The Promise: Ministerial statement

Thank you presiding officer for the opportunity to bring this debate to the Chamber today.

As Minister for The Promise I have seen progress, listened to heart-warming stories, and witnessed the energy and activity underway across Scotland to bring change.   But I have also listened to what needs to improve.

I am really delighted to have this opportunity to come together across the Chamber to reaffirm the Promise that we have all made,  on every seat of this Parliament, to our children and young people with care experience.

The debate and motion provide an opportunity for all of us here in this chamber to make clear to Scotland’s care experienced citizens that each and every one of us has a responsibility to keep the promise we made to you four years ago.

And indeed I welcome the amendment made by Martin Whitfield to this motion which upholds this core principle. And the important thing when it comes to decision time this evening is that this parliament comes together to reaffirm our commitment to the Promise.

So, on that note let me first start by addressing those children, young people, adults and families across Scotland with care experience.

This Government is committed to ensuring families receive the right support, in the right way and at the right time. Both myself and the First Minister are clear that Keeping The Promise is not an ambition in isolation, it is aligned closely with our programmes of work to tackle Child Poverty and reduce the number of families in crisis.

I know that we need to keep moving to make change happen. And I know that in some areas we need to move faster. But I also know that there is so much work underway and an incredible drive across organisations, systems and our communities to bring the change that is required.

I want to reassure you, that progress is being made. 

And I am committed to making this happen; and I am committed to working with you to make it happen. 

And in that spirit of collaboration let me to acknowledge all the people and organisations across Scotland who are focused on delivering change. Our social workers, our teachers, our health workers, our emergency services workers, our volunteers, our public sector both local and national, our third sector and our communities across Scotland - thank you. Your commitment and hard work is evident and so welcome.

So let’s keep going, together.

And to my colleagues across this Parliament. I am sure you are poised to provide the challenge that this Chamber is so effectively designed for us to do. But let’s keep in mind that we have all across parties jointly committed to change and we must jointly move in a solution focused way to keep that Promise and build upon its five foundations: Voice, Family, Care, People, Scaffolding.

Presiding officer, in March 2022 this Government published a comprehensive plan that set out the actions and commitments.  In September this year, we published a detailed update on progress against each of these actions.

Since the promise oversight boards second report was published last year that have been a number of developments including the publication of Plan 24-30 in June of this year by The Promise Scotland and I extend my thanks to Fiona Duncan independent strategic advisor on the promise and co-chair of the Promise oversight board who continues to work hard with her team to set the route map for what need to be done by whom and when.

Ms Duncan’s assessment that we remain on track to keep The Promise by 2030 furthers my confidence that we can, and together, we will.

And the evidence is clear as I say that progress is being made. Indeed early evidence demonstrates the 15.6% reduction in the number of looked after children in Scotland since 2020. And Whilst I fully appreciate that this does not tell us the full story, it does tell us the system is changing. We are safely keeping more families together and we are changing our approach to better meet children and families needs.

At the heart of this is the Whole Family Wellbeing funding programme. For example, in South Lanarkshire funding has supported the scaling up of centralised family support hubs, which have contributed to a reduction in referrals to statutory services by over 60% - early support that has avoided crisis intervention.

And for our children and young people who do require to enter care, we know that for some this may be for short periods, for others it may be longer term.

The Promise tells us developing a universal definition of care experience will help more people understand and relate to what it means to be a person with experience of care. This work is underway and I would like to thank Who Cares? Scotland and Barnardo’s, and all the children, young people and stakeholders engaging in events across Scotland to inform this.

The contribution made by our kinship carers, our foster carers and foster families, where it is not safe and possible for children and young people to remain with birth families, is of the highest value. And I reiterated this message when I met with the Kinship Care Advice Services Advisory Group just yesterday.

I was very proud, in August 2023, to introduce the Scottish Recommended Allowance for kinship and foster carers which benefits over 9,000 families, and for the first time ensures every eligible foster and kinship carer receives at least a standard, national allowance. And last week we launched a new Kinship Care Assessment Framework intended to assist social work practitioners to assess kinship carers and their needs.

