When the report of the Joint Independent Inquiry on Kerelaw Residential School and Secure Unit will be published.

The Report of the Independent Inquiry on Kerelaw Residential School and Secure Provision is published today. A copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 48089).
The Scottish Government welcomes the thorough and comprehensive report which has been completed by Mr Eddie Frizzell and his team.
Glasgow City Council also deserves praise for its willingness to submit its management of Kerelaw and its subsequent handling of the closure of Kerelaw School to independent and detailed scrutiny.
I will be writing to all relevant agencies to urge them to consider carefully how they will use the findings and recommendations contained within the report to evaluate their services and to take any necessary action to ensure their responsibilities for the care and protection of children are being met fully.
The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council accept the recommendations in full.
Three of the 37 recommendations require specific action by the Scottish Government but we will support all our partners to implement all of the recommendations.
1. Listening to Children
1.1 The report makes clear that some children within Kerelaw communicated their unhappiness in a variety of ways. Some made complaints directly to the Kerelaw management and others to their social worker. Some were acted on but this was not systematic. There are two recommendations which call for action by the Scottish Government. The first is to develop a national mechanism to gather, collate and analyse complaints about residential child care. At present, the Care Commission investigates complaints made about all the services it regulates and discussions take place between the inspectorates and other relevant parties where there is a perception of risk. However, the Scottish Government welcomes the opportunity to explore with these parties how this process could be better developed to provide improved information at a national level.
1.2 The second recommendation calls for the Scottish Government to review the funding of advocacy services. The funding of advocacy services is largely the responsibility of each local authority and NHS board. Nevertheless, there is a need to review the provision of advocacy services to all children. I have therefore commissioned a national survey to identify the access, availability and funding of services to children. We will seek to publish this by the end of the 2009.
1.3 The Kerelaw Report discusses the important role of inspection to ensure that a provider of residential child care has robust arrangements for listening and acting on concerns expressed by the child. External scrutiny through the regular HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and the twice yearly Care Commission inspections, together with the overview provided by Social Work Inspection Agency in its performance management inspections will review complaints procedures and the provision of children''s advocates and children''s rights officers and how effective these are. External inspections also provide the opportunity for children to raise any matter of concern during an inspection. I am aware that the Care Commission has recently reviewed its methodology to better reflect the views of young people, their families/carers and other visiting professionals. I expect all the inspectorates to keep this issue under continual review and ensure that action is taken if the evidence is not available that children are listened to appropriately.
1.4 An important recommendation is made to providers to ensure that staff are clear when it is safe and appropriate to use restraint methods. In 2008, the Care Commission reported on how the guidance Holding Safely and recommended some improvements. These are being considered by a working group of providers, supported by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care and th