Holding Safely

HOLDING
SAFELY

A Guide for Residential Child Care
Practitioners and Managers about
Physically Restraining
Children and Young People.

Edited by Jennifer Davidson, Dennis McCullough,
Laura Steckley and Tim Warren

© The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care 2005

Published by the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care

Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
University of Strathclyde
76 Southbrae Drive
Glasgow
G13 1PP

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publisher and the copyright owners.

The Ministerial foreword and the Scottish Executive and Social Work
Inspection Agency logos are © Crown Copyright 2005. They may not be
used without express prior permission from the respective parties.

ISBN-1 900743 28 0

Designed by Tom Malone, Learning Services, University of Strathclyde

Holding Safely

Ministerial Foreword
Our vision is for a Scotland where all our children and young people are safe, nurtured,
healthy, achieving, active, included, respected and responsible. In trying to achieve
this vision, we face many challenges, but we must be prepared to overcome
them.

In the spring of last year the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care was
asked to take on the difﬁcult task of producing guidance on the restraining of
children and young people in residential establishments. I welcome this important
guidance.

Residential child care is intensive and at times very difﬁcult work. Staff in
residential childcare, therefore, need training, advice, supervision and support
in undertaking this demanding work, since they are often doing the hardest of
social care jobs. This good practice guidance has been commissioned to assist
practitioners in working out policies and practices for restraining children and
young people where no other appropriate options are available.

This guidance offers what might for some seem a radical approach to the care of
children, based on a partnership between staff and children and young people,
to ensure that those children and young people are safe and able to develop
constructive ways of living. And this guidance will help people in residential child
care across Scotland, with the appropriate training, to review if, when, why and
how they restrain children, and to arrange matters so that the welfare of those
children and young people is always given paramount importance, even and
especially when they are likely to harm themselves or others.

My thanks go to the many experts who have given so generously of their time, who
have managed to deliver such helpful guidance. But more especially my thanks
go to the young people whose sobering voices we heard in Letʼs Face It! They
showed great courage in speaking out about their experiences of being restrained
and we appreciate all that we have learned from them.

I recommend this guidance as good practice, and I hope that all residential childcare
homes and schools will apply this document rigorously, to develop the quality of
care and restrain children safely.

Euan Robson MSP
Deputy Minister for Education and Young People

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SIRCC Foreword
Residential child care practitioners are often doing the most difﬁcult jobs: they work
closely with children and young people who face signiﬁcant challenges and
express intense emotional reactions, and in this environment their patience, skills
and personal strength are regularly tested. And yet the children under their care
can also be creative, caring and capable, and practitioners must engage with
them in ways that help them grow to their full potential. The weight of these
responsibilities is heaviest when a child or young person is most distraught and
violent, and if they cannot be calmed, staff must be prepared to intervene effectively
and safely. Employers and managers are responsible to ensure that they are indeed
prepared, through training, advice and supervision, to undertake this aspect of their
demanding work. Yet despite the level of these responsibilities, there is a general
absence of recent good practice guidance on the topic of physically restraining
children and young people.

This lack of guidance is just one good reason to develop Holding Safely. There are
others: In the Who Cares? Scotland report, Letʼs Face It! young people themselves
have said how important it is that the staff caring for them know (1) how to restrain
them properly, (2) what are the right reasons, and (3) how to listen genuinely to
their views. In their recent review of childrenʼs rights in the United Kingdom, the
United Nations monitoring body for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
monitoring body called for the United Kingdom to review its use of physical
restraint. We need to pay more attention to both the young peopleʼs, and the UNʼs
concerns.

When the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care was asked by the Scottish
Executive Social Work Services Inspectorate (now the Social Work Inspection
Agency) to produce this guidance, we were both honoured and daunted by the
task. We were daunted, because we recognised that guidance which focuses on
physically restraining young people will isolate restraint from the critical de-
escalating interventions which must surround it. We were concerned that by
producing guidance which focuses on physically restraining young people, some
readers might interpret this as an encouragement to use physical restraint. We are
fully aware of the importance of considering physical restraint in the broader context
of ethos and de-escalation interventions. We have no intention of encouraging the
restraint of young people where it is not absolutely necessary.

We believe that directly addressing the restraint of children and young people
emphasizes the need for practitioners to have the right skills, knowledge and
attitudes. Taking account of this guidance should reduce those occasions when
you need to restrain a young person, and prepare you for the times when this is
absolutely necessary.

continued

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I have referred to ʻweʼ, as this document was created by a committed and
passionate group of managers, practitioners and experts in the ﬁeld, and informed
by young people and staff who have spoken candidly about their experiences of
being restrained and restraining. We thank the writers for all their hard work and
the young people for their courage in speaking out about their experiences of being
restrained. This guidance could not have existed without their willingness to share
their experiences, time and vast knowledge.

Our hope is that this guidance will take us one step closer to more effectively meeting
children and young peopleʼs needs and upholding their rights in Scotland.

Jennifer Davidson
Director, Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care

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Membership of the working group
This guidance has been put together by the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
(SIRCC). They invited the following to assist them in producing this good practice
guidance on restraining children in residential child care.

Jane Arrowsmith, Head Teacher, Oakbank School

Ian Beattie, Principal Officer Child Care, Renfrewshire Council Social Work Department

Jennifer Davidson, Director, Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care

Denis Ferrie, Head of Education, St Philips School

Clare Gent, Project Manager, NCH Scotland.

Di Hart, Principal Officer – Children in Public Care, National Childrenʼs Bureau

Andrew Hosie, Lecturer, Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care

Andrew Kendrick, Professor of Residential Child Care, Glasgow School of Social Work

Meg Lindsay, Quality of Care Consultant, CareVisions

Eddie McCaffrey, Head Teacher, Seafield School

Dennis McCullough, Former Head of the Department of Social Work, University of
Strathclyde

Janet Miller, Learning and Development Adviser, Scottish Social Services Council

Brodie Paterson, Lecturer, University of Stirling

Janis Ringrose, National Advocacy Manager, Who Cares? Scotland

ey ,
Laura Steckley,, Lecturer, Glasgow School of Social Work

Tim Warr en, Inspector of Social Work, Social Work Services Inspectorate
Jane Weir, Care Commission Officer, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care

Thanks to Paul Tweedie of the Scottish Executive for his spreadsheet skills and patience.

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Status of this guidance
It may be useful to clarify that this guidance aims to set out current best practice on
restraining children. As such it does not impose legal obligations nor is it an
authoritative statement of the law -- these are essentially matters for the courts,
who will always look at the individual circumstances of each case. You should
always reﬂect on whether the particular situation you ﬁnd yourself in can be
answered with reference to this guidance alone and consider seeking further advice.
This said, Holding Safely could potentially be referred to in legal proceedings, and
if residential child care practitioners and managers follow it, it could help to avoid
an adverse judgement by a court.

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Contents

Glossary Page viii

Preface Page xi

One: Deﬁnition and Introduction Page 1

Two: Creating the Right Conditions Page 9

Three: Training for the Physical Restraint of Children Page 19

Four: Risk Assessment and Care Planning Page 25

Five: The Practice of Restraining Children Page 35

Six: Ending the Physical Restraint of a Young Person Page 45

Seven: Learning from Events Page 53

Eight: Recording the Event and Letting Others Know Page 59

Nine: Monitoring the Restraint of Young People Page 67

Ten: Areas of Danger and Concern Page 75

Recommended Further Reading and References Page 78

Appendix 1: Flow Chart of Key Considerations When Restraining
a Child Page 82

Appendix 2: Example of Risk Assessment Form Page 84

Appendix 3: Report for Recording Incidents Where You Restrain a Child Page 89

Appendix 4: Legal Issues Page 95

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Holding Safely

Glossary
We have written this guide for a professional audience who may already be familiar with
many of the terms which we have listed in this glossary. However, we felt it would
be helpful to be clear about the meanings we give to certain terms when we use
them in this guide.

assault See box at 1d4 and appendix 44
See box 1d4 Appendix

bed-night a way of measuring the number of children in residential care where one child
staying for one day is described as ʻone bed nightʼ.

child in this guidance we use the terms child and young person loosely. Many if not
all adolescents resent being called or thought of as children, and so we have not
followed strict legal meanings of ʻchildʼ or ʻyoung personʼ. All children and
young people have the right to care and protection. Sometimes we write ʻchildʼ or
ʻchildrenʼ; other times we write ʻyoung personʼ or ʻyoung peopleʼ. Please note,
everything we say applies equally to children and young people in residential child
care – nothing we say applies only to children nor only to young people.

child-centred an approach to assessment, planning and action in which we put the child at the
centre.

de-escalation a process by which the thoughts, feelings and behaviours which were leading to
danger are reduced in intensity and threat.

duty of care See box at1d4 and appendix 4
See box 1d4 Appendix 4

flashpoint something which triggers an immediate and strong reaction.

hyperflexion a seated or kneeling hold in which a child is bent forward at the waist.

physical an action involving using a workerʼs body, for example blocking the path of a child
intervention or any guiding him or her away from a harmful situation. It includes physical
restraint.

physical restraint/ an intervention in which staff hold a child to restrict his or her movement and
restraining a child should only be used to prevent harm. We have largely avoided simply using
the term restraint and instead have referred to restraining a child as just that
– restraining a child. We deliberately chose to change this language to avoid losing
sight of the child, who might otherwise be overlooked by the more clinical and
depersonalised use of the term ʻrestraintʼ.

power play a frequently occurring dynamic between staff and children seen through actions
that are usually unhelpful, where the aim is to win power over the other person or
people involved. Naming this dynamic makes it possible to address it, reflect upon
it, and raise it in supervision.

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self-mastery possessing conﬁdence, self control and a sense of personal capability, and taking
responsibility for your own actions.

service provider any organisation providing residential care for children and young people,
including local authorities, voluntary organisations and independent providers.

SSSC Scottish Social Services Council, which was established in October 2001 by the
Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. Its main purpose is to regulate the social
service workforce and their education and training.

we members of the SIRCC working group.

young person see child.

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Preface
There are exceptional situations in residential establishments when physically restraining
a child is necessary and the most appropriate action to take. It is important that you
feel confident about this aspect of your work.

If you restrain children when there are other workable, less restrictive options
available to them, children are hurt, their rights are breached, the focus remains
on behavioural issues rather than the whole child and their needs, and civil or
criminal proceedings could also result. However, you should be aware that if you
do not restrain a young person in situations when it is needed, it can be dangerous
to them and to others. Restraining a child at the right time, in the right way, for the
right reasons, can be a better thing to do than failing to restrain them. This guide
is intended to assist in building your confidence about when and how to restrain a
child.

Physically restraining children is something which causes many staff, as well
as children, a lot of anxiety. As it should – even when done properly it can be a
traumatising experience for children and staff alike. As a result, some people may
not want to be explicit about restraining children, and instead emphasise only the
positive experiences of children in residential care. We donʼt believe this is good
enough.

Many staff rarely if ever have reason to restrain children or young people in
residential care. We see restraining children as a last resort. This means that
children should only be restrained when restraining them cannot be avoided and
restraining them is necessary because of your duty to care to the child or others.

This handbook provides guidance for managers and practitioners about physically
restraining children and young people. While it would perhaps make sense to offer
a handbook for practitioners only, since they are the ones who respond to the needs
of children on a daily basis, we have not done so. Children and young people are
always restrained within an organisational context, and decisions on when and how
to do so are influenced by many different factors, some of which are in the control
of managers and not practitioners. We recognise this in our choice of readership for
this document.

This guide is for:
• practitioners (including teachers) working with children accommodated in
residential child care establishments;
• managers working in residential child care establishments;
• other managers in organisations which provide residential child care
establishments.

You can use the guide for a range of purposes, including:
• staff induction;
• in-service training;

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• individual and group supervision;
• deciding on and developing good practice;
• developing policy and procedures;
• review and quality assurance.

We could have written much more about creating the conditions to make sure that
children are restrained very rarely, and about the strategies workers should use
to defuse potentially dangerous situations without restraining them. While these
conditions and strategies are not the focus of this publication, we certainly see them
as critical to good care. There are other areas we have also chosen not to focus
on: the use of chemical and mechanical restraint is not covered here—these are
for very particular cases and require other specialised training. The rights of staff
to complain to the police when assaulted also fell beyond the core remit of this
guidance.

Also, we recognise that different child care agencies use different methods of
restraining children and we do not suggest that any one method is better than the
others. Instead, we provide advice on choosing methods, and further advice and
recommendations for best practice, whichever method you use. The right amount
of training in the appropriate methods is absolutely essential.

You may have noticed already that we have avoided simply using the term restraint
and instead have referred to restraining a child as just that – restraining a child. We
deliberately chose to change this language to avoid losing sight of the child, who
might otherwise be overlooked by the more clinical and depersonalised use of the
word restraint.

We aimed to be thorough, which explains the documentʼs length. There is some
repetition so that once you have read the whole document and are happy that you
understand it, you can use the different sections one at a time. However, you should
be aware that these separate issues are all closely linked. It is only possible to
restrain children appropriately if you do the other important care tasks well.

We hope that you find this guide clear and simple to use.

Sections one and two provide a summary of some of the main issues about
physically restraining children and the ways in which it is possible to create the
conditions so that restraining a child is hardly ever needed.

Section three provides advice about training for physically restraining children.

Section four considers the place of physical restraint in a childʼs care planning
process as well as provides advice on risk assessment.

Sections five and six describe how and when (and when not to) restrain a child and
offers practical advice.

The ways in which we reflect on, record, and monitor how and when we restrain
children are significant for improving practice. We look at these in sections seven,
eight and nine.

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Physically restraining children always carries the risk of harm, and section ten
highlights some of these risks.

A number of quotations from the National Care Standards have been inserted
as boxes into the guidance, highlighting specific areas of practice where Care
Standards may apply. These have all been drawn from Care Homes for Children
and Young People. Other standards also may apply, such as the School Care
Accommodation Services, and these use the same or very similar forms of words.
The Standards have been written from the perspective of the service user, setting
out what they can expect from their care home. The individual care standards
should be understood in the context of the main principles (Dignity, Privacy,
Choice, Safety, Realising Potential, Equality and Diversity). The National Care
Standards are published by Scottish Ministers, and the Care Commission must take
them into account when making its decisions.

We have also provided examples and checklists at various points in the
guide. Wherever appropriate we have phrased the material as direct advice to
practitioners, managers or both. Practice examples are specific and illustrative, and
you should only generalise from them with great care.

We have included a flowchart at appendix 1 that summarises the steps that front
line staff need to think through when considering restraining a child. This visual
summary does not cover all the issues, only the key ones. It should help you find
the relevant sections of the document easily and you must not look at it in isolation
from the rest of the guidance.

We have provided space in the binder to allow you to add other advice and
guidance from your employer.

We hope this guidance supports your learning and your establishmentʼs
development, and enables you to become more confident and competent in the rare
situations when restraining a child is absolutely necessary.

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1 Definition and Introduction

1a
Definition and
Introduction

Definition
1
The term physical restraint is not clearly defined in Scottish child care legislation or
regulations. We have developed the following which applies throughout the guide.

Physical restraint is holding a child to restrict their movement.
In this guidance we refer to physical restraint as holding them to
prevent harm.

In all circumstances:
See box 1d4 • in restraining a child you must act lawfully (see legal box at 1d4);
• the method of restraining the child must be approved by your employer and keep
to the principles and standards in the National Care Standards for Care Homes for
Children;
• staff who are restraining children must be appropriately trained and have the
required skill and judgement;
• the restraint must be limited to the act of holding the child for the shortest
necessary time.
Physical intervention is a wider term that we use which includes restraint but also
includes methods where holding is not used, such as guiding the person away from
a harmful situation or blocking his or her path.

Although this guide focuses on physical restraint, you should not see it in isolation.
We need to look at the whole context within which children and young people who
are looked after in residential care are provided with care and control.

In this guidance we use the terms child and young person loosely. Many if not all
adolescents resent being called or thought of as children. We have not followed
strict legal meanings of ʻchildʼ or ʻyoung personʼ. All children and young people
have the right to care and protection. Sometimes we write ʻchildʼ or ʻchildrenʼ;
other times we write ʻyoung personʼ or ʻyoung peopleʼ. Please note, everything we
say applies equally to children and young people in residential child care – nothing
we say applies only to children or only to young people.

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Care
From National Care Standards - Standards
Care Homes for Children and Young People

Standard 7 - Management and stafﬁng

You experience good quality care and support. This is provided by managers and staff whose
professional training and expertise allows them to meet your needs. Your care is in line with the law
and best practice guidelines.

1b Children’s rights
The UK has said that they are committed to implementing the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child. In 2002 the UN committee responsible for examining
how countries keep to the convention said they were concerned that childrenʼs
rights could be breached by the way restraint is used in the UK. The parts of the
convention they said were relevant were Article 25 (the right to periodic review
of treatment and placement) and Article 37 (no child shall be subjected to torture
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment). It could also be
argued that Article 19 (the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental
violence) has been breached if unreasonable or unnecessary force is used.

A more complicated set of rights, even where a child or young person is restrained
with care, relates to a child losing their ability to be independent and control their
environment. Local Authorities have a duty under the Children (Scotland) Act
1995 s.17 to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children in their care. This
means not only keeping children safe from harm but actively helping them to
develop, which includes supporting their need (and right) to express views and
make choices about their own lives. Individual workers also have a duty of care at
common law to the children and young people in their charge. Employers are also
responsible for the actions of their staff in the normal course of their duties. From
the childʼs viewpoint, restraining them to stop them from doing something may
seem at odds with this goal. For a child, this will always be a serious matter.

Care

Introduction to standards 1 to 7 - Beginning your stay

Feeling safe and secure

You have the right to feel safe, secure and protected in all aspects of your life. Staff will help you to
reduce any risks to yourself.



From Standard 1 – Arriving for the ﬁrst time

You are welcomed to the care home and know what to expect during your stay.

1 You are made to feel welcome. You and your family have good quality, up-to-date information
about the care home in a leaﬂet or information pack that is written in plain English or in a
language or format that is suitable for you. It should include information about… how you
will be protected from harm.

1c When is physically restraining children or young
people good practice?
Physically restraining a child or young person can be the right thing to do. It doesnʼt
always mean that you have failed in some way. Caring for children is a very
complicated task and each situation must be judged on its merits. Read the legal
box below.

Legal box 1c

Circumstances can dictate that restraining a child is necessary to prevent harm to the child
or others. Here restraint may be essential to comply with the common law duty of care or
the duty of the Local Authority under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to safeguard and promote the
welfare of looked after children and children in need, as described in appendix 4.

If you restrain a child in the least restrictive way necessary to prevent a child from
getting hurt, after you have exhausted all other strategies, and you restrain them
correctly, it is good practice.