I recently met with foster carers and their families in Perth where I launched the next stage of our work to set out a vision for the future of foster care in Scotland. A vision that prioritises children’s experiences, to best meet their varied needs.

It is vital that Scotland has enough capacity to provide loving care and in 2025 we will prioritise a national campaign to recruit more foster carers.

Of course, Scotland’s Children’s Hearing System continues to play a pivotal role in our support and decision making. And I am grateful to SCRA and to Scotland’s diverse pool of panel members who continue to support children, young people and families who attend Hearings.

I am also very grateful to Sheriff Mackie for the work he has undertaken with those with lived experience of the Children’s Hearings System to lay the foundations for a redesign of this System that best meets the needs of our children and young people.  The next stage of development in advance of legislative and non-legislative change required is underway.

In May 2024, I was honoured to support the Children’s Care and Justice Act into law. This has already facilitated an end to the placement of children in young offenders institutions in Scotland.

And for our children and young people engaged with the justice system, we have taken a significant step forward with the Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinders and affiliate test-sites underway, backed by investment of £10m.

For our young people transitioning out of children’s services, I recognise that at this stage in life you may still need access to financial, practical and emotional support.

We continue to work closely with corporate parents and our partners to better coordinate and make available the support required by those leaving care. We will continue to make improvements in the year ahead, including through the development of the Care Leaver Payment, which will be co-designed with care experienced people and those who support them.

We will also take forward action in response to what we have heard through the recent ‘Moving On from Care into Adulthood’ consultation and Care Inspectorate thematic review on transitions for care experienced young people.

As Minister I have had the privilege to visit a broad range of projects and to meet some incredible care-experienced children and young people along the way.  

And I am really encouraged by the quality of work underway  throughout Scotland: 

• In Education, we have provided over £60 million to local authorities through the Care Experienced Children and Young People fund. And we’ve seen real successes in schools across Scotland, through the virtual headteacher network and other supports that aim to increase attendance, improve attainment and reduce exclusion.

• In housing, I have met staff and young people involved in the Midlothian House Project and heard about the real impact that team has had on their lives. A project that won the Outstanding Corporate Parent Award at the first Corporate Parenting awards ceremony held in August.

• Through the Promise Partnership Fund we have supported projects such as the Aberlour Perinatal Befriending Service, an early intervention approach for mothers and mothers to be with mild to moderate perinatal mental health illnesses.

• And, I recently visited Young Scot and spoke to young people about their experiences transitioning out of care and heard about the difference The Promise is making and how those young people can see that changes are happening.

I know good things are happening in every corner of Scotland on The Promise, and I encourage local systems to challenge themselves to learn from each other to continue to build a culture where the best of practice is the reality for all children and their families.

Understanding progress made so far is essential in ensuring that we remain on track, but also so we can flex and direct attention where it is required, informing the Oversight Board for The Promise as it holds all of Scotland to account on progress.

And I do know statistics alone are not enough, and we will continue to ensure that the voices of our care-experienced children and young people remain at the heart of the story of change. For example, our joint work with COSLA and The Promise Scotland to develop the Promise Stories of Progress will launch by the end of this year

Now as I have set out, implementing change requires partnership across the board and to help enable this the Government is committed to introducing a Promise Bill in this Parliament, which I hope we will be able to pass with cross party support.

Again, in the spirit of collaboration and keeping in mind the collective Promise all of us have made to care-experienced children and young people, I hope that all parties here in this Chamber will commit to work constructively together on that legislation when it is brought forward.

Presiding Officer I bring this motion forward to acknowledge the commitment this Parliament made to Keep the Promise to care experienced people by 2030.

This Government’s focus is on action that will help children, young people and families across Scotland. Keeping the Promise will have benefits for everyone in Scotland and that is why the legislation we will introduce by the end of this Parliamentary term will provide the further direction we need.

By voting in favour of this motion, Members will send a message to the children, young people, adults and families across Scotland  with care experience that their voice matters, they will be supported in the years ahead, and that the Promise we made as a Parliament four years ago will not be broken.