Commentary on Provisions Part 1 – children’s hearings system Section 3 – child assessment and child protection measures: secure accommodation
21.Under the 2011 Act, a child may be taken to and kept in a place of safety in a number of circumstances. These include where a child assessment order(9) or a child protection order(10) is made, where a justice of the peace makes an order under section 55, and where a police officer considers, under section 56, that it is necessary to do so to protect the child from harm. In each case, the places to which the child can be taken include secure accommodation.
22.This section inserts new section 57A into the 2011 Act, the effect of which is to limit the circumstances in which a child may be placed in secure accommodation under any of these orders or by the police. Secure accommodation may be used as a place of safety only where it is necessary to do so and one or more of the following applies—
	the child has a history of absconding, would be likely to abscond again if not kept in secure accommodation, and, if the child were to abscond, the child’s health, safety or development would be at risk,
	the child is likely to self-harm if not kept in secure accommodation, or
	the child is likely to cause physical or psychological harm to another person if not kept in secure accommodation.
23.In addition, the section also inserts new section 57B into the 2011 Act. This confers a power on the Scottish Ministers to make further provision by regulations(11) about the placing and keeping of children in secure accommodation under any of these orders or by the police. For example, regulations under section 57B might make provision requiring the person who is in charge of the residential establishment in which the secure accommodation is located to consent to the placing and keeping of the child there, or requiring the agreement of the chief social work officer of the relevant local authority. The regulations might also set out the criteria and procedure for the giving of such consent or agreement. This new section mirrors existing provisions(12) under which the use of secure accommodation can be regulated, as well as other provision being made by this Act.(13) This will allow provision to be made, similar to that already contained in the Secure Accommodation (Scotland) Regulations 2013,(14) for the welfare of children detained in secure accommodation.