures are net of income and exclude local authority central staff and administration costs and loan charges, which cannot be identified separately.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if legal aid is available to parents in care proceedings in which there is a possible conflict between the interests of the child and the wish of the parents; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RifkindIn Scotland legal aid may be made available for all types of care proceedings before the courts, including appeals from children's hearings under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Legal aid does not arise in proceedings before children's hearings themselves, since these are essentially informal and non-adversarial.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in Scotland were in the care of local authorities in 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 and 345W 1975, respectively; and how many of these were in voluntary care, in care as the result of the assumption of parental rights and in care as the result of care
Total No. of children in care (or under supervision where appropriate No. in voluntary care No. under parental rights resolutions No. with supervision requirement from children's hearings (1) (2) (3) (4) 1955 … 10,070 Not available Not available Not applicable 1960 … 9,680 1965 … 10,457 1970 … 11,008 8,687 707 *1976 … 17,318 7,758 1,537 8,921 *No figures were collected for 1975; a new statistical system was introduced from 31 March 1976 There are no care orders in Scotland. Figures for 1976 include children subject to supervision requirements made by children's hearings set up in 1971 under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in Scotland are currently in the care of local authorities; and how many of these are in voluntary care as the result of the assumption of parental rights and under a care order, respectively.
§ Mr. FairgrieveFigures at 31 March 1978 are as follows:
No. of children in care or under supervision 17,107 No. in voluntary care 7,634
Year Estimated population aged 0–17 (thousands) Children in care or under supervision (thousands) Rate per thousand children aged 0–17 1955 … … … … 1,494.1 10.1 6.7 1960 … … … … 1,557.8 9.7 6.2 1965 … … … … 1,585.3 10.5 6.6 1970 … … … … 1,597.0 11.0 6.9 1976* … … … … 1,519.5 17.3 11.4 1978 … … … … 1,458.7 17.1 11.7 * No figures were collected for 1975: a new statistical system was introduced from 31 March 1976. The figures for 1976 and 1978 include children subject to supervision requirements made by children's hearings set up in 1971 under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968; they are not therefore directly comparable with figures given for earlier years.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children under 18 years of age are estimated to have been admitted to care as the result of parents or guardians being homeless or as the result of the illness of a parent, respectively.
346Worders in each year for which the figures are given.
§ Mr. FairgrieveAvailable information is set out in the table below:
No. under parental rights resolutions 1,410* No. with supervision requirement from children's hearings 8,871 * Excluding Glasgow and Ayr Divisons of Strathclyde for which detailed information is not available.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the total number of children under 18 years of age in Scotland in 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1975 and at the latest date for which figures are available; and what proportion per 1,000 of these children was in care.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe information is as follows:
§ Mr. FairgrieveFor the year ended 31 March 1978 figures for Scotland, excluding Glasgow and Ayr divisions of Strathclyde, for which information is not available, are as follows:
Reasons for admission to care No. of children Family being homeless 194 Short-term illness of parent 457 Long-term illness of parent 34
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children admitted to care in 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975 and at the latest date for which figures are available were returned 347W to the care of a parent or parents within a year of their admission.
§ Mr. FairgrieveIn the year ended 31 March 1978, 2,474 children in Scotland—excluding the Glasgow and Ayr Divisions of Strathclyde, for which figures are not available—were discharged from care or had their supervision requirement ended after spending less than a year in care or under supervision. Information about the number of those children who were returned to the care of their parents could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. No information is available for the earlier years.