Children and young people do not disagree with this - it can actively promote their
sense of being safe if they can trust adults to get involved physically to protect
them. As one young person quoted in Letʼs Face It! (Who Cares? Scotland 2003)
states:

If a restraint that’s getting done on me is done correctly then
I feel safe because they’re stopping me from hurting myself,
hurting somebody else or doing something stupid. (Page 35)

Using restraint in appropriate circumstances can reassure children and young
people that you care enough to keep them safe from harm. It also passes on the
important message that actions have consequences and that there must be limits
to how people can behave. Children and young people recognise this and can
take part in setting these limits if given the opportunity. Establishments that say



they will never use restraint because of the damaging effect on relationships with
the young people may produce the opposite effect. Some young people in some
circumstances may see staff as not bothered about their safety. The principles
behind corporate parenting are important things to consider here. How would a
reasonable parent respond to a child or young person displaying violent or very
dangerous behaviour?

Physical restraint has an important part to play in keeping children and young
people safe and making sure they are OK. However, people are often worried about
its use, partly because of worries about things ʻgoing wrongʼ.

1d Concerns about physically restraining children and
young people
There have been many instances when using physical restraint has caused harm. Children
have been injured and have died. More frequently, they may have suffered the
less obvious harm of being traumatised, and feeling uncared-for and humiliated.
Inquiries into poor practice within residential establishments have often highlighted
the dangers of restraint slipping over into abuse (Utting 1997) and being dangerous
to young people (Kent 1997).

We explore some of the possible problems here from the viewpoints of those
involved.

1d1 Children and young people’s views
It is clear from talking with looked after children that physical restraint provokes strong
feelings. Children may be left physically or emotionally hurt. Even if a child has
not directly experienced restraint, he or she may be scared that it will happen in
future or have been upset by seeing others restrained. The young person who is
quoted on page 3 highlighted restraint as a safety issue.

Most times in care I do feel safe, there’s only a few times that
I don’t feel safe and the only times I don’t feel safe is when I’m
getting bullied or if I’m getting a restraint done which is being
done wrong. (Page 35)

This sense that there is a right and a wrong way to use restraint is confirmed by
other consultations with looked after children (Lindsay and Hosie 2000; Morgan
2004).

Some children and young people see being restrained as physically abusive and as
a punishment – whatever the official justification. Young people also have a clear
sense that there are right and wrong techniques and that they should be able to rely
on staff to use the proper methods. Given the number of placements that some
children have, they may have experienced different techniques and developed their
own (possibly inaccurate) understanding of what should and should not be done.



Care
From National Care Standards - Care Homes for Standards
Children and Young People

Standard 15 - Daily life

You play a full part in the life of the care home and in the wider community, using a range of resources
(people, equipment or services) the care home has access to.

9 Sanctions are fair and in line with what you have done wrong. They follow the care homeʼs
policies and are properly recorded. No-one will be physically punished.

Young people do not insist that they should never be restrained, but object to those
situations where it is not justiﬁed. This is when they believe that there is no risk of
harm to themselves or others or that all other measures have not been used.

These negative feelings can have a damaging effect on relationships within the
establishment. Young people may worry that you donʼt like them or decide that
they no longer like or trust you. They may be left feeling angry and powerless if
they believe that they were restrained unfairly, incorrectly or with too much force.
These feelings are particularly damaging if the child cannot voice them. Young
people must have the opportunity to discuss and make sense of the incident, to
make a complaint if they want to and to have that complaint properly investigated.

1d2 Residential workers’ views
Staff report similar concerns (Bell 1997; Lindsay and Hosie 2000). They may be
unclear about the circumstances when it is necessary to physically restrain a child
or exactly which techniques can be used. They are often worried about when to
restrain a child in case they do it too early, or leave it too late. They may be afraid
that the techniques are not good enough or that someone will be injured. They may
be afraid of making a mistake or being unfairly blamed. Unless these issues are
addressed they may lead to failures in protecting children and young people from
harm and to the abusive use of restraint.

After restraining the child or young person, you may question the way you handled
the situation or be concerned that your relationship with them has been damaged.
You may also question othersʼ practice or the culture of the establishment. Are
some colleagues ʻheavy-handedʼ? Are children restrained too readily? Is it used as
a substitute for proper care planning? If these anxieties can be freely expressed and
explored, it will help protect against abusive (or negligent) practice.

What forum do we have to discuss some of these issues without
fearing repercussions about opening your mouth?
(Lindsay and Hosie 2000, page 70)

You should also think about the ethics of physically restraining children and the
way it challenges some of your personal and professional values. This may cause



you concern, but that is a good thing. Using force against another person is a
serious matter, and physically restraining a young person is likely to be the only
situation in your professional life where physical force is used. Most social care
workers are very aware of issues of power and control. They are worried about
using their own power responsibly and will have encouraged young people to take
control of their own lives. An act of restraint may seem to go against the values
See Section 2 which guide that work (see Section 2).

Finally, however conﬁdent you are about the way you restrain children or young
people, you are likely to fear having a complaint made or legal action taken against
you. You must feel that you can rely on appropriate support from your employers.

1d3 Managers’ views
Although sometimes removed from the day-to-day need to restrain children, managers
have their own pressures. They are responsible for making sure that the
establishment has an effective policy on the restraint of children and for choosing
an effective and appropriate method that can be justiﬁed in case of complaint.

This is complicated by the lack of research about how safe and effective different
methods are.

Care

From Standard 6 – Feeling safe and secure

You feel safe and secure in all aspects of your stay in the care home.

11 You can be assured the care home has a written policy and procedures on the conditions
where restraint may be used. Staff are fully trained and supported in the use of restraint. If
it is necessary to restrain you at any time, this is written in your care plan. Records are kept
of any incidents involving your restraint. You can expect to be supported after any episode of
restraint.
14 You know that accidents or other incidents are recorded and investigated. Your family is
informed of any serious incident.

As a manager you are also responsible for making sure that staff have the training,
knowledge and skills to use restraint properly on their own and as a team. You
have a duty of care to staff and children and must have ways to make sure
everyoneʼs wellbeing and safety is the best it can be. If all is not well, children will
not thrive and staff morale will suffer. As a manager you must be able to recognise
worrying signs even if nothing is being said.



1d4 Legal views

Legal Box 1d4 - Legal and regulatory considerations

Some of this legal box may represent unfamiliar territory to those without some knowledge of
the law. Restraining a child at the right time in the right way and for the right reasons is lawful. We look
here at some aspects of the legal framework which affect restraint. We have added some more detail about
this in appendix 4. See Appendix4

Can I be sued?

A case where a child sues you or your employer following a restraint, is a civil case. A central issue is likely
to be whether it was reasonable and necessary to restrain the child. It is sometimes necessary to restrain
a child because of a duty of care to them or some other person. Damage to property may also be an issue
here. Civil cases may follow deliberate assaults (whether or not there are criminal proceedings) or injury
caused by negligence. Staff may be found to be negligent if their work falls below the ordinary standard of
the ordinary skilled worker doing the type of job they are doing.

Can I be prosecuted?

In criminal law restraining a child could be assault if it is done in an abusive way. It will not be assault where
the restraint is necessary and justified. Excessive force must not be used. For example restraining a child:
a) to prevent them harming themselves or others or
b) to prevent serious damage to property (note good practice guidance and regulations are more
restrictive that the criminal law on protecting property - see section 5b and 5c or
See Section 5b & 5c)
c) to prevent a child running away where you reasonably believe they will put themselves at serious risk
of harm or
d) to prevent a child escaping from a secure establishment.
With good intentions, using reasonable force is likely to be lawful. For more detail on excessive force,
assault and related issues see Appendix 4.
See Appendix4

Legislation

Legislation is divided into primary legislation (Acts) and secondary legislation (Regulations and some other
statutory instruments). A number of important statutory requirements are set out below, and some others of
less general application have been included in appendix 4.
See Appendix4

Children (Scotland) Act 1995

Section 17 – Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children ʻlooked afterʼ
by them. ʻLooked afterʼ is defined in Section 17(6).

Section 22 – Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children ʻin needʼ in
their area. ʻIn needʼ is defined in Section 93(4).

Return 7 Go to Key Considerations Click here to returnto Contents


Regulatory Requirements

The regulations detailed in appendix 4 set out some of the duties and requirements which are relevant to the
restraining of children, as well as to their general care.

One of the sets of regulations is particularly relevant, the Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care
Services)(Scotland) Regulations 2002. Regulation 4(1)(c) reads ʻthe person for the time being providing
the care service must … ensure that no service user is subject to restraint unless it is the only practicable
means of securing the welfare of that or any other service user, and there are exceptional circumstancesʼ.

Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights is an integral part of Scots Law. All public authorities are
obliged to act in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention is used
by courts to interpret the law. In particular, Article 3 of the Convention prohibits ʻinhumane or degrading
treatment or punishmentʼ.

Not an exhaustive account

This is not full account of the legal position on the restraint of children. We have endeavoured to highlight
the key material here and in appendix 4. Users of this guidance should ensure that they take account of other
relevant legislation, together with such guidance and circulars as may from time to time be issued. Such
material may be specific to your workplace.

1e Conclusion
You are unlikely to get to the point where you feel comfortable with restraining children
or young people. This is healthy. A culture where restraining people is seen as ʻno
big dealʼ is much more worrying than one where staff are concerned by restraint
and want to discuss what happened. You must always take using power seriously
and constantly question it. You must have the opportunity to explore your doubts
and receive honest feedback. If you restrain a child it must be the only practicable
means of securing the childʼs welfare, there must be exceptional circumstances and
it must be reasonable and proportionate, using the minimum force for the shortest
time needed to prevent harm. Not all staff will get it right at all times, but you
should always be open to reflecting on and discussing your practice. The voice of
the young person must have a place within this discussion.

The way in which an adult uses their superior power, strength and status to impose
their will on children is a significant measure of a societyʼs approach to childrenʼs
rights. Physically restraining children is at the heart of this debate and the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child has called for an urgent review of practice
within the UK.

8 Click here to return to Contents

2 Creating the Right Conditions

2a
Creating the Right
Conditions

Introduction
2
Each establishment and each member of staff should reduce, as far as practicable, the
need to restrain children, and keep to a minimum the risks to the child and others
on those rare occasions when it is the only practicable means. This is in addition to
See box 1d4 the legal requirements (see box at 1d4). This section provides guidance on how you
can create conditions where there is a wide range of other ways of reducing and
addressing harmful behaviour.
The strategies we suggest in this section are aimed at helping you to create an
appropriate ethos. The ethos of an establishment is the spirit and attitudes which are
to be found among those who live and work there. Building an ethos which reduces
the need for restraint as far as practicable means you need to do the following
things.

2b Develop and maintain a positive culture
A positive culture of care starts with factors such as the environment – is the building
safe, well-maintained and pleasant to be in? Neither young people nor staff will
feel safe or valued if there is grafﬁti on the walls and repairs donʼt get done, or
where there are dark, unsupervised corners. Space for children to get away from
the group when they are feeling down or tensions are running high may also help to
prevent high-risk behaviour.
However, the ethos of an establishment is more than the environment. Research
into effective residential care has highlighted how important is a shared sense
of purpose, where staff understand and support the aims of the establishment
(Department of Health 1998). The starting point for this shared sense of purpose is
values.
If you are a manager, you have an important role in talking about and developing
these shared values and aims, which are reﬂected in the establishmentʼs
ʻstatement of aimsʼ. You must also take responsibility for the culture within your
establishment, and take steps to deal with a negative culture so that staff can
support the children.

Return 9 Click here to returnto Contents


There is You should identify staff who are the best examples of what you want the
a need for establishment to achieve and you should increase their influence. They will be
leadership invaluable in introducing new staff to the establishment. You should appoint staff
as well as who you are confident will reflect and maintain the values of the establishment.
management You should also offer them opportunities for further training and development. The
quality of the relationships between managers and staff, and within the staff group,
is crucial.

There is a need for leadership as well as management: not only setting out the
principles on which the establishment will operate but also living by them. We
cannot expect young people to treat each other with respect if they see managers
bullying staff or staff bickering among themselves. There should be a positive
ethos of caring throughout the establishment (See box 2b). If staff feel valued and
cared for, have opportunities to sort out differences and to express their fears and
frustrations safely, they will use this approach with the young people they care for.
As a result, the young people are less likely to lose control or threaten others. The
young contributors to Letʼs Face It! recognised this clearly when they emphasised
the value of being listened to by staff.

Box 2b Shared values and principles

We can best develop the values and principles which support a positive ethos when:
♦ there is a sense of identity and pride which is clear in the organisation;
♦ the reception and ethos are welcoming;
♦ young peopleʼs and staff membersʼ morale is good and helps to motivate;
♦ the behaviour and discipline of young people fits with their age and stage of development;
♦ there are appropriate expectations and praise is used by staff and young people;
♦ staff promote an ethos of achievement;
♦ equality and fairness are a central part of the organisation;
♦ parents or carers and residential staff are encouraged to be involved in the young peopleʼs
development and the life of the organisation;
♦ communication with other agencies and links with the community are effective;
♦ support is available to address the complicated needs of young people (where appropriate);
♦ young people are seen as individuals with unique needs;
♦ there is shared target-setting with young people;
♦ guidelines for living and learning have been drawn up by adults and young people;
♦ opportunities have been provided so young people can manage a number of situations with
support through a thorough care planning process;
♦ there are opportunities for staff and young people to achieve.



They don’t realise how much we want to be listened to and how
much that makes us feel safe. (Page 42)

When you need to restrain young people, you cannot separate this from the other
work carried out in your establishment. The way you restrain young people must be
consistent with what guides all your other work.

e.g.
Practice example – changing a culture

Our present management team came together at a time of great change in residential child care.
In common with many other residential establishments, our original way of working was decided by a small
number of charismatic, highly controlling and powerful personalities. The organisation leant very heavily
on their expertise, and other staff members frequently looked for them to step in and deal with problems.
In other words, staff members handed their authority over to others who they considered to be stronger or
who were part of the management structure.
This system worked while these people were around to support it, but as a new management team, we did
not think it was appropriate or that it could work in the long term. In looking to change this way of working,
we first defined it as being about the sort of behaviour we would encourage, the sort of behaviour we would
discourage and, ultimately, how we would manage challenging behaviour.
We encouraged behaviour that invited co-operation and respected other peopleʼs interests and property.
Young people talked about their problems and anxieties rather than acting them out, and we encouraged
them to make positive choices in difficult situations rather than behave impulsively. So as a result, we
discouraged the opposite of this behaviour. We believed that true control was self-control and that we
should treat young people as unique individuals who we respected as a matter of course.
The same was true for staff. All practice became open to discussion, and staff members eventually became
comfortable asking about one anotherʼs style of working. In this way, we kept children safe.
All adults had a deliberate, controlled and consistent reaction to misbehaviour. As a result, we managed
misbehaviour, from the most trivial to that which may even lead to safe holding, using shared values and
agreed professional standards.
This meant that staff members were better able to move away from the need to constantly look for support
and help from further up the management structure. We gave them the power to take hold of their own
authority through peer-based support and discussion. We also made sure that young people had a clear
voice in the process.
Establishment manager

2c Develop ethical practice
Put very simply, when considering whether or not to restrain a child, you are faced by two
demands. First there is that childʼs right to freedom of movement. Secondly there
is your duty of care to the child and others.



You can only ethically justify violating the childʼs right to freedom of movement if
the circumstances are exceptional and restraining them is the only practicable way
you can secure their welfare.
Although this guidance provides advice on situations in which using restraint
may be justified, we cannot describe every situation. It is never a matter of simply
following rules. Instead, you are faced with circumstances which will raise difficult
and sensitive issues. This needs to be based on ethical practice.
Ethical practice means you must reach decisions taking account of all relevant
factors - this is about real, vulnerable people. This has at its centre a process of
moral thinking and deciding what matters, which is based on professional codes
of conduct. You should create opportunities to discuss these issues with colleagues
and supervisors to build a shared understanding.
While professional codes of conduct are designed to help you make ethical
decisions they will not, by themselves, give you the answers to the moral problems
that can be related to an incident of restraining a child. Restraining children
involves difficult ethical choices. You should create opportunities to discuss the
ethical issues that restraining children raises with colleagues and supervisors.

Care
From National Care Standards - Care Homes Standards for
Children and Young People

Introduction to standards 8 to 16 – ʻLeading your lifeʼ
Exercising rights and responsibilities
Staying in the care home, you have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. You also have a
responsibility not to infringe the rights of others.

Standard 8 - Exercising your rights
You know about your rights and responsibilities. You can make choices within limits that are suited
to your age. Staff support you in making decisions.
1 Staff understand the rights of children and young people and what this means in practice.
2 You and other children and young people are encouraged to respect and help each other. Staff
speak respectfully about everyone, whatever their background, at all times when in contact
with you and other children.

Standard 9 - Making choices
You live in an environment where everyone respects and supports personal choices. You can make
choices that are right for your age and understanding in all areas of your personal and social life.
1 You have the help you need to make good decisions and reduce risk to yourself.
2 You are involved in day-to-day decisions and staff know what you like and do not like.



2d Take a child-centred approach
Taking a child-centred approach means consistently putting the needs of children ﬁrst,
and always putting them before your own convenience. It involves recognising
the worth of each child no matter what their behaviour. To be child-centred,
you must do what is in the childʼs best interests and aim to see things from that
childʼs viewpoint. This can be particularly challenging in the face of violence and
aggression.
To safeguard and promote the welfare of children, you and your colleagues must
have a shared understanding about what children need in order to thrive. We
suggest that Scottish Ministersʼ vision for the outcomes for services for children
and young people is a good starting point. It states that children should be:
Safe: Children and young people should be protected from abuse, neglect and harm by
others at home, at school and in the community.
Valued: Children and young people should live within a supportive family setting, with
additional assistance if required, or, where this is not possible, within another caring
setting, ensuring a positive and rewarding childhood experience.
Healthy: Children and young people should enjoy the highest attainable standards of physical
and mental health, with access to suitable healthcare and support for safe and healthy
lifestyle choices.
Achieving: Children and young people should have access to positive learning environments
and opportunities to develop their skills, conﬁdence and self-esteem to the fullest
potential.
Active: Children and young people should be active with opportunities and encouragement
to participate in play and recreation, including sport.
Respected & Children, young people and their carers should be involved in decisions that affect
Responsible: them, should have their voices heard and should be encouraged to play an active and
responsible role in their communities.
Included: Children, young people and their families should have access to high quality services,
when required, and should be assisted to overcome the social, educational, physical,
environmental and economic barriers that create inequality.
As young people recognised in Letʼs Face It! (2003), they cannot reach their
potential unless they are safe. However, this does not mean that children and young
people are simply on the receiving end of care and protection by adults.
When young people are asked for their views, they clearly want to be active players
in the process of keeping them safe. Protecting Children and Young People: the
Charter (Scottish Executive 2004) sets out the need for adults to answer to the
children and young people they are caring for, to treat them as individuals and to
take their views seriously. An approach that treats all children (and staff) as being
the same and tries to present a simple formula (circumstances and behaviour A =
restraint technique B) is unhelpful and does not take account of the individuals
involved. You should instead base your response on the young personʼs needs
arising from her or his personality, age, ethnic, religious or cultural background,
stage of development, gender and history.



2e Understand high-risk or violent behaviour
To manage a young personʼs high-risk or violent behaviour well you must first
understand what is causing it. While this behaviour may be prompted purely by
a young personʼs internal processes, such as disturbed brain activity or auditory
hallucinations, in most cases there will also be other triggers.

