The First Minister (Alex Salmond): The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration has advised that it has received no referrals in the past year in respect of children held at Dungavel immigration removal centre. The Scottish Government remains fundamentally opposed to the detention of children in Dungavel.
 
Christine Grahame: Will the First Minister clarify whether any discussions have taken place with the Home Office specifically to ensure that any child who will be or has been referred under the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003—broadly speaking, children at risk—will not be deported until investigations by the children's reporter have been concluded? Such children were deported under the previous Liberal-Labour coalition. Will he also convey the widespread revulsion of most Scots to the imprisonment of children in detention camps in Scotland—a practice that has no place in a modern, progressive, compassionate society?
 
The First Minister: Although there have been no referrals to the SCRA in the past year, 103 children have been detained at Dungavel. That statistic is in the public domain. We have repeatedly made clear to the United Kingdom Government our opposition to the policy of the detention of children in Dungavel. On Tuesday this week, my officials were in contact with the UK Government specifically about that, and they will continue the dialogue.
 
We are also in regular contact with the Home Office about how we can best improve the position of the children of asylum seekers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Scotland. We have made it absolutely clear on every occasion that this Government is fully opposed to the detention of children in Dungavel. We will continue to fight that battle.
 
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): The Liberal Democrats share the view of the Government and many people throughout Scotland that it is deeply offensive that children are locked up because their parents are failed asylum seekers. Will the First Minister tell me how many families have benefited from the pilot project in Glasgow? A similar scheme in Kent dealt with only a tiny fraction of the families that it intended to help. Is the First Minister satisfied that the Glasgow project is not facing the same problems? How can we have any hope that the UK and Scottish Governments will put an end to Scotland's shame at Dungavel when similar efforts have fallen so far short of their modest targets?

The First Minister: It is early days for the family return project, which was established in May and which I know has general support and approval throughout the Parliament. It can provide a range of support to five families at any time. Its aim is to reduce the number of children who are held at Dungavel and to encourage and assist voluntary return in a proper and humane manner. I fully accept that the family return project, well-intentioned and important though it undoubtedly is, is only a small part of the answer to the overall question. Mike Pringle is correct to point to the number of children who are being detained at Dungavel and the inevitably small number of people who can be assisted in the project."

On the Scottish Parliament website