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

6: Next steps and priorities for 2024-2027

The Scottish Government, as a corporate parent, remains connected to the work of the Independent Strategic Advisor for The Promise and The Promise Scotland to deliver Plan 24-30 and to keep the Promise.

In addition to the detail set out against the existing actions and commitments in Part 7 of our Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024, we have identified nine key actions to support the next stages of progress, in Part 3 of our Promise Progress update.

Nine key actions to support the next stages of progress

• We will lead a package of consultation work from summer to the end of 2024 to inform the next stage of policy development and in support of the legislative direction to be included with The Promise Bill.
• The Minister for Children, Young People & The Promise will chair a partnership group of key stakeholders to support delivery of topics for change, including oversight of the coordinated consultation programme. The first meeting of the group will be held in autumn 2024.
• We will work closely with The Promise Scotland to lead a Quality Improvement Programme. This will provide a national learning opportunity using a method to test and learn what works and to share best practice across Scotland.
• We will develop and promote a package of support for foster carers.
• We will continue to progress work across public protection areas to support those vulnerable to harm, to reduce risk, and to ensure that people get the right help at the right time.
• We will continue to work with COSLA and other key stakeholders to assess how National Care Service benefits, and system improvements, can be offered to both adults and children consistently across Scotland.
• We are refreshing the common core framework of knowledge and values required of everyone who provides support to children, from birth to young adulthood, and their families.
• We will progress the delivery of a rights and relationship-based practice and trauma informed training programme for the integrated children and family’s workforce.
• We will introduce the national Promise Progress Framework working jointly with COSLA, The Promise Scotland, and key stakeholders. The Framework will be jointly used to support informed decision making nationally and locally.

Source: Scottish Government (2024) Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024

Our existing actions and commitments, and the nine new key actions, collectively continue to shape and guide the Scottish Government’s corporate parenting activities for the next three-year reporting period of 2024-2027.

A decade on from the statutory commencement of corporate parenting in Scotland, all of us should have a clear focus on working together, ensuring that our policies, practices and approaches to participation help deliver on the priorities set out in Plan 21-24 and Plan 24-30. The Scottish Government will continue to provide support to corporate parents in Scotland to keep The Promise and encourage corporate parents to use the training, support and networking opportunities provided by Who Cares? Scotland.

The Scottish Government cannot deliver on our national corporate parenting responsibilities or commitment to keep The Promise alone. We will continue to work collaboratively with other corporate parents and other partners across Scotland. All corporate parents have a contribution to make in supporting the care experienced community and should all continue to collaborate with other corporate parents in planning, reporting and delivering on their duties, to ensure holistic support is provided for children, young people and care leavers.

Essential to our role as corporate parents is to continue to listen to the ‘voices’ of the care experienced community to help inform the policies and initiatives that we develop.

Corporate parents are reminded that they are required to prepare, keep under review and publish a Corporate Parenting Plan, setting out how they intend to fulfil their corporate parenting duties. They should also publish a Corporate Parenting Report at least once every three years, setting out how the organisation has fulfilled its corporate parenting duties.

We wish to thank Who Cares? Scotland for their help in creating this report. If you would like to make contact with a corporate parent or request further information about this report, please contact Looked_After_Children@gov.scot.

Accompanying publication

Published on 19 September 2024

Keeping The Promise to our children, young-people and families: update on progress 2024