For all young people, the need to test out ʻhow far they can goʼ is a normal part
of development. So is the need to develop control over impulsive behaviour.
The struggle to deal with these difficulties and to grow should be valued, even
if it makes life harder for adults. Looked after children are dealing with these
normal challenges, and many more besides. When young people with a range of
difficulties are forced together through group living, the individual things which
cause stress are exaggerated. We ask a lot of these young people.

To support young people effectively, you must learn about child development, the
effects of negative experiences or impairments on that development, and about
group processes.

2f Develop and maintain self-awareness
You must also have self-knowledge. It is not only young people who bring their history
to residential care – you will have your own fears and impulses and particular
young people may trigger unhelpful responses in you. You should be helped to
develop strategies for working with those who are likely to ʻwind you upʼ or with
whom you may identify too much.

Also you should be helped to manage your own (often valid) feelings of anger that
can be provoked by othersʼ aggressive or violent behaviour.

As a group, you and your colleagues should be able to talk to each other honestly
about the part you each may have played in generating and responding to high-risk
or violent behaviour.

The advantage of understanding, rather than just controlling, behaviour applies to
both staff and young people. Within a positive culture, discussion between staff
and young people helps you to learn to live together and to solve problems.

2g Promote self-mastery in children
There are young people who lose control of themselves in the run up to being restrained
and other young people who are fully in control when being violent or committing
other high-risk behaviour. In either case, you can help reduce occasions when
young people have to be restrained by helping them to learn self-mastery.

To help children and young people learn self-mastery you should:
• demonstrate self-control yourself;
• control young peopleʼs behaviour in ways which do not involve punishment;



• interact in ways which invite co-operation rather than convey coercion;
• show respect for the legitimate interests and property of others;
• promote impulse control by encouraging discussion and considered choices rather
than impulsive action.

You must also offer young people opportunities to discuss and reflect on the
difficulties which led to their placement and be helped to develop the strength
and resources to make good choices. Giving young people opportunities for
achievement also helps them feel good about themselves.

2h Use authority appropriately
Child-centred practice does not mean that you should be reluctant to take charge when
you should be in charge. You need to be clear about what the children can decide,
what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable.

Not intervening with young people in situations where they may need to be
restrained or otherwise stopped can have the unfortunate consequence of
confirming for them that intimidation and violence are acceptable ways to achieve
what they want.

A strong adult presence, using authority appropriately, will reduce the need for
restraint. Acting in this way, you can give the young people and your colleagues a
sense of security. However, there must be a sense of fairness and a spirit of care
underlying all interactions and decision-making.

2i Develop a policy to manage behaviour
However effective you and your colleagues are in creating the right conditions,
problematic behaviour is bound to happen. Each establishment needs to develop a
strategy for managing this behaviour, so that young people and staff know where
they stand. Why? So that:
• A social worker may decide on the basis of the behaviour management policy used
that one establishment is more suitable than another, in meeting the needs of a
particular young person.
• The young person will be clear about what behaviour the establishment can
manage and what will follow if they try to harm themselves or others.
• Parents are helped to understand and talk with care staff about how their childʼs
behaviour is being managed.
• Staff have a clear grasp of what they can and cannot do when responding to
problematic behaviour.
A clear policy on managing behaviour may reduce the need for physical restraint,
but is unlikely to make it completely redundant in all circumstances. A clear policy
will make sure that the way young people are restrained is placed within a holistic
and child-centred approach.



Box 2i – A policy for managing behaviour

A policy on managing behaviour needs to be developed by managers, staff, children, parents and
carers. The policy should clearly set out the following:

♦ The standards of behaviour you expect of the children and staff.

♦ The range of ways in which the establishment responds to behaviour.

♦ The ways in which the establishment responds to high-risk behaviour. This will let children
know what the ʻbottom lineʼ is when staff may need to get involved to stop a particular form
of behaviour. It will describe options to avoid confrontation through, for example, time out.

♦ The circumstances in which children will be restrained, and the legal basis for this. A decision
to restrain a child should be firmly based on the safety of the children, and must never be
made as a punishment or to get young people to comply with staff instructions.

♦ The training package for the methods of restraining children used within the establishment.
It is important that you choose a package which is safe for specific children and can
realistically be applied by these specific staff. It should also reflect the overall approach
described here – not begin and end with physical techniques. It should start with suggestions
for recognising and defusing potentially high-risk situations and offer a structure of response
levels, depending on the needs of the child and the level of risk. This will mean that only the
minimum force is used to deal with any situation. You must keep communicating with the
child so that they know what they have to do to be released.

♦ The circumstances in which staff will call in services from outside the establishment,
including the police.

♦ What will happen after an incident of restraint. You will need arrangements to check on the
physical and emotional wellbeing of the child and staff, guidance about who needs to be told
about incidents of restraint, including parents and social workers, and a system for recording
and monitoring.

♦ Learning the lessons. Everyone involved will need the chance to talk about what has
happened and to learn from it. These lessons may relate to individual children or staff
members but may also raise wider issues for the establishment as a whole. Children and
staff and other interested parties should be free to challenge what has happened, to make
suggestions and to point out any possible patterns.

♦ Those inspecting the service or providing advocacy will have a clear way of measuring the
actions taken in particular incidents.



2j Promote positive relationships

Young people are restrained within the context of a relationship (Fisher 2003).
Relationships form the background to all of the other sections in this guidance.
These include the relationships between you and your manager, among the staff
team, and most importantly, between staff and young people. Each affects the
others, and all have an effect on the culture as it relates to the restraining young
people.

The main task in residential child care is to develop appropriate relationships with
young people. This is because you cannot do any of the other tasks effectively
without these relationships. The tasks of developing and maintaining relationships,
which help young people cope with lifeʼs challenges, form the background for
creating a child care establishment that works well.

Practice example – creating a new way of working
e.g.
In bringing about this new way of working, we had to think about how to start. It was important that we
brought people on board gradually, starting with those who seemed open or even keen to work with young
people in a different way. We also chose those staff with whom we felt we had a credibility, those who
trusted our leadership. As other members of staff began to see the positive results of this change in practice,
the influence began to broaden. We set aside time to discuss, explore and plan with everyone involved. We
also developed a specific model designed to support this change within the organisation.
Creating and maintaining a new way of working has proven to be a difficult but worthwhile task. What lies
behind the process has been and continues to be:
• clarity about the behaviour we planned to promote;
• clarity in how we would achieve this;
• clarity about the values and beliefs behind managing problematic behaviour;
• having a number of significant adults who ʻcarry the cultureʼ and who can train others into this new
way of working; and
• believing in our system and sticking with it.
Establishment manager


3 Training for the Physical Restraint of Children

3a
Training for the
Physical Restraint of
Children

Introduction
3
To restrain children you must be appropriately trained. Restraining children, if you are not
trained, is dangerous to them and to yourself. Training is one of the most important
factors in making sure children are restrained safely and appropriately (Corby et al
2001).

Care



8 You know that care home staff have the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake their
roles and tasks and to meet your needs. There is a staff development strategy and an effective
training plan to allow them to gain suitable training and qualiﬁcations.

Training must take place against a background of common values and principles
and should play a part in developing and maintaining an agreed way of working.
See Section 2 See section 2.

In training new staff it is useful to have a period of time between your induction
training that includes dealing with challenging behaviour, and training in the actual
techniques of restraining children. Sometimes staff only remember the physical
part of the training, and this will have a negative effect on their work. New staff
need time to develop relationships with the children before they might have to
restrain them. This must be balanced with having enough staff trained to restrain
children if necessary.

19 Go to Key Considerations Click here to returnto Contents


Students and members of staff who have not received appropriate, current and
updated training should not restrain young people. There are many ways of
intervening that donʼt involve restraining a young person. This does not mean that
staff who havenʼt been trained in methods for restraining children should avoid
intervening when it is absolutely necessary for the safety of the child or another
person—you have a duty to care. The childʼs needs must be considered first.

Those who manage the managers of residential establishments should themselves
have received training in the principles of physical restraint if they are to monitor
services.

Box 3a - Training – regulations and national care standards

The Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services)(Scotland) Regulations 2002 state that
care service providers must ʻensure that persons employed in the provision of the care service receive
training appropriate to the work they are to perform.ʼ (regulation 13(c)(i)) They also require ʻsuitable
assistance, including time off work, for the purpose of obtaining qualifications appropriate to such
workʼ (regulation 13 (c)(ii))

The national care standards for homes for children state ʻyou can be assured….. staff are fully trained
and supported in the use of restraintʼ (standard 6(11):b). The National Care Standards School Care
Accommodation Services contain a similar statement in standard 3(8).

3b Categories of training
Training that relates to the physical restraint of children is usually made up of four
categories.
1 Induction training – part of which will usually deal with challenging situations.
This will include:
• crisis situations in which children are more often restrained;
• the meaning of physical restraint;
• the ethos underlying the restraint of children;
• the principles and standards of practice.
2 Practitioner training – training in the management of challenge and crisis, including
physically restraining children.
3 Trainer training – experienced workers become trainers in their own workplace
after undergoing further training for trainers.
4 Training managers – managers should be trained in the physical restraint of
children, and it is essential if they are operational managers. All managers
should have enough training to fulfil their role in relation to physically restraining
children. At the very least they should know the principles, content and application



of the training used. They have a role in:
• support and supervision;
• mentoring;
• monitoring;
• making sure that workers always operate within the law;
• making sure that the needs of service users are appropriately met;
• making sure that health and safety responsibilities are carried out;
• making sure that there is a training strategy in place so that all workers receive
enough training, including practice and refresher training.
Training may take place in a number of ways – within or outside the workplace,
with trainers who are themselves members of the staff team or with other trainers,
in several or a few stages. It should always meet nationally recognised guidance
and the needs of individual children.

3c Questions for managers about physically
restraining children
These questions should help you decide how appropriate your current training
arrangements are. They should be regularly reviewed. If your answers to any of
these questions are ʻnoʼ you must take action so that you can answer ʻyesʼ.

Do you make sure that staff who receive training have no health problems that
may prevent them from restraining children? There are legal implications for
establishments employing staff; those who may be called on to restrain children
must be able and trained to do so.
Do you have a policy in place for staff who can no longer restrain?
Is there a training strategy in place that makes sure that all relevant staff, including
relief staff, receive induction as quickly as possible after their appointment, as well
as training after the induction and refresher training appropriate to their role?
Do induction and training introduce staff to the establishmentʼs values, ethos,
organisational culture, programme structure and policies and procedures for
restraining children?
Does your training strategy include a minimum one day emergency ﬁrst aid and
CPR course for all staff who may be required to restrain a child?
When choosing training that includes the physical restraint of children, are you
satisﬁed that it:
• respects the rights of the child;
• is thoroughly quality assured and with built-in evaluation procedures;
• keeps risks to a minimum;
• reduces the need for the restraining of children as far as practicable;



• emphasises the need to work with a team;
• is ethical and keeps to legal requirements and national care standards;
• is appropriate to the needs of the children with whom your organisation works;
• recognises the effects of physical restraint on children;
• gives staff the skills they need to effectively support children and young
people;
• holds the view that restraining children is for their safety and not about
discipline or punishment?
Do you make sure that the training considers:
• policies and procedures, including documents and reporting requirements;
• an overall assessment;
• risk assessment and care planning;
• the causes of challenging behaviours;
• how staff behaviour can affect the behaviour of children;
• de-escalation and break-away strategies;
• signs of distress in children and issues of safety;
• proper and allowable techniques;
• ways of letting go of a child you have been restraining;
• care for children and staff traumatised by restraint;
• ways of learning from incidents involving restraint?
Does the training process test the staff membersʼ skill level prior to certifying them
as able to restrain a child in the methods taught?
Does the training provider review and update the training regularly to take account
of new research findings and evidence?
Are staff trained together in groups so you can develop individual skills and
knowledge within a team working together?
Are you trained in the same procedures as your staff members if you are an
operational manager, or are you at least clear about the principles, content and the
application of training used, if you are in a strategic management position?
Do you use only trainers who are certified by the training providers in the specific
methods of restraining children to train your staff members?
Do you give members of staff regular opportunities to update and practise their
skills through coaching, reinforcement and role play?
If there is a change in approach or use of an updated method of restraint, are all
staff trained in the changed approach or updated method?
Do you provide feedback to training organisations, to improve the training they
provide?



Have you developed an appropriate agency policy and mechanism by which staff
who are unsure their of ability to undertake training in restraining children can be
offered an appropriate occupational health assessment?
Have staff been given support, including time off work, to obtain relevant further
training?

3d Questions for staff about physically restraining
children
You should use this list to review your own training. If any of the questions concern you,
you should discuss them with your manager.
Is there anything about your health which may prevent you from carrying out
physical restraint, or do you have concerns which you need to share with your
employer?
Does your training emphasise the rights of children as most important?
Are your induction and the further stages of training appropriate to the work you
need to do?
Are you trained in emergency ﬁrst aid and CPR and is this current?
Is your training part of a programme that includes promoting positive behaviour
and the importance of de-escalation, with physical restraint as only one aspect of
action taken and only used as a last resort?
Does your training allow you to make decisions about when you should restrain a
child and when that restraint should end?
Does your training emphasise that restraining children is about their safety and not
about discipline or punishment?
Does your training include guidance about learning from, and reﬂecting on,
practice?
Are you given regular opportunities to update and practise your skills through
coaching and reinforcement?
Does your training emphasise the need to work with others?
Does your training allow you to examine and appreciate the effects of being
restrained on children?
Does the training you receive help you to do your job well?
Have you had support, including time off work, to obtain relevant further training?


4 Risk Assessment and Care Planning

4a
Risk Assessment and
Care Planning

Introduction
4
Care planning is central to the task of caring for a child in residential care. It means that
the child, his or her parents and professional staff are clear about why the child is
accommodated and how their needs will be met. Care planning deﬁnes the aims of
the placement and how you will meet these aims.

Box 4a – Regulations and care standards - planning care

Restraint is not clearly referred to in regulations directly concerned with care plans, but arrangements
to do with restraint can reasonably be seen as included in a number of regulations.

The Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 set out that
providers must prepare, after consulting the service user, a written plan, referred to as the ʻpersonal
planʼ. This plan sets out how the service userʼs health and welfare needs are to be met. The plan
should be available to the service user and their representative and be reviewed at least once every
six months. (Regulation (5)(1))

Similarly, the Arrangements to Look After Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996, regulation 3 sets
out the duty to make a written plan ʻto address the immediate and longer term needs with a view
to safeguarding and promoting his welfare.ʼ Regulation 4. adds ʻthe considerations which the local
authority shall have regard toʼ when making the plan.

Regulation 9 states that reviews should held be after 6 weeks of the start of placement and then within
3 months of that review then at least six monthly

The National Care Standards for care homes for children advise that ʻYou can be assured that the
care home has a written policy and procedures on the conditions where restraint may be used… If
it is necessary to restrain you at any time this is written in your care plan. Records are kept of any
incidents involving your restraint. You can expect to be supported after any episode of restraints.ʼ
(Standard 6(11))

Return 25 Go to Key Considerations Click here to return to Contents


Although the term ʻpersonal planʼ is used in the regulations, we have used the
term ʻcare planʼ in this section because that is the term most residential child care
establishments use. The care plan is the overall plan which you have to produce
under the regulations.

In addition to the requirements referred to in box 4a, we recommend as best
practice that the care plan should:
• be clear about the aims of the local authority in looking after the child and how
those aims are to be achieved;
• be based on an assessment, which should include input from a range of
professionals;
• take account of the existing arrangements for looking after the child at home;
• include practical documents spelling out who will be doing what and when, where
and how, to achieve clear aims.

Care

Standard 4 - Support arrangements

The support you receive in the care home is based on your Care Plan or personal plan. You are
involved in the planning of your care. Statutory care review arrangements are met.

1 You are conﬁdent that staff care for you in a way that is in line with your Care Plan
or personal plan and work with others to meet your needs. They have close working
relationships with your family and friends and others involved in your education and care.

To guide your day-to-day work, you will probably produce other, more detailed
plans showing the ways in which you will meet the aims of the care plan. These
plans can vary in how complex they are and how often they are reviewed.
When necessary, some young people will also have detailed plans for managing
behaviour.
As a member of staff in a residential establishment you should be clear about
the part you will play day-to-day in putting the plan into action. If it is likely a
particular child will need to be restrained, arrangements for doing so must be
written in the childʼs care plan. The plan should anticipate but not assume the
child will be restrained as it will always have to be the only practicable means
to secure the welfare of the child or another service user and only in exceptional
circumstances.
In making Managers of residential establishments are also responsible for the staff who look
plans for after the children. In making plans for children, the manager must also protect the
children, the safety of staff.
manager must
also protect This section will consider how all of these different parts work together to
the safety of inﬂuence day-to-day practice in assessing risk and planning care in relation to the
staff. physical restraint of children.



4b Assessing risk
You should assess risk for the whole establishment, the individual young person and each
separate event. This should inform a young personʼs care plan.

When you work with troubled and angry young people on a daily basis, you should
keep a clear record of the risks, along with the measures put in place to reduce
the risks. The measures may include the layout of the building and how it is
used, staffing levels, ways of working with particular young people, routines and
training. You and your employer are responsible for making sure that you take
risks and control measures seriously and act on them.

In assessing risk, the employers will have to keep to the requirements of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 below and any further legal requirements. In
planning to meet the needs of children, your employer cannot ignore their duty to
protect the ʻhealth, safety, and welfareʼ at work of all the employees.

4b1 Risk assessment – the establishment
Assessing risk for the establishment is a management responsibility. If you are a manager,
you must consider specific safety issues relating to the building, its furniture and its
equipment.
• Are there areas where your staff will have difficulty in seeing or managing risky
behaviour?
• If it becomes necessary to restrain a child, can this be done safely (for example,
corridors may be too narrow for your staff to get either side of a child)?
• Are there obvious dangers in the environment, such as objects that could be used as
weapons?

You must take action to prepare the environment as fully as possible to meet the
childrenʼs needs.

In relation to the people who are living and working in the establishment, you must
decide whether:
• the young people cared for are likely to behave dangerously;
• the size and composition of the group is one that can safely be managed by the
available staff;
• your staff have the knowledge, skills and self-awareness to respond safely and how
you will assess this;
• the rules and routines are child-centred.

Each child or young person entering residential care has their own history and
personality, which will result in different reactions to stress. You should reflect
these individual differences in the way their risk is assessed and their behaviour is
managed.



Box 4b - Health and safety legislation and regulations

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAW Act) lays down wide-ranging duties on employers.
They must protect the ʻhealth, safety and welfareʼ at work of all their employees so far as reasonably
practicable. The duty extends to people other than employees who may be affected (sections 2 and 3).
Employees have a similar duty to themselves, other employees and other persons. Breaches of these
duties can lead to criminal proceedings.

This Act allows the Government to issue regulations, guidance and approved codes of practice for
employers. These set out detailed responsibilities for employers in every aspect of health and safety
in the workplace. Codes of practice are admissible in criminal proceedings. The act also set up the
Health and Safety Commission, and an inspectorate called the Health and Safety Executive.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set out various requirements and in
Regulation 4 and Schedule 1, set out the general principles of prevention as shown below.

