Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group
In 2019, Dr Laura Steckley, Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde, led a plenary presentation session at the Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care Conference (SIRCC) aimed at:
- facilitating a shared consideration of the use and impact of physical restraint from multiple perspectives, including care leavers, practitioners, managers and care inspectors
- helping conference participants to explore some of the complexities around the practice of physical restraint
- inspiring a collective endeavour to reduce, and where possible eliminate, physical restraint in residential child care establishments.
Following the session, a group of people with care experience, practitioners, leaders, managers, policy leads and researchers came together and formed the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG), hosted by CELCIS. Since this time, the Group has been examining what is happening now, what else needs to be known, and what else needs to happen in children's houses, services, policies, and wider systems, to ensure the eradication of harm caused by physical restraint.
Videos were produced for SIRCC conferences from 2020 – 2022, detailing the journey from the initial conversation through to the establishing and growth of SPRAG and the work it is doing to reduce the use of physical restraint in residential child care and wider care settings.
In this video, produced for SIRCC 2020 online, Dr Laura Steckley from the University of Strathclyde and Lorraine Sillars and Gordon Main from CELCIS discuss the complexities of physical restraint, and reflect on the first year of SPRAG.
For SIRCC 2021, members, including a young person, produced this video outlining the history of the group, its current actions and share their reflections, beliefs, hopes, and aspirations regarding physical restraint in Scotland. They challenged SPRAG to think about next steps.
Physical restraint is an emotive subject, therefore some of this content may be difficult to watch.
Filmed for SIRCC 2022, members of SPRAG reflected on the progress and action of the group over the previous year and outlined the group’s aspirations for the year ahead.
SPRAG is a member-led group and has grown representation from over 70 organisations from a range of sectors and perspectives, individuals and organisations across Scotland by the autumn of 2023.
The vision for the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG)
The Group has developed the following vision statement to guide its work and development. It reflects common ground and there are and will likely continue to be, differences in perspectives held by members of the group.
“We are committed to bringing about more effective, empathic, loving ways of holding children, young people and the adults who care for them in residential child care – in relationally rich environments, populated by adults who are properly equipped with requisite skills, knowledge and ways of being with children in the way that children need.
"We will work towards making coercive forms of holding less or even unnecessary and, when children are restrained, it is carried out relationally and with care.”
The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group
SPRAG activities
The group is involved in a variety of activities designed to positively impact efforts to reduce and/or eliminate the use of physical restraint, including responding to Scottish Government consultations and collaborating with the Care Inspectorate on defining restraint and collecting information on restraint annually.
Impact, Influence and Outcomes
The work of SPRAG has impact and influence on practice and policy in a number of ways, including:
- Collective voice: Scottish Government consultation responses submitted
- Collaboration with the Care Inspectorate on
- Defining restraint
- Annual data returns
- Restrictive practices self-evaluation tool
- Restrictive practices notification
- The ongoing development of a learning resource in relation to Serious Imminent Harm and Last Resort
- Physical Restraint Appreciative Inquiry
- Reflection and Action Learning Forum
SPRAG's resonse to the Scottish Government's Proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill
In August 2024, SPRAG responded to a Scottish Government consultation on the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill, particularly to section 11 (Restraint and seclusion).
Looking back and looking forward (2023/24)
Listen to the audio of the full conversation.
Priority focus areas for SPRAG are:
- Continue to build close alignment and collaborate with other key stakeholders and decision-makers.
- Continue to develop and implement a research agenda.
- Continue to develop SPRAG Reflection and Learning Forum (RALF).
- Continued development of high-quality learning resources for practitioners, managers and leaders.
- Continue to develop efforts to involve and listen to children, young people, and adults with care experience.
Reflection and Action Learning Forum
In 2022, SPRAG was successful in an application for The Promise Partnership funding to develop a Reflection and Action Learning Forum (RALF), a regular, reflective and safe space for practitioners and managers to come together to focus on practice relating to restraint and co-regulation of children in their care and the adults who care for them.
