Councils urged to provide homes for runaways

Social affairs correspondent

Wednesday 19 September 2012

The largest Scottish children's charity is calling for councils to be obliged to provide dedicated accommodation for young runaways.

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Stephen Naysmith

Aberlour Child Care Trust, which is marking the 10th anniversary of its own young runaways service this week, said the Scottish Government should include a duty on councils as part of the forthcoming Children and Young People Bill.

Ken Dunbar, chief executive of Aberlour, told MSPs and ministers the charity's refuge for runaway children – at a secret location in Glasgow – was unique in Scotland, but added "we wish it wasn't".The charity defines a runaway as a child who spends 24 hours away from their home environment, without their parents or other responsible adults knowing where they are or what they are doing. It says an estimated 9000 such children run away from home each year in Scotland, but only one in three are reported to the authorities.According to a study of young runaways in Scotland, one in nine children will run away before their 16th birthday and one in six of those will be the victim of a physical or sexual assault while away from home.A spokesman for Aberlour pointed out that young people can already request accommodation from local authorities, but often fear to ask for help.Alex Cole-Hamilton, the charity's head of policy, said: "Sometimes children have a very legitimate reasons for running from home. We want to see a duty on local authorities to provide an age-appropriare refuge."This could be a bricks and mortar building, he suggested, or a network of foster families. The charity is also calling for better checks on children who have fled the family home."There are two reasons to be concerned about runaways. They are either running from something or to something," Mr Cole-Hamilton added.

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Councils urged to provide homes for runaways

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