General principles of prevention

The schedule specifies the general principles of prevention set out in Article 6(2) of Council Directive
89/391/EEC(24).

These can be paraphrased for this guidance as:
a Avoid risks.
b Evaluate the risks which cannot be avoided.
c Combat the risks at source.
d Adapt the work to the individual, especially in terms of designing workplaces, the choice of
work equipment and the choice of working methods. This will take account of monotonous
work and of reducing their effect on health.
e Adapt to technical progress.
f Replace the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous.
g Develop a clear overall prevention policy which covers technology, how work is organised,
working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors which relate to the
working environment.
h Give collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures.
i Give appropriate instructions to employees.

4b2 Risk assessment – individual children and young people

Assessing risk must take account of both the specific risks posed by individual young
people as well as the risk towards any individual young person if they are
restrained. In either case, you should carry out an individual assessment. You
should include the steps to be taken to deal with the risks in the young personʼs
day-to-day care arrangements.



The risk factors of restraining a child or young person might include:
• the effect of prescribed medication;
• levels of intoxication from alcohol or drugs;
• pregnancy;
• obesity;
• health conditions (including asthma and heart problems);
• age and build of the child;
• psychological and emotional issues;
• history of abuse.

There are situations where restraining the child is so risky you must avoid it. For
example, this could apply if there is a combination of the type of factors listed
above.

Plan for managing behaviour

If you consider it is likely that you will have to restrain a young person, you should
have an individualised plan for how you will manage their behaviour, to which
the young person, parents, social workers and carers have all had reasonable
opportunity to contribute. This will identify:
• the triggers that cause the young person distress;
• the early warning signs that all is not well;
• ways in which staff and children can help calm the situation.

You should review and update these specific plans frequently, and every time you
restrain the young person. The challenge for establishments is to develop an overall
policy within which these individual plans can sit.

Practice example – managing behaviour
e.g.
James gets very upset when his key worker takes time off work and can be physically aggressive towards
other staff at this time. Once we recognised this, we made more effort to prepare James beforehand and to
give him a calendar marking exactly when his worker would be leaving and coming back. James helped
to choose the one or two other staff that would provide most of his care. If he started raising his voice – a
sign that he wasnʼt coping – one of his identified workers would spend five minutes playing a computer game
with him. If the situation did become out of hand and James started to physically attack a member of staff,
everyone understood that he would be held using the method approved in the establishment until he had
calmed down. This plan was recorded on Jamesʼ file.
Practitioner



Risk assessments of individuals and your planned responses need to change as
young people and their circumstances change. The aim is to allow each young
person to grow so that they do not need other people to control their behaviour.

In appendix 2 we have included an example of a risk assessment proforma for
children who present a risk which can be expected.

If you and your colleagues cannot keep a child safe without restraining them quite
often, the placement is not meeting that childʼs needs. This is not to suggest that
the child must necessarily move on. Numerous placements are likely to make the
matter worse, not better. However, the young person and all agencies involved
need to discuss ways to keep them safe without having to restrain them often, and
ways to work towards this goal over time.

4b3 Risk assessment – each event
Although it may not be clearly stated, you are carrying out a risk assessment each
time you think about restraining a child. The assessment will usually include
considering the following:
• Who is at risk of harm and what is the nature of the risk?
• How likely is the harm and how serious will it be?
• Would restraining this young person really be about safety, or is it about my own
feelings of powerlessness and frustration?
• Will the consequences of restraining the child be less or more harmful than the
behaviour itself?
• What will be the effect on the rest of the group of restraining the child?
• What would the consequence be of not restraining the child?
• Are there alternatives that I could use?
• Are there enough staff with the right skills to restrain the child safely and
effectively?
• What is the least restrictive and most respectful way of restraining the child to
prevent harm?
• What is the plan if the young person cannot be restrained appropriately?

The outcome of this rapid assessment should be in line with the childʼs care plan
unless there are clear reasons based on the risk of harm that justify overriding it.
We consider these matters further on in section 4.

4b4 Risk and care planning - questions for managers
Do you have a general risk assessment for each workplace which deals with the
risk of violence?
If so, is it readily available?
Does the assessment integrate well with care planning?



Does it address risks to children and staff from restraint?
Does it deal with the full range of risks?
Is the risk assessment reviewed regularly?
These questions should be regularly reviewed. If your answers to any of them are
ʻnoʼ, you must take action so that you can answer ʻyesʼ.

4b5 Risk and care planning - questions for staff.
Have you got access to the general risk assessment relating to violence in your
workplace?
Have you read it and understood how it affects your work?
Are there speciﬁc children in your care who present a particular risk and, if so,
have plans been made?
Are there children in your care whom you should not restrain – do you know what
to do if they present a danger of harm?
Are you aware of any other risks? Have you shared these with your manager?
These questions should be regularly reviewed. If your answers to any of them are
ʻnoʼ, you must take action so that you can answer ʻyesʼ.

4c Care plans and restraining children
You should work towards a team approach to managing young peopleʼs behaviour, using
the detailed, day-to-day plan to help with that work. The team is likely to include
the young personʼs social worker, the teacher, the child, the parent or carer as well
as the residential care team.

The plan should help you decide when to restrain a child or young person. We
describe the possible situations in which it is appropriate to restrain a child in
Go to 4b
section 4b and 5b and 5c. A care plan should not encourage restraining a child in
Go to 5b &5c any other circumstances.

Practice example – e.g.
Care plans and restraining children

A child who generally runs to the end of the road and returns a few minutes later or who slams a door and
kicks over a table is unlikely to need restraining. However, children who run off and harm themselves or
place themselves at risk of sexual exploitation should be prevented from leaving if this concern is reasonable
and it is possible to do so. (You may also need to think about the appropriateness of this placement.)
You will need to restrain a child who is determined to smash the windows of the establishment, but only
because they place themselves and others in danger.
See 5b5b &5c
See and 5c.



Children and young people may lose control when something upsets them. The
care plans should help you to tailor your approach, to help them manage the
situations, people and behaviour, which cause them to lose control. When working
with children or young people who have language and communication difficulties,
you should list the specialist communication approaches you will use in their care
plan.

Care



10 You can be confident that if you have special needs because of disability, staff will have an
understanding of this and be able to provide appropriate help and support.

4c1 Care plans and restraining children - questions for
managers and staff
For each child, what behaviour do they display that might place that child or others
at significant risk of harm, and how should you respond to keep people safe?
Does the care plan consider how issues such as personality, gender, religion,
cultural or ethnic background, developmental delays, and previous history affect
behaviour and influence decisions on when to restrain the child?
If there is a big risk of the young person behaving dangerously, is a behaviour
management plan in place, including plans for restraining them, where needed?
Will adult involvement increase the risk of violent behaviour and lead to harm,
even where the aim is to support the young person?
Does the care plan consider the young person's use of alcohol and drugs?
Does it consider their relationships and daily routines?
Does it identify possible ʻflashpointsʼ, how they should be dealt with and by
whom?
Does the care plan outline the alternatives to physically restraining the young
person which have proved effective in the past?
Is the young personʼs care plan changed so that lessons learned change their care?



Caring for each child’s specific needs

A reassuring arm on the shoulder may be seen as an attack. Taking the arm of an already angry teenager
may provoke them to lash out. So, you should be careful not to use an approach that works with some
children, but not with this child.
For many young people, moving from one activity to another, for example getting ready for school or
returning from contact with their family, can be a flashpoint. Others may have difficulty in situations where
adults come into conflict with them, such as when the adults decide to use a sanction. Know your child, and
adapt your care to fit them.

4d The child’s involvement
The child is a key stakeholder in all aspects of her or his care and, under the Children
(Scotland) Act 1995, you must take proper account of the childʼs views of their
care. The childʼs welfare is paramount.

4d1 Getting children involved - Questions for managers
When carrying out any assessment, care plan, behaviour plan, review or similar, do
you put the childʼs views at the centre of the activity?
After children are restrained, do you make sure that you consider and discuss their
thoughts and feelings with them, and record these?
Do you take steps to discuss, with the young people, the action you will use if their
behaviour presents serious risks?
Do you give the group of residents opportunities to have a say in defining
behavioural limits and reviewing the establishmentʼs approach to managing
behaviour?

4e Care plan reviews
You should review the care plans of young people in residential care at least every six
months. At the initial stages of a placement more frequent reviews are required:
that is, within six weeks from the start of the placement, and three months from
that first review. This may rightly happen far more frequently, especially in relation
to the detailed plans developed in residential establishments. Reviews play a major
role in monitoring progress and revising the childʼs care plan. The review should
consider the childʼs behaviour and his or her response to the planned action used.
See box 4a (See box 4a)


5 The Practice of Restraining Children

5a
The Practice of
Restraining Children

Introduction
5
This section describes good practice which makes sure that children and young people
are restrained appropriately. We offer these recommendations directly to those staff
who carry out physical restraint.

Each agency which provides residential care for children must have trained its
staff in a particular method of physical restraint, if restraint is ever used. We do
not recommend speciﬁc techniques here — we leave that task to the training
organisations. This guidance applies on top of that training, and should be helpful
to you no matter what method of restraint you have been trained in.

5b When to restrain a child or young person
Physical restraints should be acts of care and control and be designed to make sure the
young person and others are safe. If you manage them well, you can help young
people to move away from automatic and habitual responses, to a position where
they can better control their choices.

You should receive thorough guidance from your employer, in training programmes
and at other times, about the action you should take when restraining a child.

No matter which method your employer has chosen, you may only physically
restrain a child when it is the only practicable means of securing the welfare of
that child or another child and there are exceptional circumstances. You must
reasonably believe that:

• a child will cause physical harm to themselves or another person;

• a child will run away and will put themselves or others at serious risk of harm; or

• a child will cause signiﬁcant damage which is likely to have a serious emotional
See 5c effect or create a physical danger. See below.



5c Is damage to property ever a reason for restraining
children?
Property damage is not sufficient reason on its own for restraining a child. However
the damage done to the welfare of the child or other children by their damaging
of property may be sufficient reason. A child destroying their history (all their
photographs for example) or destroying communal or private living space may
cause significant harm to themselves or other children– psychological in this case.
It is harm to the child, not harm to property that is the issue here. Damage being
done to property does not necessarily mean that a child or other children are being
significantly harmed.

5d When not to restrain a child or young person
You should not use physical restraint when:
• you can restore safety in another practicable way;
• you are not in control of yourself;
• you consider it clearly unsafe to do so (for example, the young person has a
weapon);
• you know the young person has a medical difficulty that may be made worse by
being restrained;
• you consider there are not enough adults to restrain the child safely;
• even with enough adults you are not confident you can manage to restrain the child
safely;
• you are on your own with a young person, unless you assess restraining them to be
is the least risky action to take (in very rare circumstances).
You may come across dangerous or difficult situations which appear not to be
covered by your employerʼs physical restraint guidelines. Your employer should
provide guidelines about personal discretion, and the likely effects particular action
will have. These guidelines should include what you can do if you have used the
techniques taught to you in training, found them ineffective and yet there is still an
immediate danger. You will find a decision tree called ʻHard Choicesʼ which will
help you walk through the possibilities at then end of section 5.

5e How to restrain a child
When restraining a child or young person is necessary, you must do so in a way that
doesnʼt harm your relationship with them and creates the possibility of making
good progress when the crisis is over. This will permit the continuation of other
therapeutic work once the restraint is over.
There are three important parts involved in the process of restraining children well:
• How you think.
• How you act.
• What you do.



5e1 How you should think
How you think about what you are doing will dictate how you act. It is important for you
to have the right frame of mind.
• Set aside unhelpful thoughts. (See practice example in the table below.)
• Think of young people as unique individuals and each occasion as a unique
occasion. (This helps you to use previous information without thinking that you
are always bound to get the same outcome.)
• Be aware of your own emotional state and that restraint happens within the context
of a relationship. (Ask yourself, how am I possibly contributing to this situation?)
• Be aware of the young personʼs history and of anything that may increase or reduce
the likelihood of things getting worse.
• Try and work out the young personʼs intention in behaving in this way (for
example, they may be ʻacting outʼ to get away from an otherwise frightening
situation).
• Think of violence and aggression as a form of strong communication and avoid
becoming defensive. (Consider challenging behaviour as a code when normal
communication isnʼt working well.)
• Consider how you speak with your co-workers. The way you do this can make
your thinking clear to the young person, and help you maintain a neutral viewpoint.
Said in the right way, something like, “Iʼd really like to let Helen go but I donʼt feel
able to do that until she can show me sheʼs back in control of herself” may achieve
this.

Practice example – internal dialogue e.g.
It was late and Amy was struggling. We should have been off shift over an hour ago and I was frustrated.
I had been through this before with Amy. She regularly behaved worse and worse in a controlled and
deliberate way so that we had to restrain her – for instance, she would tie things tightly round her neck with
the potential to do great harm to herself. She frequently built towards this, often in a long drawn-out manner
and late at night. As a team we spent lots of time and energy discussing ways to manage this behaviour
without resorting to the use of restraint.
During these situations I remember thinking, ʻHere we go again.ʼ ʻShe just wants to be restrained.ʼ ʻShe
is trying to keep us here all night.ʼ ʻWe might as well just get it over with.ʼ ʻThis kid doesnʼt belong here.ʼ
My thoughts were actually more about my own wants and needs; they kept me from focusing in on the
particulars at hand and supported me to personalise her behaviour.
On this night after trying everything we could think of to get Amy through yet another ordeal, I remember
thinking, ʻHow am I adding to this mess?ʼ We were all milling around the downstairs ofﬁce pretending not
to be paying attention to her behaviour while still trying to keep an eye on her through the glass. I asked
my two co-workers what they were thinking and feeling. We all brieﬂy acknowledged our frustration, and
I asked what they thought Amy needed and wanted right now.

37 Go to Key Considerations Click here to return to Contents


Somehow something subtly shifted. Looking back, I think we needed to actively put aside our own reactions
to Amyʼs infuriating and somewhat frightening behaviour so that we could think about what was going on
in a more useful way. This made us more able to respond to Amy and not just her behaviour. While we were
aware of the importance of this, it had been easy to lose sight of in the wee hours of the morning.
I donʼt remember exactly what we did from that point forward, but I do remember that we were able to help
Amy through the situation without restraining her. I donʼt think what we did was all that different from other
nights but how we did it made the difference, and I believe this came about as a result of a conscious effort
to acknowledge and change our thinking to focus on Amyʼs needs and not just her behaviour.
Practitioner

5e2 How you should act
You can consider physically restraining a child or young person as being a way of
managing their behaviour on the surface. It can pave the way for other therapeutic
action with them later. The way you act while restraining a child or young person
contributes greatly to maintaining the relationship you need to do this further work.
While restraining a young person:
• keep calm and controlled and act in a way that absorbs and responds to aggression
without retaliating;
• be sensitive about your choice of words, your tone of voice and your pace of
speaking;
• convey a genuine willingness to help;
• acknowledge the young personʼs feelings;
• say why you are concerned and donʼt use it as a play for power;
• work with and donʼt compete with the young person;
• donʼt rush the process, and let it take as long as it takes. However, you should be
aware of the young personʼs level of discomfort and the dangers of restraining them
for too long.

5e3 What you should do
After assessing the risk in a situation, and as it becomes clearer that you need to restrain a
child or young person immediately, several things become particularly important.
You should:
• check where you are and the way this may affect the way you restrain them (for
example, type of ﬂooring, space and so on);
• communicate with colleagues;
• make sure that someone takes the lead;
• make sure that there are enough competent people to manage the situation safely;
• assess the possible reaction of the other young people present and make sure that
they are not drawn in, and moved away where possible;
• use only the techniques you have trained in;



• choose the least restrictive way of restraining the child;
• use as little force as reasonably practicable for the shortest time necessary.

When practicable, you should assign someone the responsibility of monitoring the
restraining process to check to make sure that the child is not in unnecessary or
life-threatening distress and that they are being restrained properly. Signs to look
for which indicate distress include:
• Most significantly, signs of limited breathing such as:
• Rapid and shallow breathing
• Laboured breathing
• Panting or grunting
• Statement of an inability to breathe
• Absence of breathing
Children can die from you limiting their breathing, even while they are still moving
or while seeming to still be breathing. Moving does not mean the child is getting
enough air to live (Swann and Brucer cited in Miller, 2004). Donʼt be fooled if
thereʼs shouting or moving. This has been a factor in restraint related deaths, with
ʻI canʼt breatheʼ being the young personʼs last words in some cases (Weiss et al,
1998).

• Other signs include:
• Limpness
• Discolouration of face—ashen, grey or dusky purple
• Vomiting
• Seizure
If you see signs of life-threatening distress, stop restraining them immediately and
seek medical help.

In carrying out the techniques there are certain safety considerations. You should:
• Minimise as far as practicable any pain or discomfort which may be involved;
• Avoid pressure on or across joints;
• Make sure you carefully move to the floor in a controlled way (if this is involved in
the type of restraint used);
• Protect the young personʼs head, especially if techniques involve moving to the
floor;
• Make sure that you use only holds you have been taught and are authorised to use
in your establishment;
• Constantly monitor the young personʼs breathing and wellbeing, taking account
of factors that may affect the restraint (for example age, gender, obesity, medical
difficulties, cultural issues, the childʼs history);
• Continually review the need for the restraint and the safety of all concerned.



5e4 What you must never do
With safety still as an important consideration, there are things you should never do.
You should never:
• deliberately inflict pain (unless all available authorised techniques have failed or
cannot be used and you cannot escape because you are unable to do so or because
to escape would lead to greater harm to the child or others). You must always act
reasonably, proportionately and without resort to excess. (See decision tree ʻHard
Go to Hard Choices choicesʼ at the end of section 5)
• put weight on the young personʼs neck, torso or hips, because of the dangers of
affecting their breathing;
• use ʻchokeʼ or ʻstrangleʼ neck holds;
• use seated or kneeling holds if the person is bent forward at the waist
(hyperflexion); or
• restrict airways, for example, by obstructing the nose or mouth.
You will find a more detailed description of some of these concerns and other
Go to Section 10 matters of safety in section 10.

5f Other considerations
There are three other factors which you may have to consider.

5f1 Changing staff
It is appropriate for you to change the staff involved in restraining a young person when:
• it is unlikely that the young person will calm down without changing staff;
• you are no longer in enough control of your own feelings;
• you are injured in a way which makes continuing the restraint impractical;
• you are so tired you cannot continue;
• you believe that the young person is deliberately making you continue restraining
them, for some form of gratification.
Before deciding to change the workers involved in a restraint, you should think
carefully about the ways in which the change will be understood by the young
person. Avoid acting in ways which undermine the authority of the worker who
took the lead at first. For example some male workers may feel it necessary to take
over from a female colleague, because they are uncomfortable with the situation
as a result of her gender. Although well intentioned, these interventions can be
unhelpful.

5f2 Ending a restraint before it’s done
Go to Section 6 Section 6 provides advice on how to end a restraint. However, in rare circumstances,
you may need to stop restraining a child or young person before she or he has
control of themselves and before you have completed a proper process of letting



go. This can present you with particular difficulties: for example you may have
made a wrong assessment of how appropriate it was to restrain the child in the first
place. However, it is always better to admit your mistakes than to carry on with an
ineffective and sometimes dangerous situation.