Hosted and facilitated by CELCIS and the University of Strathclyde, an oversight group of SPRAG members will collaboratively support this project between 2023-2025.
In this video, members of the forum speak about early impact, what has been rewarding and any challenges they have faced in year one of supporting the roll out of RALF.
About the Reflection and Action Learning Forum (RALF)
The RALF model was co-designed with SPRAG members as part of the group’s overarching commitment to help bring about a change in culture with regards to restraint and restrictive practice across the residential child care and the wider care sector.
The aim of RALF is to provide a practical and evidence-based approach that supports members of the residential child care workforce to develop the necessary habits and skills associated with genuinely reflective practice, even when some behaviour exhibited by children or young people can feel challenging.
RALF Content and Delivery Membership of the RALF forum offers:
- Structured, facilitated spaces that use reflective processes to challenge and creatively expand members’ perspectives and problem-solving capabilities
- The opportunity and ability to develop new ways of thinking around responses to children and young people's distress and the efforts to reduce or eliminate the use of physical restraint
- Training and support to become facilitators to provide Reflection and Action Learning Forums within cross-organisational groups of staff working in Residential Child Care across Scotland.
- The opportunity to apply to become facilitators. This will be a cascading model with an ambition to multiply these forums as the approach evolves.
- The opportunity for facilitators to become members of a facilitator community of practice with focused sessions attended by experts in action learning and reflection, as well as one-to-one relational conversations with skilled members of an oversight group.
- The ability to influence the present and future RALF model and levels of impact through ongoing data capture and analysis
Contact the team at CELCIS@strath.ac.uk for more information.
SPRAG and The Promise
“Scotland must strive to become a nation that does not restrain its children” (The Promise of the Independent Care Review, 2020)
As a group, SPRAG was motivated and energised by the publication of The Promise by the Independent Care Review in 2020. The findings and conclusions consolidated and reaffirmed many of the conversations the group were already having.
The Promise Scotland is represented on the group and SPRAG is a close working partner in the Scottish Government’s Keeping the Promise implementation plan.
Find out more about SPRAG
How do I join?
The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) meets online regularly with the option for members to become involved in additional sub-group activities as they arise.
SPRAG is a member-led group and has grown representation from over 70 organisations from a range of sectors and perspectives, individuals and organisations across Scotland by the autumn of 2023.
SPRAG is hosted by CELCIS.
If you are interested in finding out more about SPRAG and how you might become involved, please get in touch with a member of our team at celcis@strath.ac.uk putting 'Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group' in the subject line.
Resources
Holding Safely: This guide was written to help reduce those occasions when practitioners need to restrain a young person, to prepare them for the times when this is absolutely necessary and to more effectively meeting children and young people’s needs and upholding their rights in Scotland. This guidance was originally published in 2005. A further section entitled ‘Guidance on minimising the use of physical restraint in Scotland’s residential child care establishments’ was added in 2014.
Definitions: SPRAG members have worked together to collectively agree and recommend a set of definitions around physical restraint, that they feel accurately reflected experience and practice; and have supported efforts towards the development of a consistent understanding of these definitions. The Care Inspectorate has endorsed these recommended definitions and worked with the group to update and include these in the guidance document, ‘Records that all registered care services must keep and guidance on notification reporting’.
Physical Restraint Appreciative Inquiry report: The University of Strathclyde has published ‘An Appreciative Inquiry into Holding in Residential Child Care: Pilot Report’ by Senior Lecturer Dr Laura Steckley and Lee Hollins from the University’s Department of Social Work and Social Policy, and CELCIS’s Improving Care Experiences Consultant Sarah Deeley and Education Consultant Michael Bettencourt.
Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on the Bill in 2023.
Restraint and Seclusion (Prevention in Schools) (Scotland) Bill: The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) responded to consultation on the Bill in 2023.
Physical Intervention in Schools guidance: The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) responded to consultation on this guidance.