A decade of care: A corporate parenting update from Scottish Ministers 2021 - 2024

1: Introduction

Purpose

This is the third national report on corporate parenting by Scottish Ministers to the Scottish Parliament^[1]. There is a statutory requirement for Ministers to report to the Scottish Parliament on how they have exercised their corporate parenting responsibilities every three years. The first report, Turning legislation into practice together: First Report on Corporate parenting Activity in Scotland April 2015–March 2018, was published in June 2018. The second report Caring for our Children and Young People: An update on Scotland’s Corporate parenting 2018 - 2021, was published in December 2021.

Report Structure

This corporate parenting report is organised under the following headings:

Chapter 2

• Sets out the policy and legislative landscape in which corporate parents operate in Scotland.
• Sets out the duties on corporate parents in Scotland under Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2024.

Chapter 3

• Illustrates activities by the Scottish Government and Executive Agencies between 2021 and 2024 and how this has delivered on our corporate parenting duties.
• Highlights how we have worked collaboratively with other corporate parents in Scotland to develop and deliver those activities.
• Explores how children, young people and adults who are care experienced have shaped national policy in Scotland.

Chapter 4

• Demonstrates how the Scottish Government supports other corporate parents in Scotland.

Chapter 5

• Uses data to indicate the collective impact of corporate parenting in Scotland on improving outcomes for care experienced children and young people.

Chapter 6

• Considers our next steps and sets out the Scottish Government’s priorities into the next planning and reporting cycle for corporate parenting in 2024-2027.

Almost 10 years on from Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 coming into force, and following the Independent Care Review and publication of The Promise, the Scottish Government’s policies, practice and participation approaches underpin the delivery of the five priority areas set out in The Promise Plan 21-24.

The recently published report, Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024, which demonstrates our progress in delivering on our Promise Implementation Plan and how we will keep The Promise by 2030, our National Performance Framework and the Children, young people and families Outcomes Framework are the Scottish Government’s main approaches to planning, delivering, monitoring and reporting on our responsibilities as a corporate parent.

This corporate parenting report should be read alongside the accompanying report Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024, published in September 2024, which illustrates the progress and impact of Scottish Government and Executive Agencies corporate parenting activities. Throughout this corporate parenting report, relevant sections of the accompanying report will be referenced which evidence how Scottish Ministers have exercised their corporate parenting duties.

This report will also explore how the Scottish Government supports other corporate parents, through our grant to Who Cares? Scotland, to provide training and support for all corporate parents in Scotland. Case studies from the 2024 Who Cares? Scotland Corporate Parenting Awards are included to demonstrate the journey and progress of Scotland’s corporate parents, as well as to highlight good practice which helps support our collective efforts to improve outcomes for children and young people with experience of care in Scotland.

A note on language

The Promise illustrates the importance of ‘language’ used by corporate parents when supporting Scotland’s care experienced community. Our approach is one designed to be non-stigmatising, however some terms are used throughout the report which may have a legal or explanatory function. No term is designed to label a person’s identity or demean their relationship with those who love and care for them.

Carer refers to anyone over the age of sixteen who is providing care for a child either formally (having an order through the court or a children’s hearing) or informally (no order from a court or a children’s hearing). A carer who does not have parental rights and responsibilities is still responsible for doing all that is reasonable to safeguard the child’s health, development and welfare.

Care leaver is a young person who ceased to be looked after on, or at any time after, their sixteenth birthday.

Corporate parent is the term used in Scotland to refer to organisations (and individuals who work for them) who have a legal duty to respond to and support the care and protection needs of all children and young people. Their duties are laid out in Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

‘Looked after’ is a legislative term used in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to refer to a child or young person with care and protection needs who is cared for under a formal arrangement with a local authority. Those who are looked after are either ‘looked after at home’ (living with a parent in their home) or ‘looked after away from home’, for example, by kinship carers, foster carers or residential care.

Placement is the word used in legislation to refer to the place where a child is being cared for away from the care of their parents.

Siblings is defined in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and refers to the relationship where two or more children have one or both parents in common, or where they have lived together and have an ongoing relationship which is like this. This is also referred to in the Staying Together and Connected: Getting it Right for Sisters and Brothers guidance as sibling-like.