You will need to release a child early when:
• the child has been injured, been sick or had breathing difficulties;
• you become aware of a threat to their wellbeing as a result of other more long-
standing health concerns;
• you cannot continue safely because of the childʼs violence or your own loss of
control and it is not possible for someone else to take over;
• you cannot continue safely because you have been injured and it is not possible for
someone else to take over.
You and your colleagues need to make it clear to the child why you are ending the
restraint and should, if possible, go on engaging with the child. If a practitioner
is the target of a complaint, allegation, criminal charge or prosecution, civil
claim or litigation and has acted within establishment guidelines and training on
restraint and, where relevant, according to the SSSC code of practice, they should
reasonably expect to be supported by their employer.

5f3 Restraining a child who has a disability, learning difficulties
or other similar needs
In the lead up to and during a restraint, you should keep in mind any issues that might
complicate the situation because of a young personʼs disability. Some examples
are:
• A child may not understand your body language, tone of voice or facial expressions
in the same way other children might.
• A child may have great difficulty with changes to their routine and can be very
sensitive to sounds or touch.
• While being restrained, children whose hearing is impaired may not communicate
in their accustomed way and will likely not be able to express their hurt, rage or
fear. What is already a disempowering experience for a hearing/speaking child
could strip this child of all control.
One establishment we know of adapts their hold where possible to allow the child
to communicate using sign language. They also assign a staff member whose sole
responsibility is to maintain communication with the child while the child is being
held. We recommend this practice.
• Children with certain learning disabilities might not be able to understand what is
happening to them before and while they are being held. The meaning they attach
to what has happened may be very different from the adultsʼ understanding.

Whatever factors may complicate holding this child, you must arrange things to
minimise the chances of traumatising or re-traumatising them.



5g Hard choices – a decision tree
We created this decision tree at the end of section five to help you think through the
potential consequences of those difficult situations where you are restraining a
young person and it does not go according to plan. For instance those times when
you have been unable to restrain the young person, for whatever reason, even
though the situation might still call for it.

In the decision tree we did not include the consequence of ʻno harmʼ following the
use of unauthorised techniques, as harm will always occur. The use of unauthorised
techniques is never good or harm-free. It must never be supported in the policy
or culture of an agency. However in highly exceptional, one-off instances,
unauthorised actions may be both reasonable and proportionate. In this we are
clearly not describing normal restraint best practice.

Start at the top of the flowchart and follow the arrows.


5 Hard Choices – a decision tree
The Practice of Restraining Children

Don’t use this flowchart without reading section 5g in Chapter 5 on hard choices. This decision tree will
help you think through the potential consequences, where you have been unable to restrain a child, for
whatever reason, even though the situation may still call for it.
The use of unauthorised techniques is never good or harm-free. It must never be supported in the policy
or culture of an agency. However, in highly exceptional, one-off instances, unauthorised actions may be
both reasonable and proportionate. In this we are clearly not describing normal restraint best practice.
This flow chart must not be seen as a substitute for the guidance. See it as an aid to memory but read,
re-read, and know the guidance.

You You
You attempt to restrain a child,
know and know and
Have using approved techniques,
understand understand
you been Yes because of their behaviour and the
agency agency
trained? situation (see guidance, and flow
policy and policy and
chart in appendix 1)
procedure procedure

No

Respond
Back
Duty of Care Intervene eg Seek more
off
requires intervention? further or help, isolate and
– Respond or
back off. protect other
Abandon
children,
etc.
Intervene

Proportionate You use unauthorised
techniques e.g. pain Abandon –
and reasonable abandon the situation
? holds or defensive
blows or techniques leaving it dangerous
you’ve not been
Yes trained in
No

Harm occurs Harm occurs Harm occurs No Harm
occurs

Employer Harm occurs
Reasonable Unlikely
should
defence if to be
support
child sues prosecuted
you

Employer Reflect on incident
Child may
Likely to be unlikely to
successfully
prosecuted support
sue you
you

Return 43 Go to Key Considerations Click here to return to Contents

6 Ending a Physical Restraint of a Young Person

6a
Ending a Physical
Restraint of a
Young Person

Introduction
6
The way in which a physical restraint is ended, and the action you take immediately after
it, will have a large influence on its overall effect.

We have split this section into two main themes. We look at the complicated
process of how you can best decide when to let a child go. We then consider the
ways in which you can regain a positive working environment immediately after
restraining a young person.

6b Letting go
The process through which you give back control to the young person and let go
is important in terms of the effect it has on the young person and her or
his relationships with the staff involved. Releasing too soon and having to
immediately manage violent or otherwise high-risk behaviour all over again is
obviously something to avoid. And holding a child for longer than is needed is
not only poor practice, but in some cases could be considered abuse, assault or
negligence.

In between the extremes of much too soon and far too long lies a difficult area that
involves skilled and knowledgeable practice.

6b1 Preparing to let go
• Only one person should lead the process of letting go of the young person.
This is often the person who has been the lead in the restraint, but there can be
exceptions to this if you believe that the young person cannot calm down when
spoken to by the lead staff.

• If the young person does not appear ready to start or continue the letting-go
process, donʼt start or continue.
While this may seem obvious, at the time it can be difficult to assess. So, tell the



Use a firm, young person clearly, and as often as needed, how they can let you know they are
neutral and ready. Do not confuse the young person by starting to let them go, or continuing to
reassuring let them go, if they have not let you know that they are ready.
tone
throughout • Use a firm, neutral and reassuring tone throughout the process.
the process.
Avoid statements that further provoke or stimulate the young person, including
accusations and demands. At the same time, be firm: mean what you are saying. It
may help the young person to be able to calm down when all other staff stay silent.

• Once you see that the young person has calmed down enough, let them know what
you want them to do to show you that they are ready to begin the process of letting
go.

Tensions are likely to still be high, and having to answer questions while still being
held can often feel like a further humiliation. To avoid this, let the young person
know what you are looking for in terms of an indication that he or she is ready.

Focus on what you are looking for so you know that the young person is ready
to start the process of letting go (for example, asking him or her to take two deep
breaths). You may want to tell the young person that what you are already seeing
shows you that the young person is ready to start the process of letting go.

Once a young person is calm, slow deep breaths can be a good place to start. This
offers a simple indication that the young person is ready and also helps to calm the
body.

As the last step of the process, let the young person know what will happen after
you release them, before you make the final release (for example, that the young
person can take a few moments to get themselves together, and then will be
brought something to drink and checked for injuries).

• Letting go should be more of a process than an abrupt event. Take your time and
assess throughout whether the young person is showing that they remain ready to
regain control and be safe. A gradual release (either of limbs or firmness of hold—
depending on the hold used) will give you time to make this assessment.

6b2 What to say
• Keep your statements short and simple. Long and complicated messages can be
difficult to follow.
• You should offer brief words of reassurance throughout the process.
• You need a firm, neutral and reassuring tone. The process of letting go is also a
good time to slow… things… down.
• Once the young person has shown that they are ready to start the process of letting
go, let them know what your next step will be and what you will look for from
them to show they are ready to continue with the process.
Go to next box • Deliver your messages in a child-centred way (see next box).



Practice example - child-centred messages e.g.
Suppose you have decided to tell the young person that you want to see two deep breaths to start
the process of letting go. Depending on what you say and how you say it, the message might come across
to the young person as:
ʻYou have to do exactly what I say before Iʼm going to let you go. Give me two deep breaths, or you are
staying hereʼ.
Or it could come across as:
ʻIʼll know youʼre ready for us to start letting go when you take two deep breaths. That will show me you are
ready take control of yourself in a safe way.ʼ
The ﬁrst example is adult-centred in that the child is expected to meet an adult demand, and the second is
geared toward gradually giving control back to the young person.
The young person will pick up on your intentions though the words you say and your tone of voice.

6b3 What not to say
The process of letting go is not a time for negotiation. You are the person who must assess
when it is appropriate to let go. Teaching young people to negotiate appropriately,
so they can get what they want, is an important part of good practice. However,
so is teaching them to deal with those situations which are non-negotiable. The
process of letting go is one of these situations.

This may seem to contradict some of the guidance we have given previously.
However, once you have decided that the young personʼs behaviour is serious
enough to call for physical restraint, you must then take full control. It would send
an inappropriate message if the young person were in any position to negotiate.
You need to be in control as an adult, in a way which lets the child feel cared for,
and not abused.

Donʼt think that this means that the young person doesnʼt deserve to be negotiated
with in general. It is not about what the child deserves in general. It is about
securing her or his welfare. Because of the seriousness of the events that led to this
point, it is your responsibility to keep control until you assess that the young person
is ready to begin to be given that control back, with you supporting and helping all
the way through.

6b4 Power and control
Usually, the behaviour and events leading up to the restraint feel out of control to the
young person, the staff or both, as can the restraint itself. The process of letting
go can be affected by the young personʼs or the staffʼs reaction to losing control
and the desire to get it back. So, it is essential that the letting-go process does
not become a ʻpower playʼ in which you ʻshow whoʼs bossʼ. Sometimes a young
person may appear to be in control of themselves but they are still not able to show



It is important you they are ready to act safely. In these circumstances they may still be looking to
to let the child assert power in a dangerous way.
know, as soon
as it is safe, A desire to feel in control of what is happening is natural, especially while being
your willingness restrained, and in itself this is not the problem. Be clear about the appropriate
to share control boundaries of control (who really should be in control of what), and manage that
of the situation desire to control. This helps to prevent it from becoming counterproductive.

Your influence at this time can be huge as the final stages of being restrained can
make some young people drop their defences. Being careful about the messages
you are delivering, and managing your own urges for a power-play will greatly
influence how the young person makes sense of their restraint.

It is sometimes the case that the only thing the child feels he or she has left is
control over the point at which you let them go. This can be difficult when the
child decides to make a power play of this issue.

You should invite an attitude of partnership with the child. When restrained,
most young people will feel stripped of all control. This may be necessary
in circumstances in which there is no other way to keep a situation safe. It is
important to let the child know, as soon as it is safe, your willingness to share
control of the situation and help them through the restraint. This is not the same
as negotiating and may be passed on as much through your overall attitude as the
words you choose.

6b5 Restraining a child for a long time
When a young person seems to be making a restraint last a long time, treat it as a type
of communication. These types of situation can be extremely difficult to manage,
partly because of the feelings they sometimes provoke in staff, and also because
staff are rightly wary of restraining a child or young person any longer than is
needed. While there is no simple solution, the following may be useful.

• Resist any desire to deal with the situation with your own ʻpower play.ʼ
Acknowledge what you want (to be finished!), but focus on the young personʼs
needs.
• Try to see that their difficulty in calming down may not be a deliberate power play.
Being restrained can bring up feelings that are extremely difficult to manage, which
may also tap into unresolved rage, loss, grief and sadness. For some young people,
it can take a long time before they can once again control their emotions and be
calm. In these situations, it may be best to give periods of silence, interrupted
by brief messages of reassurance. You should also tell them how they can let you
know when they are ready to begin thinking about the letting-go process.
• Remember that the young person resisting our control over them, and trying to
assert their own control can have a positive side, even though the way this it is
being expressed is not appropriate. This resistance might well represent a level of
resilience that helped them survive previous abuse.



Avoid • Clearly say that you think the young personʼs behaviour is an indication that they
taking it still need you to hold them.
personally
• Show that you are willing to wait with the young person and hold him or her as
long as she or he needs you to. This can turn the power play on its head, as most
young people in this situation do not want to see themselves as having needs that
staff are meeting. (This is exactly what staff are doing by making sure that the
young person is ready.)
• Avoid taking it personally. We realise that this can be hard to do, but it is vital in
staying child-centred. Even if you sense the behaviour is an attempt to ʻget atʼ you,
on a deeper level it is less about you, and more about that young personʼs history,
beliefs and unresolved pain. The better you can understand this, the more effective
you are likely to be.

6b6 Questions when considering whether to let go
• What is the young person doing to show that they are ready (or not ready) to start
regaining full control of their body?
• What am I feeling and thinking, and how might this be affecting the process?
• How is my tone and is what I am saying helping the young person to work with me
toward regaining control and being safe?
• How might my tone and what I am saying be provoking the young person?
• What does this young person need right now?
• Are there other factors to do with the event which need to change before I can
safely let go?

Practice example - letting go
e.g.
Lead member of staff: ʻOkay Ian, youʼve done a good job getting calm, quiet and still. I
think we can start letting go. You can let us know youʼre ready by taking two,
deep breaths.ʼ

Ian: ʻI am ready!! Get off!!ʼ

Lead member of staff: ʻThe only way weʼll know youʼre ready, Ian, is when youʼre calm enough to be
quiet and still, and to take two deep breaths.ʼ

(Silence)
Ian: (Starts to cry)
Lead member of staff: ʻItʼs okay to take as long as you need, Ian. No-oneʼs going to rush you. Weʼll
stick with you until you are ready.ʼ

(Silence)



Ian: (takes two deep breaths)
Lead member of staff: ʻWell done Ian. Looks like weʼre ready to begin. Ian, Iʼm going to ask Eileen to
release your right leg. When she does, you can move your leg around a little
for comfort but then keep it still. That way Iʼll know youʼre ready to continue.
Eileen, can you release Ianʼs right leg?ʼ

(Eileen releases Ianʼs right leg, Ian does not try to break free)
Lead member of staff: ʻYouʼre doing well Ian. Iʼm going to release your left leg and the same goes.
When itʼs still weʼll know youʼre ready to keep going.ʼ

(Lead member of staff releases Ianʼs left leg, again Ian does not try to break free)
Lead member of staff: ʻIʼm going to ask Eileen to release your right arm. When she does, you can move
it about a bit if itʼs stiff, and then rest it still. Eileen, please release Ianʼs right
arm.ʼ

(Eileen releases Ianʼs right arm)
Lead member of staff: ʻOkay Ian, youʼve done a great job getting yourself calm. When weʼre done with
this, someoneʼs going to get you a drink and make sure youʼre okay. Then weʼll
have a chance to get things sorted and hear about what has upset you. First,
though, Iʼm going to release your left arm.ʼ

(Lead staff releases Ianʼs left arm)

Some things to keep in mind.

• This is an example of a very straightforward letting-go process. Some take
much longer and are more complex.
• The specific wording and actions are not a model to follow, as they will vary
with methods of restraint. This is simply an example of the type of process to
follow and the spirit in which it is carried out.
• Let the young person know at the beginning that this will be done in several
steps, especially if it is the young personʼs first restraint.
• Donʼt rush the process.

6c Actions immediately after letting go
It is difficult to provide specific advice for the action to take in the period immediately
after a physical restraint. It will vary considerably depending on several factors
including:

• the type of residential establishment (for example, consider the differences between
secure units, small group homes and educational units);



• the time of day (or night) at which the restraint took place;
• where the restraint took place;
• whether or not other children were present;
• whether anyone has been injured;
• the numbers and skills of other staff who are available to help.

However, there are considerations which should form the basis of all practice.
These are activities which are shared appropriately among the team, and managers
should actively lead at these times. This includes what needs to be done with the
young person who was restrained, the other children and the staff.

6c1 Work with the child who was restrained
• See, ask and check whether the child is hurt and needs any medical help or any
other practical help. This might involve simple acts of caring such as getting them a
drink or a cool flannel. Seek medical help immediately if required.
• Continue to look after the emotional needs of the child. Children very often
experience being restrained as a traumatic experience they find hard to digest. It
can bring up echoes of their previous experience of abuse. How and whether the
child is able to make sense of the experience is dependent on the wider context of
their care, as outlined in this guidance.
• Decide whether the young person needs to continue to be protected from the rest of
the group or if the group needs to be protected from them. Help the young person
continue to calm down and begin the process of reflecting on what has happened.
• Decide who should now work with the young person, and the amount of discussion
and reflection it would be reasonable to carry out at this time. It can be a good idea
for the person who has taken the lead in restraining the young person to continue
to work with them. However, there also are times when the young person clearly
does not think this is a good idea, and it is better for a colleague to take the lead.
Sometimes it is important for the child to have some time alone. While you should
be aware of the possible risks, this should usually be allowed to happen (see section
Go to Section 7 7).
• Help the young person work out how they can best get back into the group and
provide appropriate help.
• Make sure, by your actions and by what you say, that the child knows that you still
care for them and you want to continue to help.

6c2 Work with the other children
• Look after the needs of the other children and work to get the group back together,
physically and otherwise. Provide appropriate explanations and reassurance.
• Get back to the activities you previously planned, but be open to the possibility of
change. It is especially important to try to honour commitments to other children,
so that one childʼs needs do not continue to take priority over all others.



• Stay in tune with the mood of the group, listening closely to what all the children
are saying and being sensitive to how the incident may have affected them.

6c3 Staff considerations
• Recognise that although you decided to let go of the child, the situation may still be
extremely tense and difficult. You need to be aware of continuing risks.
• Make sure that no staff are physically hurt or need medical attention. Take
appropriate steps to help them deal with the current situation.
• Check that staff are feeling OK in themselves. Some people find restraining a child
to be a traumatic experience, which can trigger difficult, deep feelings.
• By deciding to let go, you have decided to return to the child or young person a
large measure of their own self-control. You must avoid becoming involved in new
power plays, just as you have avoided them in deciding when to let go.
• Consider the impact on the relationship between you and the young person and
give them the time, space and contact they need.
• Return furniture and other objects which may have been removed before and
during the restraint, in a way which is not too obvious. It is sometimes good for the
young person to help with this.
• Let senior staff or others know about the child having been restrained, as set down
in your local procedures.
Usually before the shift ends, the worker who has taken the lead in restraining the
child will need to begin the process of recording events. We discuss this in sections
8 and 9. However, it is important to stress here that although maintaining accurate
and appropriate records is a very important part of the process, you should not
allow the pressure to record to distract you from the more pressing tasks set out
above.
be
aware of It is likely that an initial review by staff will take place during the shift, but this
continuing should not take priority over getting back to a stable living environment. The early
risks review is a good start to the process of learning from these events.


7 Learning from Events

7a
Learning from Events

Introduction
7
This section examines the ways in which you can best use the experience of physically
restraining children and young people to help shape future practice and policy.

Whilst restraint is a method of last resort, there is a danger that when you only use
a particular practice when other action has not been effective, the practice itself can
be seen as failure. We need to change this view.

The period following a physical restraint provides an opportunity for learning for:
• the child who was restrained;
• all who were involved in or affected by the restraint;
• the manager of the establishment and the service provider organisation.

7b Giving the young person space to reflect on and
learn from the experience
The fact that a young person needed to be restrained shows that there are situations where
the young personʼs behaviour is so unsafe as to place them or other people at risk.
You should give the young person opportunities to learn from the experience and to
develop different ways of coping with difficult situations.

You should consider the following:

7b1 Timing
Some children will want to be comforted in the period immediately after the restraint
and as part of that will see the immediate opportunity to discuss the event as
helpful. Some may welcome the period of calm, but will not be ready immediately
to discuss events. Others may be angry, resentful and extremely resistant to any
discussion. It is your responsibility to find the right time to talk with the child about
how they can be helped to manage similar situations differently. Your primary
purpose should be to assist the child.



