'Moving On' from care into adulthood: consultation analysis

1. Introduction

Background

In February 2020, Scotland's Independent Care Review published The Promise. The Promise told Scotland what it must do to make sure it reached its ambition that all children and young people grow up loved, safe and respected so that they can reach their full potential. The Scottish Government is committed to making sure that all of Scotland’s children and young people with care experience are given the support they need to help them move on from care into adulthood and more independent living.

On 11 July 2024, the government published a consultation on ‘Moving On’ from care into adulthood. Across 41 open questions, the consultation sought views on areas such as planning and preparation, Continuing Care, Aftercare, health and wellbeing support, education, employment and housing.

The consultation ran from 11 July to 3 October 2024. It was open to all members of the public and especially sought the views of those with care experience, kinship or foster carers, members of the birth family of a young person with care experience and those who support young people with care experience during their transition to adulthood. The online consultation was complemented by 14 engagement sessions organised by the Scottish Government and its stakeholders.

The consultation was intended to align with, and build upon, other planned or established activity. This included the ‘Moving On’ survey and ‘100 Days of Listening’ completed as part of the Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum’s (STAF’s) Moving On Change Programme and the Care Inspectorate’s Thematic Review on transitions for care experienced young people.

The consultation was developed as one of a series to help inform how the government and its partners can keep The Promise, including on Children’s Hearings Redesign, the definition of care experience and the future of foster care. The responses to the consultation would be used by the Scottish Government to widen the existing evidence base and help to explore:

• The good practice already happening and having a positive impact for young people leaving care.
• What is missing in our scaffolding of support for young people leaving care
• The potential solutions to the issues and challenges facing delivery partners and young people leaving care.
• The best way to deliver the required changes, as highlighted in The Promise.

Respondent profile

In total, 69 written consultation responses were received. Most were submitted via the online consultation platform, Citizen Space. Those received in an alternative format, for example, an email response or PDF document, were reviewed separately by the research team.

Individuals provided 22 responses to the consultation, with the remaining 47 responses received from organisations. Table 1 shows the number of each type of respondent.

Seventeen of the organisations which responded to the consultation have corporate parenting responsibilities. These include 10 local authorities (and 3 Health and Social Care Partnerships), Public Health Scotland, Care Inspectorate, Children’s Hearings Scotland, and the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. A full list of the organisations which responded to the consultation and gave permission for their responses to be published is included in Appendix B.

The analysis also included notes collated from 14 engagement events organised by the Scottish Government and its stakeholders. These sessions were broadly structured around the consultation paper, however, also provided an open forum for attendees to discuss the issues being considered more widely. Throughout this report, we highlight either where the discussion at these sessions aligned with the themes arising from the formal consultation responses, or where unique perspectives were raised.

Analysis approach

The Lines Between was commissioned to provide a robust, independent analysis of the responses to the public consultation. The main purpose of this consultation analysis is to understand the full range of views and suggestions expressed by young people with care experience and those supporting them to allow the Scottish Government to consider and inform change which will improve transitions out of care into adulthood. This report provides a thematic analysis of responses based on the analysis approach outlined below.

Reflecting the number, experience and knowledge of respondents, it is not practical to detail every response in this report. Some respondents, especially organisations, shared lengthy submissions reflecting their specific area of expertise and these responses are referenced where possible. Full responses to the consultation, where permission for publication was granted, can be found on the Scottish Government’s consultation hub.

Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis identifies the key themes across responses to each question. The research team developed a draft coding framework based on a review of the consultation questions and a sample of responses. During the coding process, new codes were created if additional themes emerged.

In a small number of instances, where a response received via email or in a PDF document contained information that did not align with specific questions, analysts exercised judgment around the most relevant place to include this material for analysis purposes.

In addition to analysing Citizen Space responses, notes from the consultation events were reviewed to explore whether the discussions reflected the themes evident in the Citizen Space responses, and to identify any differences in opinion or new themes compared to the Citizen Space responses. The themes raised at the events typically aligned with the Citizen Space responses, however, any additional or unique perspectives are noted in this report.

Where appropriate, quotes from the full range of 69 consultation responses are included to illustrate key points and provide useful examples, insights and contextual information.

When reviewing the qualitative analysis in this report, we would ask the reader to consider the following:

• Public consultations invite everyone to express their views; individuals and organisations interested in the topic are more likely to respond than those without a direct or known interest. This self-selection means the views of respondents do not necessarily represent the views of the entire population, or of everyone with an interest in this topic.
• Because of the range of consultation questions, not all respondents answered each question, and those who did answer provided varying levels of detail. The qualitative analysis is therefore only based on the information provided by those who commented.
• Differences between the views expressed in the qualitative responses of individuals and organisations, or between the types of organisation, have been noted. If no specific differences are highlighted, then a theme was raised by a mix of respondents.
• Many respondents repeatedly raised the same issues or suggestions in answer to multiple questions, albeit in relation to the specific focus of the question. All views and points raised are included in this report, however, analysts exercised judgment about the most relevant place to include each theme to minimise repetition.
• It is respected that the views expressed by respondents are informed by their own experiences, understanding and perceptions of the issues in question. Where responses may not represent current legislation or recommended guidance and practice, this was highlighted to analysts by the Scottish Government as part of the analysis process.

Weight of opinion

This report presents the themes identified in responses from most to least commonly mentioned. All themes, including views shared by small numbers of respondents, are covered; a view expressed by a very small number of participants is not given less weight than more general comments shared by a majority.

Similarly, all responses have an equal weighting. We recognise this means a response from an individual has the same weight as the response from an organisation which may represent many members, however, this approach ensures all views are presented.

Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions does not permit the quantification of results. However, to assist the reader in interpreting the findings, a framework is used to convey the most to least commonly identified themes from the written responses to each question:

• A common theme raised by around a quarter of respondents or more.
• Several respondents, a theme raised by between 10 and 15 respondents.
• Some respondents, a theme raised by between 5 and 9 respondents.
• A few / a small number, fewer than 5 respondents, a less commonly mentioned theme.
• Two/one respondent; a singular comment or a view identified in only one or two responses.

This framework is used solely to present the prevalence of themes within the consultation responses. This does not necessarily represent the importance of a theme, given the subjective nature of attributing importance and the self-selection of consultation respondents.