The guiding Assess the situation and decide, preferably by discussion with the young person,
principle must how best to go ahead. Consider the young personʼs emotional state, as well as
be the needs factors such as his or her age and developmental ability, in reaching any decisions.
of the young
The guiding principle must be the needs of the young person, and the timing of the
person, and
discussion should reflect those needs. However, this does not mean that you always
the timing of
do as the young person wants or demands.
the discussion
should reflect There are situations, such as unaddressed patterns or seriousness of behaviour,
those needs in which you or a colleague might insist the young person talk about what has
happened before you allow them to re-enter the group, even if this is against their
wishes. Careful judgement is required here, and you may still need to give time to
the process.
If you have to insist on discussing the matter with the young person, against their
wishes, how you express your insistence is extremely important. You need to let
the young person know that you are acting this way because you are concerned for
the young person and others. You must resist anything which suggests that your
decision is about asserting power. Here, as elsewhere, you must resist power plays.

7b2 Time for discussion
There is often a benefit when the person who took the lead in the restraint leads the
discussion. The young person can share her or his understanding of the event and
use the discussion to continue the process of restoring a relationship which does
not involve using restraint. However, as with timing you must be sensitive to
the needs and wishes of each young person, and if a young person would clearly
prefer to discuss the event with another worker, you should normally arrange that.
When working with children who have language and communication difficulties,
you should be sure to use the specialist communication approaches which should
be listed in their care plan. The adult will need to consider their own physical and
emotional state, skills, experience and training to decide if any of those factors
might obstruct the aim of promoting the welfare of the child.
The discussion is unlikely to be a one-off, and it may be helpful for the young
person to discuss the event with several staff on several occasions. For example,
in most establishments, the young person may want to discuss being restrained
and the surrounding issues with their keyworker. The young person may also ask
to discuss the restraint with staff or others who work outwith the establishment,
for example their social worker or a ʻWho Cares?ʼ worker. You should make
arrangements for these discussions. However, you should not see them as a
substitute for discussions which should take place between you and the young
person.

7b3 Content and tone
Hold the discussion in a way in which the young person is confident that you are properly
considering their views and that you are not blaming them. It is helpful for the
child to tell it how they see it first. Just listening to the young person speak at
length instead of challenging them about who did what and when often helps the



child and you to be more open to the otherʼs point of view.

To learn from the event, it is likely that your discussions will cover:
• the young personʼs experience of being restrained;
• the young personʼs view of why the adults may have restrained them;
• the events leading up to their being restrained;
• the part played by other people in the events leading up to their being restrained;
• the behaviour of the young person and the staff which led to their being restrained;
• the young personʼs thoughts and feelings and how they affected their behaviour;
• what the young person was hoping to achieve by their behaviour;
• the process of the young person regaining control;
• helping the young person identify and understand the connection between their
thoughts and feelings and their behaviour;
• what has been learnt from restraining the young person and surrounding events,
including a plan for the young person and staff about what they will try to do
differently the next time the young person has similar difficulties, or experiences
similar thoughts and feelings;
• anything which you or the young person needs to do to deal with the effect of
events on relationships in the establishment;
• space and support for the young person to begin dealing with any difficult
memories that the restraint may have brought up.
The period after a young person has been restrained is a time when he or she can
learn how to deal with the consequences of poor choices and learn about mending
relationships. The way in which you and your colleagues reflect on your own work
in the discussions will affect that learning.

7c Giving staff time and space to reflect on and learn
from the experience
If you have been involved in physically restraining a young person, you must have
the opportunity to reflect on what you did. The process of providing learning
As staff in
residential
opportunities for young people should be mirrored by opportunities for staff to
establishments learn from their experiences.
you should
As staff in residential establishments you should develop and support a culture in
develop and
which you can talk with your colleagues about how you do your job, including
support a
restraining children. Be open to hearing as well as giving both criticism and praise.
culture in
which you can In these discussions, it is generally better to invite othersʼ views, and ask about
talk with your what others were thinking and hoping to achieve, than it is to launch into criticism.
colleagues You should ask your colleagues to give you feedback on your practice. Of course
about how you you should challenge poor practice, but even then it may be useful to start with
do your job questions.



The reflection serves at least three purposes;

• It gives you and your colleagues an opportunity to express the difficult emotional
pressures created by physically restraining children;

• It gives you, your colleagues and your manager an opportunity to reflect, in detail,
on what happened and set out the facts;

• It gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you have learnt, to help in the future
and to contribute to your professional development.

The discussions should take place during planned staff meetings as well as more
informal gatherings, for example at the end of a shift. Some will happen very
shortly after the event, and others after a longer time, when you have had more
opportunity for reflection. They may be organised by your manager or may be
meetings of different staff members. Discussions should be centred on the welfare
of the child in the establishment. The discussions which would encourage reflection
on practice might include:

• what you have learned about the young person as a result of restraining them and
the events leading up to this;

• what you have learned about yourself and your colleagues as a result of restraining
the young person and the events leading up to this;

• what you think the young personʼs views of the events leading up to being
restrained may have been;

• the view the young person might now have about why you restrained him or her;

• what appeared to work this time or in the past, what didnʼt work well and what you
will try to do differently in the future;

• any implications for the ways shifts or other matters should be organised and the
ways staff should communicate with each other;

• whether and how you should share this discussion with the young person;

• any implications for training or staff development.

As well as these meetings, you should include discussion of occasions when you
have had to restrain young people on the agenda for staff supervision sessions,
and should make use of monitoring information as discussed in section 9. The
supervision session will probably reflect the list of topics immediately above, but it
is more tightly focused on the work and professional development of the individual
or group. The work in supervision sessions is likely to sit well alongside the work
carried out in the larger meetings.

It is likely that you will also want to discuss the issues arising from any restraint
with the residents as a group. Episodes of restraint can affect all the young people,
not only the child who has been restrained. Group discussions can help young
people and staff learn from the event.



7d When things go badly wrong
In an extreme situation, you may decide that the poor practice you have witnessed is
abusive. Abusive practice could be a serious single incident that is not dealt with
properly, or it could also be a working culture or a series of incidents which added
together amount to abuse.

Staff in residential care rely on each other to do a difficult job well. This is a
mutual reliance which exists to a far greater extent in residential care than in most
other social work or social care jobs. As a result, you may find you have a conflict
between supporting your colleagues and reporting abusive practice. A decision
to report a colleague is likely to be one of the most difficult you as a practitioner
will face, and it boils down to this: you have to judge the difference between poor
practice which you can change through challenging your colleague, and abusive
practice which must be reported.

When faced with such a decision, you may find it useful to talk things through with
someone who is not involved. The most important factor influencing your decision
must be the young peopleʼs safety, welfare, needs and rights.

When you judge conduct to be serious enough to do more than challenge your
colleague, in most cases you should speak to internal managers first. Poor and
unacceptable practice must be reported and dealt with.

If your internal management is not taking effective steps to put things right, and the
practice is serious enough to break with normal reporting arrangements, in most
cases you must report the abusive practice directly to an external manager, or a
member of the Care Commission, or the police.

You may feel you are or will be implicated and wrapped up in the abuse – take
courage and take the necessary steps anyway.

7e Managers and their organisations – what they can
learn
Managers and their organisations will gain many important lessons from paper records
Go to Section 8 and spreadsheets (see sections 8 and 9), but there are other important ways in
which they can learn from events. Managers need to discuss this difficult aspect of
Go to Section 9
practice with their staff.

If you are a manager, you need to make sure that you have systems and procedures
in place which give the young people and staff the opportunities to reflect on
and learn from the experience of restraining children. You also need to provide
evidence that information provided from young people and from staff is understood
and acted on by you and others who manage the service.

Most of the work related to supporting staff who are directly involved in restraining
children and young people is carried out by their immediate managers. However,
we recommend that senior staff become familiar with how young people are
restrained in their organisations, to consider how best they can support the staff



Care



1 You can be assured that the care home has policies and procedures that cover all legal
requirements, including:
• stafﬁng and training;
• ʻwhistle-blowingʼ;
• managing risk;
• proper record-keeping, including recording incidents and complaints.
6 You know that external managers monitor the care you receive in the care home. The quality
and performance of the care home and children and young peopleʼs views and complaints are
monitored. The external manager or board makes sure the manager is suitable for the role.

and the young people, and make sure that practice meets the highest standards.
In addition to young people being hurt, senior staff may be found liable in law or
subject to disciplinary action if things go wrong. This is too important an area to be
delegated blindly.

To help your staff to learn from each episode of restraint you should make sure
that:

• you have enough understanding of the physical restraint of young people so you
can carry out your management role and offer support and guidance to your staff;
• you are available and approachable for consultation, advice and appraisal;
• you have provided stafﬁng levels and shift patterns which take account of the need
for regular supervision, staff meetings and informal staff discussion;
• you show genuine concern about the restraint of young people and donʼt just seek
to blame;
• children and young people know that they can approach you directly if they do not
feel safe;
• you respond to reports of assault, abuse or concerns and know who to report to, be
they your managers, the Care Commission or the Police.
If managers and staff are actively involved in learning from events, it is more likely
that the learning for the young people will be effective. If you are not learning from
experience, why should you expect it of the young people?


8 Recording the Event and Letting Others Know

8a
Recording the Event
and Letting Others
Know

Introduction
8
After physically restraining a child or young person, you must let the appropriate people
know, and make sure that it is all properly recorded. Employers will have their
own speciﬁc arrangements about recording and letting others know, and you
must always follow these. If you feel these are inadequate, discuss this with your
manager and report serious concerns to the more senior managers and if necessary
the Care Commission.

Service providers do not have to record information in a standard way, but we
suggest that the details below would be helpful in monitoring when and how
children are restrained.

8b Letting the right people know about the restraint
As noted, each provider will have their own procedures about letting staff and others
know when a child or young person has been restrained. The procedures are likely
to include details about when particular individuals should be told, and you must
keep to any timescales. Those likely to be included on any list are:

• the childʼs family and, where appropriate, carers;
• the childʼs social worker;
• managers within the residential establishment;
• external managers; and
• the police in cases where a crime may have been committed, including instances of
assault by the child or staff member.
If there are more serious and exceptional incidents, it is possible that managers may
decide to refer the matter to:

• the Health and Safety Executive;
• the Reporter to the Childrenʼs Panel;



Care

Standard 3 - Keeping in touch with people who are important to you

You are helped to keep in touch with your family and friends and to have a good understanding of
your family history and relationships.

4 If you cannot tell them yourself, your family will quickly be told about any significant events,
developments or incidents in your life.

• the Child Protection Lead Officer or local equivalent;
• The Care Commission.

Examples include a serious assault or events which suggest child-protection
procedures might need to begin or be reviewed.

8c Why record?
Recording details of incidents where a child or young person has been restrained serves
many purposes:
• It provides an account of the care and control within an establishment;
• It encourages staff to reflect on their practice;
• It helps management and staff plan care by helping to identify problematic
behavioural patterns;
• It helps a young person face and confront difficulties;

Care

Standard 6 Feeling safe and secure


At any time, there are enough staff available to help you when needed.

2 You are protected from all kinds of abuse. You can be confident that staff are aware of child
protection procedures and that they know what to do when they have a concern. Staff know
what to do and will help you get appropriate specialist help if you wish to tell someone that
you have been abused or ill-treated in any way by anyone at any time.



• It allows organisations who check the quality of care to see how establishments
restrain children (for example, by Care Commission, or SWIA);
• It may form evidence in civil or criminal courts or formal inquiries.

You must record all occasions when you have had to physically restrain young people in a
way which:
• Is thorough (meaning rigorous and detailed);
• Is transparent (meaning that it is written and presented in clear ways which help all
those who need access to the record);
• Records different views of an incident.

Box 8c - Regulations about recording

ʻA provider shall keep a record of any occasion on which restraint has been applied to a user, with
details of the form of restraint or control, and the reason why it was necessary and the name of
the person authorising it.ʼ (The Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services) (Scotland)
Regulations 2002, regulation 19(3)(a)).

Regulation 12 of the Residential Establishments Child Care (Scotland) Regulations 1996 states
that ʻManagers shall ensure in consultation with the person in charge that there is maintained for
each establishment a log book or books of day to day events of importance or of an ofﬁcial nature,
including, … details of sanction imposed.ʼ In this situation (and only in this situation) restraint is seen
as a sanction. But see regulation 4 (1)(c) of these regulations in box 1d4. Regulation 13 covers records
for each child.

Data protection issues are covered more fully in chapter 9.

See box 1d4 Go to Section 9

8d What to record
You should record this information as soon as possible and usually within 24 hours of the
event.

It may be helpful to collect information in four main categories:

• Details of the actual incident which will usually be completed by the lead member
of staff restraining the child;
• Details of any injuries which will usually be completed by a staff member or
manager not directly involved in restraining the child;
• Details of the childʼs view of the incident, the follow-up in respect of the care plan
and any changes which are needed as a result;
• Details of any witnessesʼ views, and the differences in their recollections;



• Other information where appropriate, including:
• Witness statements (these are particularly useful when an incident is serious or
complex and if people have differing views or recollections);
• A record of the staff debriefing and the monitoring by internal and external
managers;
• Comments on how staff could improve their practice;
• Any need for further staff training.
Recording events of violence to staff is very important for health and safety
requirements, and should not be confused with recording occasions when children
are restrained.

8d1 Details needed
You should record details of the incident as soon as possible and usually within 24 hours
of the event. The details should be made available as soon as possible to other
staff members who need to know about the restraint, and also to the child. We
recommend that you should include:
• a list of the staff present during the incident, including those not directly involved;
• the names of any other professional staff or visitors to the establishment who saw
the incident;
• the names of any other children who were present and who had any significant
involvement, including witnesses. A witness may have seen the events leading up
to the child being restrained, the restraint itself, what followed, or indeed what
people said. Remember that you will need to discuss their involvement with them,
especially if you believe that it went beyond simply being a witness.
• details of the events leading to the incident;
• details of the behaviour of the child in the period leading up to them being
restrained;
• details of the responses of adults before the restraint;
• a statement about why physical restraint was the only practicable means to
deal with the situation, including details of the risks of harm and exceptional
circumstances you believed were present;
• a description of the methods of restraint you used and how long the restraint lasted;
• details of how the restraint came to an end;
• details of any involvement by the police;
• information about the immediate support offered to the child after being restrained;
• how events fit with the care plan and any issues which need to be reviewed;
• a list of those who were told about the child being restrained.



8d2 Injuries
Regulations.

Regulation 19(3)a of the Requirements as to Care Services Regulations requires providers
to keep a record of ʻany occasion on which restraint or control has been applied
to a user, with details of the form of restraint or control, the reason why it was
necessary and the name of the person authorising it.ʼ

As with the other details of the incident, you should record this information as soon
as possible and usually within 24 hours of the event. If possible the information
should be recorded by a member of staff who has not been directly involved in the
restraint to avoid accusations of inaccurate or biased recording. The information
should include:
• details of any injuries the child, the members of staff or any other person suffered
and when these became apparent, e.g. immediately or later and if so when;
• the medical help which was asked for and what was actually provided;
• confirmation that the child has been asked about his or her physical condition after
the restraint and that their general physical condition has been checked and by
whom;
• confirmation that the staff directly involved have been asked about their physical
condition after the restraint; and
• whether there has been a need to make an entry in the establishmentʼs accident
book.

8d3 What the young person thought
You should discuss who might be the most appropriate person to talk about the incident
with the young person. Although staff aim to discuss the incident with the young
person as soon as possible, they should be sensitive to the child or young personʼs
needs.

Disabled children may have their own particular communication needs and you
may help them understand an incident by using symbols or drawings.

Care
From National Care Standards -
Standards

From Standard 6 – Feeling safe and secure


At any time, there are enough staff available to help you when needed.

8 If you are a younger, frail or less confident child, or have a disability, or if you find it difficult
to communicate, you are protected from more challenging or stronger children.



Be creative in finding ways that work for the child or young person. Methods could
include offering a computer or tape recorder, or using a diary.

Arranging for the child or young person to speak in more relaxed surroundings, for
example in a car or in a quieter or busier place, may sometimes be appropriate.

You should make a record of the discussion as soon as practicable and no later than
a week after the incident.

Whatever methods you use to help the child or young person express their views of
the incident, you must accurately put those views in writing. Whether they write it
themselves, or ask others to record it, the record is likely to contain:

• The dates of the discussions and the staff involved;
• The young personʼs account of events leading up to them being restrained;
• The young personʼs views about the reasons why the staff restrained them;
• Any views the young person may have about how things might have been done
differently;
• The young personʼs view of how relationships within the establishment have been
affected;
• Other action which the young person would like to take in the future; and
• Action which the young person would like the staff to take in future.

8e Other things to consider
You will need the records of occasions when you have restrained children for a range
of purposes. They have considerable potential as a tool to help you, the child and
the organisation learn from the experience. They also might be significant, long
after the event, in deciding on legal disputes or settling claims for compensation.
This might include criminal proceedings against staff or children. They could
be criminal injuries compensation claims or civil damages proceedings for an
employee or a child making a claim for improper care.

Given this range of possible uses, it is important that all records are:

• Accurate (which may include accurately recording different versions);
• Appropriately filed and cross-referenced;
• Typed (or in very rare cases written in clearly legible black handwriting);
• Signed by the individuals who are directly involved, providing witness statements
or carrying out follow-up discussions.
Because of the complexity and volume of the information which is gathered,
employers will want to create methods to avoid duplicating records. Wherever
possible, the main record of the restraint should be the first record of the restraint,
and you should cross-reference this document in other records and files.



Some staff or residents may wish to keep, for their own record, personal notes.
Anyone keeping such personal notes for their own purposes should be aware that
a court may order them to produce such notes in civil or criminal proceedings. In
a criminal case the police may seize such notes as evidence. People keeping notes
should also be aware that they must keep such notes conﬁdential to respect the
privacy of anyone referred to in them.

On the attached CD, available as a download from the Scottish Institute for
Residential Child Careʼs website and in appendix 3 we provide a form which you
can use to record the information shown in sections 8d1, 8d2, and 8d3.


9 Monitoring the Restraining of Children

9a
Monitoring the
Restraining of
Children

Introduction
9
Managers within services and external managers of services should monitor the restraint
of the children and young people in their care. This monitoring is essential to make
sure children are protected from any risk of physical abuse through using physical
restraint improperly.
Monitoring for these purposes is entirely appropriate, but a good system of
monitoring also provides beneﬁts for everyone involved with residential care,
including the children and young people. To provide those beneﬁts, the monitoring
must be carried out in a way which emphasises its value as a tool for protecting
staff and children, for improving practice and not as a way of pinning blame on
people.
In this section we suggest you keep an electronic database. We also recommend the
minimum information which you should record on this database. It is possible to do
what is needed here using paper-based systems, but this would take a great deal of
time.
A database will not be enough to provide all the information which managers and
others need to appropriately monitor occasions when children and young people
have been physically restrained. A database will not, for example, reveal the
quality of the work carried out with a child after a restraint or the details of witness
statements. As a result the narrative records discussed in section 8, and the work
outlined in section 7, will always be important for monitoring practice. However,
they do not themselves provide easy access to discovering important issues about
the restraint of children and young people.

9b Why keep a database?
‘Information systems in current use in children’s social services,
are generally designed more for recording information than for
retrieving and using it, especially in daily practice. This severely
limits their usefulness and reduces the quality of the data they
contain’ (Gatehouse et al 2004).

Return 67 Click here to return to Contents


Go to Section 8 To be thorough and transparent (see section 8) recording must at least use some
spreadsheets or databases, kept either manually or on computer. These are simply
tables that make it possible for you to count a few critical ʻeventsʼ. Using simple
spreadsheets or databases to record important information makes it possible for
you to bring together information, analyse, see patterns and report on the physical
restraint of children in ways which support good practice at all levels. As a result,
you will protect children. Being open about and answerable for how you and your
organisation restrain children is important for both staff and children.

9c What should be counted?
It is best to record some information as narrative, as numbers can never provide the
whole story. A very disturbed child, new to an establishment that accommodates
exceptional children, may be restrained many times appropriately. But how often
this child is restrained should cause reflection and enquiry. A list of the information
which you should record in a spreadsheet or database includes:
• the incident number (the unique number also recorded in the establishment log);
• the day, date and time the restraint started;
• the childʼs name (see below for issues to do with data protection);
• two key staff involved - more staff may well be involved, but the first two are
enough for the purposes here (see below for issues to do with data protection);
• where it happened - for example, the lounge, kitchen or bedroom and so on;
• any obvious trigger (in other words a visit, bedtime, unknown);
• whether the restraint gives rise to significant injury, complaints, police enquiry or
child protection activities.

9d How can this be analysed?
The reason for putting information into a database is so that it becomes easier to spot
patterns in the times and places and people involved in restraining children. This
is helpful for the children, the practitioners, the establishmentʼs staff team and
management, the service provider and the Care Commission. Each of these is dealt
with in turn.

9d1 Child or young person
In some cases, depending upon developmental levels, you can share certain information
with a young person. Seeing, for instance, that they are restrained on a Monday
might help a young person look at their behaviour and (more importantly) the
issues behind it. This must be done within the context of a trusting relationship,
and with a spirit of support rather than accusation or blame.

9d2 Front-line care staff
As a front-line worker you should know how often you restrain children compared with
your colleagues. You should be able to ask and answer the questions ʻDo I end up
restraining more than my colleagues?ʼ and ʻDo I avoid restraining inappropriately?ʼ



The numbers can only raise these questions, not answer them, since the numbers
are not the whole story.

As front-line workers you might also use the data to identify patterns about a young
personʼs behaviour. An obvious example would be noticing a pattern of a young
person being restrained on a Monday, and this might lead you to reflect on possible
issues relating to home leave and returning to the establishment. While you might
identify this pattern without the help of a database, other more subtle patterns will
possibly be less clear.

9d3 The establishment’s staff team
The process of identifying patterns should also take place within the staff team. The
database might also help you to reflect on how teams are functioning (and
individuals are functioning within the team), overall patterns of restraint related to
the time of day, day of week, place, or partnerships within the overall team. The
more you as a team can reflect on and discuss these things openly and honestly, as
well as take individual responsibility for areas you need to improve on, the more
effective you will be in providing a safe environment for children to develop.

Using data to reduce harmful incidents

We wanted to address the high level of incidents involving child self-injuries and staff injuries in our
residential childrenʼs home for children diagnosed with autism, so we set out to develop a system to analyse
the childrenʼs behaviour. We realised that to analyse the incidents and childrenʼs behaviour patterns
effectively would require a system that would allow people to record, monitor and analyse the relevant
information methodically and efficiently. We designed a series of forms that recorded information from
incidents related to time of day, day of week, day of month, triggers to behaviour, self-injury and type, injury
to staff and relevant issues identified. We then analysed this information monthly and a clearer picture was
built up, allowing a more efficient way of managing behaviour related issues. Through this process, we
identified several issues, including inconsistencies between staff members in interpretation of guidelines
and practice.
This system has led to positive outcomes that have benefited both children and staff members. Colin is a
good example. Our monthly analysis indicated that he appeared to be having problems on Sundays around
his swimming activity, with more incidents than normal. Discussion of this with the staff team found a
number of inconsistencies. Some staff were taking him swimming while others were not. Some staff were
giving Colin his afternoon snack before leaving for the swimming pool and others were not. Staff were
using different bus routes to go to the pool and Colin was unsettled by this. A series of measures was put in
place to structure Colinʼs swimming routine, and all staff agreed to guidelines related to his snack, the route
to the swimming pool, and routines on the outing. Also, Colin was given a photograph of the pool before
leaving to give him a visual aid to help him understand where he was going. Since these measures have
been put in place, Colin rarely shows anxiety or distress during his Sunday activities.
Practitioner



9d4 The establishment’s management
As the manager you provide a central role in supervising staff and giving them the
opportunity to reflect on their practice. It is vital that you take a leadership role in
starting or maintaining this process. You are responsible for these areas.

Using a spreadsheet would increase your awareness of:

• how often each child is restrained;
• how often each worker is carrying out restraints;
• restraints used on particular days or at particular times of the day;
• restraint being used in particular places;
• the main triggers for the high risk behaviour that led to the child being restrained.

Care



4 You can be confident that effective recording and information systems are in place. All
significant incidents are recorded.
9 You can expect the service to evaluate what it does and make improvements and that it will do
this by making sure that:
• staff are trained and re-accredited appropriately;
• staff are involved in the systematic evaluation and discussion of their work and the work of
the service, including the use of assessment information;

9d5 Service provider
As senior managers in an organisation, you also must monitor the occasions when
children have been restrained. In local authorities, information should be available
to elected members and in voluntary and independent organisations it is necessary
to provide management board members with reports. It is important that the
information is available to those who pay for your service. You need to know,
for example, whether similar establishments which accommodate children with
similar needs are restraining these children at broadly similar levels. You also need
to know that arrangements are in place to deal with any issues highlighted by the
analysis of occasions when children have been restrained. Consider the examples
discussed in 9d2 and 9d3.



9d6 Care Commission
The Care Commission already receives important information in the Pre-Inspection
Returns (PIR), and may inspect the restraint records. Establishments with well-
managed restraint arrangements will be asking themselves the questions set out
previously, and the Care Commission officers may expect to see evidence that this
is being done. The Care Commission, as well as reviewing individual records and
general arrangements, may also want to review the main information collected.
This could include:
• the number of restraints for each bed-night since the last inspection;
• the maximum restraints on any one child in the same period;
• the median number (in other words, the middle of the range).
Again, the Care Commission may want to know if establishments holding similar
children have cause to restrain them at broadly similar levels, and how often
their restraints give rise to significant injury, complaints, police enquiries or
child protection issues. Of course this does not tell us if the establishments are
restraining children in line with good practice, but it is enormously helpful in
gaining an overview against which the practice of any particular establishment can
be ʻassessedʼ.

Training providers
The training providers should helpfully collect and organise relevant information on
incident and injury rates across all user agencies. These should be published and
publicly available.

9e Practicalities
On the attached CD, and available as a download from our website, (www.sircc.strath.
ac.uk) is a simple spreadsheet. Including this in your recording practice will
support you in using the guidance in this section. Some establishments will be able
to do all this and more besides, and we do not expect that they will downgrade to
this spreadsheet.

Using this spreadsheet, together with satisfactory paper recording, should assist
establishments to meet relevant aspects of the National Care Standards, against
which the Care Commission inspects.

We have provided an example of a simple spreadsheet printout in Figure 9a and
Figure 9b shows some of the ways the information can be organised to show
helpful patterns.

Using this spreadsheet systematically will let you see fairly easily the totals for
numbers of restraints, triggers, staff members, etc, as required for the good practice
set out in this section.

We have made four versions of the spreadsheet available. The first is the restraint
of children log with dummy data. We suggest you play about and practice with this



dummy data version, to see how it works and to give you a concrete example. The
second version, the restraint of children log, has no information in it, since you will
ʻpopulateʼ it as you log the restraint of each child.

Each of these is provided with and without macros – macros are bits of computer
code. Some peopleʼs computers will not open files which have macros, to protect
them against attack from computer viruses. Because of this we have provided a
repeat set of files, one filled in, the other not – which should not pose the same
problems. Try to use the ones with macros if you can, as they work a bit more
straightforwardly.

So, use the versions with ʻmacrosʼ if you can. Start by playing with the version
with dummy data to see how it works – you canʼt break these.

Available spreadsheets With macro Without macro
With dummy information Try first Try if macro doesnʼt work
With no information, so
Try if macro doesnʼt work
you can ʼpopulateʼ it. Try first

If you cannot see the whole of the Totals and Summaries screen, this will be
because of the ʻscreen resolutionʼ your computer has been set at. This is simple
to fix. Either increase the screen resolution (by right clicking on the desk top,
selecting ʻPropertiesʼ from the menu which appears, and selecting ʻSettingsʼ)
until you can see the full screen on the Totals and Summaries page OR reduce the
percentage on the formatting toolbar at the top of the screen (marked %) until you
can see the full Totals and Summaries.

Donʼt worry if you get strange things appearing on your spreadsheet like ʻ#valueʼ;
these will disappear when you enter information into your spreadsheet.

Please remember to back up (i.e. make a copy of) your records, in case your
computer goes wrong, and you lose all your information. You can print out the
pages, and sign and date them if you wish.

Some additional guidance on how to use the spreadsheet is included within the
spreadsheet. We have intentionally kept it simple. This is so that staff with some
experience of using Microsoft Excel could adapt, and where necessary fix it. The
spreadsheet is ʻprotectedʼ, but is supplied without a password. We advise keeping
the protection on, or you run the risk of deleting the formulas which make this
spreadsheet work.



Fig 9a Excerpt from the spreadsheet

Fig 9b Automatic reports from the full spreadsheet



9f Data protection
When collecting and protecting this data consider the regulations you must follow. Local
Authorities generally have a Data Protection Policy and a Data Protection Officer
and may issue guidance to their establishments. If it is not a Local Authority
establishment, the owners should have a Data Protection Policy and someone
responsible for giving guidance on how to maintain records. This guide is not a
substitute for checking the policy and consulting with the relevant person to ensure
that your record keeping complies with the data protection principles.

In relation to the recording of the restraint of children by staff you need to balance
the need to keep records relating to an individual incident (as described in section
8) and the need to keep summary or statistical information with enough to detail to
allow you to review your practice and to spot developing problems or patterns.

The spreadsheet is designed to help you avoid holding personal information
inappropriately. It expects you to enter first names only, and an identifying number,
thereby keeping the data in a semi-anonymous fashion. Furthermore, a year after
the date on which it is recorded that the child was restrained, the ʻcellʼ to the left
of the incident identification number will turn red. Either at this point, or when the
child or staff leave the unit (whichever is sooner), the name should be removed
from the record, leaving the number. This will make the record anonymous
(provided, of course, that you do not keep a separate list of which name links with
which number). Regularly reviewing and ʻanonymisingʼ your records in this way,
to ensure that the information does not identify individuals for any longer than is
useful and necessary, will reduce any privacy issues. It will, however, still enable
you to monitor the frequency with which you restrain children, and thereby aid you
in protecting and caring for them.

9g Conclusions
Whatever methods of monitoring you use, managers will want to provide evidence that
they have carried out appropriate monitoring and have taken appropriate action as a
result of that monitoring.

The advice we offer here along with the advice on recording which we offer in
section 8 should support managers in this task.


10 Areas of Danger and Concern

10a
Areas of Danger
and Concern

Introduction
10
Physical action including restraint carries risks. These include the possibility of serious
physical and psychological trauma and even death. Such situations could result in
criminal or civil proceedings or fatal accident inquiries. Disciplinary action may
result from some situations.

Although serious injuries and deaths have been reported in the UK, there is still a
lack of appropriate research to provide clear guidance. There is well founded and
widespread concern about certain aspects of practice. So far, these have focused
on the following:

10b Neck holds
Holding a child by the neck risks asphyxiation (suffocation) or restricting the blood ﬂow
to the brain. It carries the risk of death. You should never use any form of neck
hold.

10c Obstructing Mouth or Nose
Children spitting or biting while being restrained are legitimate concerns for staff. Your
welfare should be suitably protected and your concerns should be looked at by
occupational health services. While you may understandably wish to cover the
childʼs mouth to protect yourself from spitting or biting, you must never do so.

10d Prone restraint
The term prone restraint simply means to hold a child ʻface downʼ, when on the ground,
usually with their head to one side. There are many versions of this procedure.
Risks associated with prone restraint can be reduced if the procedure used has a
minimum effect on breathing and the health of the child is good (Graham 2002).

However, the procedure may carry unacceptable risks if pressure is placed on the



childʼs torso or hips or the health of child gives cause for concern. Health concerns
may include obesity, asthma or other respiratory problems (Day 2002).
• Restraining children in a prone position carries a higher risk of serious harm than
other holds done correctly, and as such should always be treated as a final option.
• Restraining children in a prone position is more likely than other forms, such as
standing or seated restraints, to be seen by them as a punishment or as abuse.
• Service providers should only approve the restraining of children in a prone
position when an assessment of risk shows that this is the least restrictive action
necessary to achieve a safe outcome for all involved.

10e Seated holds
There are many seated holds with different names in different systems and approaches to
restraint. The research suggests that these techniques are seen by service users as
less intrusive than prone restraint (McDonell et al. 1993).

However, seated holds are not without risk. ʻHyperflexionʼ, where the individual is
bent forward at the waist while seated, can severely restrict breathing and you must
never use it. Hyperflexion is also dangerous if it happens in a kneeling position
(Paterson and Leadbetter 1998).

10f Supine restraint
Supine simply means ʻface upʼ when on the ground, and there are again many varieties of
this procedure. It is sometimes suggested that supine restraint is safer than prone
restraint but it may be associated with risks of a different type. It carries the risk
of choking or inhaling vomit (Morrison et al 2001). Staff need to be aware of this
danger.

10g Basket holds
Basket holds again exist in several versions involving combinations of one or two
people with the staff and children involved variously standing or sitting. Though
bad outcomes have been reported, the risks associated with basket holds can be
reduced.

Two variations give cause for concern. Firstly, if you are doing a basket hold in
a seated position the child must not be bent forward, as this will interfere with
breathing. Secondly, staff can fall accidentally across a childʼs back (into a prone
position) but continue to hold on. A basket hold should never be continued under
these circumstances.

Sometimes staff pull a childʼs hands across their chest from behind, and it is less
risky practice to hold the childʼs hands down to their hips – this should be done
without pulling the arms back, as compressing a childʼs abdominal area will
compress the diaphragm and interfere with their ability to breathe.



10h Pain compliance
Pain compliance is not an acceptable practice in child care. Getting a child to go along
with what you say by inﬂicting pain exists in a number of forms. These include, for
example, deliberately using pressure across a joint or the use of pressure points.

Pain increases the power professionals have over vulnerable people and so the
possibility of abuse. At the same time the use of pain reduces the chance of
building up a therapeutic relationship (Paterson et al. 2004). As a result, its use in
child care is not acceptable.

10i Medication
Children may be receiving medication for a range of physical or psychological disorders.
Some forms of medication may increase the risk of a child experiencing problems
after a restraint. All risk assessments should take account of the possible side
effects of medication both generally and in the context of restraint (Hughes and
Van Dusen 1993).

10j Conclusion
It is service providers and not those who provide training in physically restraining
children who are ultimately responsible for making sure that the methods used are
appropriate and safe in their residential establishments. Their decisions will be
guided by considering a wide range of issues, for example the needs of children
who are accommodated and the nature of the services provided. However, all
service providers should be working with their training providers towards reducing
or getting rid of those procedures associated with a higher risk of problems
discussed here. Individual staff remain personally responsible for their actions in
individual situations.


Recommended Further Reading and References

Recommended further reading and
references
1 Recommended further reading
You may ﬁnd the following texts particularly helpful. Most titles that follow are either
available from the SIRCC Library or the internet. The writers of these works are
independent of the authors of this guidance and their views are their own.

Managing behaviour
Barrie, L. & Richardson, V. (2003). The development of a model of behavioural analysis
in a residential service for children with autism. Scottish Journal of Residential
Child Care 2(1), pp. 222-26.

This article offers a case study in which a unit reduces problematic behaviour and
restraint by developing and putting into practice a behavioural analysis model.

Colton D (2004). Checklist for assessing your organisationʼs readiness for reducing
seclusion and restraint. Staunton, VA: Commonwealth Center for Children and
Adolescence.

URL: http://www.ccca.dmhmrsas.virginia.gov/content/SR_Checklist.pdf

This is a useful guide in reducing the need for restraint.

Jamieson, J., Leadbetter, D. & Paterson, B. (2000). Coping with physical violence: Some
more suggestions. Emotional and Behavioural Difﬁculties 5(3), pp. 3-11.

This article provides guidance related to practice in dealing with potentially
aggressive children and young people.

Lindsay, M. & Hosie, A. (1997). Clear expectations, consistent limits. Glasgow: The
Centre for Residential Child Care.

This paper provides clear and straightforward advice related to providing care and
control in residential establishments. While the guidance in this document is more
up to date, it is still relevant.

Mann, V. (2003). Relatedness and control. Relational Child and Youth Care Practice
16(3) pp.10-14.

This brief article breaks apart the myth that care and control, or attachment and
discipline, are separate aspects of working effectively with children and young
people. It offers practical advice for linking the two.

Redl, F. and Wineman, D. (1952). Controls from within: Techniques for the treatment of
the aggressive child. New York: The Free Press.

This book continues to withstand the test of time.



Training
Braxton, E.T. (1995). Angry children, frightened staff: Implications for training and staff
development. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth 13(1) pp.13-28.
This article addresses many of the issues behind the behaviours that lead to
restraint, both of young people and of staff.

Goldstein AP, Glick B and Gibbs JC (1998). Aggression replacement training: A
comprehensive intervention for aggressive youth. Research Press, Illinois.
This gives guidance to staff on how to engage with aggressive children and young
people, and is grounded in research.

The practice of restraint
Hart, D. & Howell, S. (2004). Report on the use of physical intervention across childrenʼs
services. National Childrenʼs Bureau
URL: http://www.ncb.org.uk/resources/res_detail.asp?id=597
This report reviews policies and practices across England and is available on-line.

Paterson, B. (2004). Only when there is no alternative: Improving safety in physical
interventions in child care.
URL: http://www.nm.stir.ac.uk/diploma/sirc_report.pdf
This article is a useful resource in identifying and reducing risks in restraining
children and young people.

Speciﬁc services
Department of Health /Department of Education and Skills (2003). Guidance on the use
of restrictive physical interventions for staff working with children and adults who
display extreme behaviour in association with learning disability and/or autistic
spectrum disorders. London.
URL:http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/6059/PI_Guidance.pdf
This guidance may be particularly useful for those working with children and
young people who have special needs related to disability. It is available on-line.

Harris, J et al. (1996). Physical interventions: A policy framework. Kidderminster: BILD.
While aimed at different clients, much of this document can be applied to the
residential child care experience.

Department for Education and Skills (2003). Guidance on the use of restrictive physical
interventions for pupils with severe behavioural difﬁculties. London.
URL: http://eduwight.iow.gov.uk/the_lea/behaviour_policies/images/
LEA.0264.2003.pdf
This guidance is particularly relevant for residential schools.



The voice of young people
Paterson, S., Watson, D. & Whiteford, J. (2003). Letʼs Face It! Care 2003: Young people
tell us how it is. Glasgow: Who Cares? Scotland.
While this report is not specifically aimed at young peopleʼs views of being
restrained, they addressed being restrained in their interviews.

Morgan, R. (2004). Childrenʼs views on restraint: The views of children and young
people in residential homes and residential special schools. Newcastle upon Tyne:
Commission for Social Care Inspection.
This report sets out the views of children and young people about being restrained.

2 References
Bell, L (1997). The physical restraint of young people. Child and Family Social Work, 1,
37-47.

Corby,B, Doig, A and Roberts, V (2001). Public Inquiries into Abuse of Children in
Residential Care. London: Jessica Kingsley.

Department of Health (1998). Caring for Children away from Home: Messages from
Research. John Wiley & Sons.

Day, P (2002). What evidence exists about the safety of physical restraint when used by
law enforcement and medical staff to control individuals with acute behavioural
disturbance? New Zealand Health Technology Assessment, Technical Briefing
Series, September 1, 3.

Fisher, JA (2003). Curtailing the use of restraint in psychiatric settings. Journal of
Humanistic Psychology, 43(2), 69-95.

Gatehouse, M Statham, J and Ward, H (2004). Information Outputs for Childrenʼs Social
Services. Centre for Child and Family Research and Thomas Coram Research Unit.
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/qualityprotects/pdfs/outputs.pdf

Graham, A (2002). The use of physical interventions in managing violence in mental
health settings. Mental Health Practice, 6(4), 10-16.

Hughes, CI and Van Dusen, G (1993). Report Of a Review Of The Neglect, Restraint, And
Death Of Zouhair Jadeed At Napa State Hospital.Protection and Advocacy Inc.,
California. http://www.pai-ca.org/pubs/700401.htm#III

Kent, R (1997). Childrenʼs Safeguard Review. Edinburgh: The Scottish Office.

Lindsay, M and Hosie, A (2000). The Edinburgh Inquiry – Recommendation 55. The
Independent Evaluation Report. University of Strathclyde and the Centre for
Residential Child Care.



McDonnell, A A, Sturmey, P and Dearden, B (1993). The acceptability of physical
restraint procedures for people with a learning difﬁculty. Behavioural and
Cognitive Psychotherapy, 21, 255–264.

Miller, C. (2004). Restraint asphyxia: silent killer. Retrieved February 16, 2005 from
URL: http://www.charlydmiller.com/RA/restrasphyx01.html

Morgan, R (2004). Safe from Harm: Childrenʼs Views report. Commission for Social
Care Inspection. http://www.rights4me.org.uk

Morrison, L Duryea, P B, Moore, C and Nathanson-Shinn, A (2001). The Lethal
Hazard Of Prone Restraint: Positional Asphyxiation. Protection & Advocacy, Inc.
Investigations Unit Oakland, California.

Paterson, B and Leadbetter, D (1998) Restraint and Sudden Death from Asphyxia.
Nursing Times, 94 (44), 62 – 64.

Paterson, B, Bradley P, Stark C, Saddler D, Leadbetter D and Allen, D (2003). Deaths
Associated with Restraint Use in Health and Social Care In the United Kingdom:
The Results of A Preliminary Survey. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health
Nursing, 10,3-15.

Scottish Executive (2004). Protecting Children and Young People: the Charter.

Utting, W (1997). People Like Us: The Report of the Review of the Safeguards for
Children Living Away from Home. London: Department of Health and Welsh
Ofﬁce.

Weiss EM, et al. Deadly restraint: a Hartford Courant investigative report. Hartford
Courant 1998; October 11 – 15.

Who Cares? Scotland (2003). Letʼs Face It! Care 2003: Young People Tell Us How It Is.
Glasgow: Who Cares? Scotland.


Appendices

Appendix 1 Key considerations

Click here to go to the Key
Considerations Flow Chart

83 & 83

Appendices

Appendix 2
Appendix 2 is a form for assessing and managing expected risks for children. You
may wish to use this form. However it may be that the forms you use are already
integrated with your care planning arrangements. If that is the case, you may
like to use this form as a checklist against which to check your own recording
arrangements. Does it cover the same ground?


Appendices

FORM FOR ASSESSING AND MANAGING EXPECTED RISKS FOR CHILDREN WHO
PRESENT CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR (page 1 of 4)
(Reproduced with permission of NCH).

Name of child:

Group or class:

Key worker or teacher:

Establishment:

Identiﬁcation of risk

Describe the risk

Is the risk possible or actual?

List who is affected by the risk

Assessment of risk
In which situations does the
risk usually happen?
How likely is it that the risk
will arise?
If the risk arises, who is likely
to be injured or hurt?
What kinds of injuries or
harm are likely to happen?
How serious are the
outcomes?

Assessment completed by:

Signature:

Date:

Signature of child (if appropriate):

Date:


Appendices

Form for assessing and managing expected risks for children who present challenging
behaviour (page 2 of 4)

Options to reduce the risk

Measures Possible options Beneﬁts Drawbacks

Deliberate action to
prevent risk

Early action to
manage risk

Action to respond to
negative outcomes

Agreed behaviour management plan

Focus of measures Measures to be employed Level of risk

Deliberate action to prevent
risks

Early action to manage risks

Action to respond to
negative outcomes

Agreed by:

Relationship to child:

Signature:

Date:


Date:


Appendices


Communicating the behaviour management plan

Plans or strategies shared with How this was done Date

Staff training issues

Date
Identiﬁed training Training provided to meet
Name of staff trained training
needs needs
completed


Appendices


Evaluating the behaviour management plan

Effectiveness in supporting the
Measures set out The effect on the risk
child

Deliberate action to prevent
risks

Early action to manage risks

Action to respond to negative
outcomes

Action for the future

Plans and strategies evaluated by:

Relationship to child:

Signature:

Date:


Date:


Appendices

Appendix 3
Appendix 3 is a report for recording incidents where you restrain a child. This form could
be used as it is, but it can also be used as a checklist against which to check the
adequacy of your existing recording arrangements. Wherever possible it is best to
avoid recording the same information more than once. The spreadsheet, which has
Go to Section 9 been distributed with this guidance (see section 9), may assist in this. For example
to avoid ﬁlling it out twice you can select a speciﬁc row/incident on the main page
and this can then be printed, signed, dated and attached to this form.


Appendices

REPORT FOR RECORDING INCIDENTS WHERE YOU RESTRAIN A CHILD (page 1 of 5)

Part 1 A (Fill this in immediately after the incident and no later than 24 hours afterwards)

Incident Number:

Name of establishment:

Childʼs name: Date of birth:

Time of incident:

Adults involved:

Other children involved:

Witnesses to incident (see bullet regarding witnesses in paragraph 8d1) Go to 8d1

If appropriate, please attach any witness statements.

Day and date of incident: Place of incident:

Events leading to incident

(What was happening
for the child before the
incident, what seemed
to trigger the behaviour,
who else was involved or
present.)

Behaviour of child

(What behaviour alerted
you that the child was
struggling to cope?)

Response from adults

(Which techniques did
you use to de-escalate
the situation? Before
restraining the child what
was the response from
them and others?)


Appendices

Report for recording incidents where you restrain a child (page 2 of 5)

Reason for the restraint

(What was the speciﬁc
risk to the welfare of the
child or others?)

Description of restraint

(What method or type
of hold did you use
and were there any
complications that arose
during the restraint?)

How long did the
restraint last?

Conclusion of restraint

(How did the restraint
come to an end, and what
help and support did you
offer to the child?)

Staff signature: Date:


Appendices


Part 1 B
(A member of staff not involved in the restraint must fill this in.)

Injuries

Was the child injured? Yes No If ʻYesʼ, what were the injuries?

Was a member of staff injured? Yes No If ʻYesʼ, what were the injuries?

Did someone get medical help? Yes No

Was first aid given? Yes No

Was an accident form filled in? Yes No

Were the police involved? Yes No If ʻYesʼ, please say why, who called
and when, and the outcome of their
involvement.

Who was told about the restraint?

Name of person told Date Time Initials of
Informing Staff

Appropriate manager ___________________ ________ ___________ _______________

Parent ___________________ ________ ___________ _______________

Social worker ___________________ ________ ___________ _______________

Witness to the incident ___________________ ________ ___________ _______________

Other ___________________ ________ ___________ _______________

Staff signature:

Date:


Appendices


Part 2
(This must be ﬁlled in as soon as possible, but at the latest within one week.)

Discussing the incident with the child
(If you need a separate sheet, please attach it and put a reference to it in this box.)

Name of child:

Date of discussion:

Staff involved:

Childʼs point of view
(What did they hope to achieve,
what did they think the staff
memberʼs motivation was,
and what was their view of the
restraint?)

Other main points of discussion
(What could have been done
differently by the child and by
staff, how has the relationship
been affected, what is the staff
memberʼs view of what is going on
for the child, and has this kind of
situation arisen before?)

Outcome of discussion.
(What other behaviour could the
child use in future? What further
steps to can be taken, what action
is planned for the child and what is
the plan of action for staff?)

If the situation is still not fully resolved, please give details of the options explored and the outcome.
(This should involve discussions
with other staff, managers, social
workers or advocates offered,
other communication and
expression tried and the offer to
complain.)


Appendices


Part 2 continued

Personal plan or care plan
Was this action in line with the part of
the childʼs plan that deals with violent
or otherwise dangerous behaviour? Yes No If ʻNoʼ, please explain.

Does the care plan need to be changed? Yes No If ʻYesʼ, please explain.

Is a statutory review needed? Yes No

If ʼYesʼ, has a date been made? Yes No

Signatures

Print name Signature Date

Staff involved ________________________ _______________________ __________

Young person ________________________ _______________________ __________

Establishment managers ________________________ _______________________ __________

Other manager ________________________ _______________________ __________


Appendices

Appendix 4 More detailed legal matters
The material in this appendix is mainly for those readers with a particular interest in
legal matters. Some of it will only be relevant to speciﬁc work settings. Managers
may wish to pay more particular attention to it. Employees should look to their
managers to explain relevant parts to them.
In the legal Box at 1d4 we referred to ʻduty of careʼ, ʻassaultʼ and other related
topics. Here we include some more information but please remember this is not a
legal textbook and you should always take advice from a lawyer about how the law
affects particular cases, events, techniques or circumstances.
In the context of restraining a child, a duty of care is a responsibility to take
reasonable steps to prevent injuries to children and staff in the establishment and
prevent damage to property. Injuries can be physical or psychological. A duty of
care arises from a relationship so employers have a duty of care towards their
workers and staff have a duty of care towards all the children they are looking
after and to fellow staff. Duties to fellow staff depend on individual circumstances
and employers should make their expectations as clear as possible. In secure
units restraining a child may be necessary to stop an attempted escape. Less
restrictive options than physically restraining a child should always be considered,
particularly in advance planning and training.
Assault is an intentional physical attack on another person. Attack has a wide
meaning so might not involve the use of substantial violence or cause injury to
the victim. Assault can therefore include physically restraining a child if you use
restraint with intent to cause harm or you use excessive force. Restraining a child
can start as a lawful act but become an assault if you lose control of your feelings
and actions. Further, it is possible that what starts out as reasonable restraint could
become an assault, if the state of mind of the restrainer changes. You could go from
being a controlled responder to an angry assaulter. However, if you follow this
guidance, follow the instructions from good quality training, and act to promote
the best interests of the residents in your place of work, your actions should not be
considered assault.
What is excessive force? This depends on all the circumstances, so that includes
the age, size and actions of all the people, the type of danger involved and anything
which might affect how people are acting or reacting. Sometimes actions are
obviously excessive: for example, itʼs hard to think of a situation where you could
justify deliberately standing on a childʼs hands and feet. Section 10 gives advice on
some actions you must avoid and your training must cover appropriate techniques.
Culpable and reckless conduct is a less well known crime. If a person acts
so recklessly as to endanger another person or cause them injury they could be
committing this offence. The main difference from assault is a lack of intent.
Causing the injury might not be deliberate but the person responsible acts with a
dangerous disregard for the consequences of their actions.
If you follow this guide and your training, when restraining a child you should not
normally need to consider issues arising from allegations of assault or issues of


Appendices

self defence. However, if for whatever reason you do need to consider these issues,
it should be borne in mind that there may be a legal justification for using what
would otherwise be criminal force. Self defence is a special defence to a charge of
assault and more serious related charges like murder. If a situation is very serious
and you or another person are under attack or threat of attack you may have had
no other reasonable option but to use an unauthorised technique or even a physical
blow. These actions would be assaults unless they could be justified in terms of self
defence. To claim self defence:
a) There must be imminent danger to the life or limb of the accused (in this context
the residential child care worker) or others;
b) The retaliation used in the face of this danger must be necessary for the safety of
the accused or others and proportionate to the threat and therefore not excessive;
c) If the accused or others under threat have a means of escape or retreat from the
attack, they are bound to use it.

Not surprisingly there is a very important principle that fatal force should not be
inflicted other than where absolutely necessary.

The courts apply the law. However if a person is facing, or believes that he or she
is facing, a personal attack or an attack on someone else, she or he may defend
themselves with sufficient force necessary for their safety and proportionate to the
threat faced. You do not need an exact proportion of injury - it is not a matter that
is balanced too finely. Some allowance is made for the excitement of the moment
or the state of fear. The courts will take account of the pressurised circumstances
involved.

Standards in Scotlandʼs Schools etc (Scotland)Act 2000
Teachers were at one time allowed to employ reasonable chastisement in schools. This
meant corporal punishment was allowed. The legislation was changed with the
Education (No.2) Act 1986. Section 16 of the 2000 Act above now contains the
main provision about corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment is now an assault - the defence to an assault charge of
ʻreasonable chastisementʼ is removed for teachers. Teachers or other people
working at a school, who have lawful charge or control of a pupil, may not use
corporal punishment on pupils. However, under section 16 above, ʻanything doneʼ
to prevent immediate danger of personal injury to or damage to property of any
person including the pupil is not corporal punishment. This is not an open invite
to teachers to do ʻanythingʼ when there is such a danger. Teachers will still be
subject to prosecution for assault or claims for damages if they act beyond what is
necessary in the circumstances.

Education (Scotland) Act 1980
Section 125A of the 1980 Act (this was added by Section 35 of the Children (Scotland)
Act 1995) states that the education authority or managers (of a grant-aided or
independent school) shall have the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of a
child while she or he is so accommodated for purposes of school attendance.


Appendices

The following regulations have some relevance to this guidance.

THE REGULATION OF CARE (REQUIREMENTS AS TO CARE SERVICES)
(SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2002 (SSI no.114)

Regulation 2 – headed ʻPrinciplesʼ states ʻA provider of a care service shall provide the
service in a manner which promotes and respects the independence of service users
and, so far as it is practicable to do so, affords them choice in the way in which the
service is provided to them.ʼ

Regulation 4(1)(a) to (c) states that the person for the time being providing the care
service must:
(a) make proper provision for the health and welfare of service users;
(b) provide services in a manner which respects the privacy and dignity of service
users;
(c) ensure that no service user is subject to restraint unless it is the only practicable
means of securing the welfare of that or any other service user, and there are
exceptional circumstances.
Regulation 5 imposes a responsibility on providers to prepare and review ʻpersonal
plansʼ on how a childʼs health and welfare needs are to be met. In practice this
will be the same document as the ʻcare planʼ in The Arrangements to Look After
Children Regulations below.
Regulation 13 – headed states ʻStafﬁngʼ ʻA provider shall, having regard to the size and
nature of the service, the statement of aims and objectives and the number and
needs of service users, ensure that at all times suitably qualiﬁed and competent
persons are working in the care service in such numbers as are appropriate for the
health and welfare of service users;ʼ
Go to Section 8 Regulation 19 deals with recording (see section 8) and Regulation 25 with complaints.

ARRANGEMENTS TO LOOK AFTER CHILDREN (SCOTLAND)
REGULATIONS 1996 (SI NO.3262)

Regulation 3 – Local authorities have a duty to make a ʻcare planʼ. In the Regulation of
Care Regulations above this is described as a ʻpersonal planʼ. In practice this will
be the same document.
Regulation 4 (2)… the local authority in making a care plan shall have regard to:
(a) the nature of the service to be provided in the immediate and longer-term …;
(b) alternative courses of action;
(e) so far as practicable, the views of the child, parents and others with parental rights
and the childʼs religion, race, culture and language; and
(f) any further matters relating to the child as appear to the authority to be relevant for
the making of the care plan.
These regulations also have provisions for various matters including reviews and
records and in particular: Regulation 19 (1)) for termination of the placement:
ʻWhere for any reason it appears to the local authority that it is no longer in a


Appendices

childʼs best interests to remain in a placement the local authority shall make
arrangements to terminate the placement as soon as is practicable…ʼ.

RESIDENTIAL ESTABLISHMENTS - CHILD CARE (SCOTLAND)
REGULATIONS 1996 (SI no.3256) (“RECCSR”)
Regulation 4 ʻThe managers of any residential establishment to which these Regulations
apply shall ensure that the welfare of the child placed and kept in such
accommodation is safeguarded and promoted and that the child receives such
provision for his development and control as is conductive to his best interests.ʼ
Regulation 5 makes rules for reports to managers, visits by managers and the preparation
of a statement of functions and objectives for the establishment.
Regulation 10 makes rules about sanctions and states that:
(1) Arrangements for sanctions, relevant to the control of children resident in a
residential establishment, shall be determined by the managers in accordance with
the statement of functions and objectives formulated under regulation 5(1).
(2) The arrangements shall not authorise the giving of corporal punishment and
corporal punishment shall for this purpose have the same meaning as in section
48A of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (Now replaced by s16 of the Standards
in Scotlandʼs Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000).
Go to Section 8 Regulations 12 and 13 cover log books and personal records (see section 8).
Regulation 17 - When placing a child in a residential establishment a local authority
- shall provide the person in charge with the following:-
(i) written information about the childʼs background, health, and mental and
emotional development; and
(ii) any other information which the local authority considers relevant to the
placement including information about the childʼs wishes and feelings about the
placement, so far as this is appropriate having regard to his age and maturity.
Schedule 2 explains what must be kept in a statement of aims and objectives.

REFUGES FOR CHILDREN (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 1996 (SI no.3259)

These regulations deal with short term accommodation and Regulation 10 allows a
local authority to withdraw a designation or approval from an establishment if it
fails to comply with part II of the RECCSR above. Part II includes the regulations
described above.

SECURE ACCOMMODATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 1996 (SI no. 3255)

Regulations for secure accommodation Regulation 4 imposes a duty similar to regulation
4 of the RECCSR above and managers and the person in charge must comply with
the regulations in part II of RECCSR (above) where they apply.

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Appendices


Holding Safely

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Holding Safely