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The next item of business is a statement by Natalie Don-Innes on the Promise oversight board “Report THREE February 2025”. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.
14:53
Keeping the Promise is a commitment steadfastly made by this Government. It is a commitment that I hold close to my heart in all that I do as minister, and it is a commitment made unanimously across this chamber. The independent care review told us what has to change, and the oversight board has recognised that the recommendations that were made have not been filed on a shelf or kicked into the long grass. Instead, they have been embedded into the work that we do across ministerial portfolios, departments and the public sector.
Despite the unwelcome distraction of a global pandemic, significant progress has been made, so I agree with the oversight board when it says:
“The journey is behind schedule — but still on course.”
I also agree with the board when it says:
“The destination is clear, and Scotland is heading in the right direction.”
We can keep the Promise that we made to young people in this country, and we will keep it. Two weeks ago marked the fifth anniversary of the Promise being made, which was a point to celebrate what has been achieved so far and provided an opportunity to reflect on what needs to be done.
It is my privilege as the minister to hear at first hand individual stories and experiences. Just this month, I met staff, volunteers and families at Circle in Edinburgh, the Martha’s mammies service in Glasgow and the whole-family wellbeing support hub in South Lanarkshire. This afternoon, I was due to visit the mother and child recovery house in Dundee, which is run by Aberlour. The service provides 24/7 therapeutic and emotional support to stabilise drug and alcohol use. I apologise to the mums and staff at Cowan Grove for having to postpone my visit, but I look forward to arranging another time to meet them soon.
Talking to the children, parents, families, staff and volunteers involved in those fantastic projects provides a clear reminder to ministers that no story is ever the same. There can be no one-size-fits-all approach. Support and success can mean very different things to different people, and voices must be heard if we want to make real and lasting change. The First Minister made that message clear in the letter that he penned to the care-experienced community in Scotland.
Let me address care-experienced children, young people, adults and families—one and all—to confirm my support and my drive to succeed. Let me also pass on my support to the workforce across Scotland who, on a daily basis, keep delivering in our social work departments, in our schools, in our health and justice services and across so many parts of our lives. I have witnessed the energy and activity under way to bring change, and I thank them for their on-going drive and commitment.
I call on all members across the Parliament to continue to work together. Indeed, delivering the Promise demands that we break down traditional silos, which is what the Government is doing. We have a dedicated Cabinet sub-committee for the Promise, and my ministerial colleagues work closely with me and with one another to bring about the change that we need.
For example, the bairns’ hoose commitment involves the Government bringing together the education, health and justice portfolios. Back in January, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care visited the organisation Circle, which I mentioned earlier, so that he could see at first hand how it is supporting young people and families affected by drug and alcohol use in East Lothian. That is part of the Government’s “Grow Your Own Routes” project, backed by £4 million, which is now operating in eight areas.
That illustrates the need for the Promise to be embedded across the Government and to be aligned with the progress report’s priority of whole-family support. As “Plan 21-24” said,
“To realise a child’s rights, you have to support their family—whether it is one they are born into or not. And all families need support at different times”.
Understanding the change that has happened so far is imperative. The further development of “Plan 24-30” can set a clear route map for what needs to be done, by whom and by when, and I welcome the oversight board’s encouragement to all stakeholders to engage in the next stage of setting the strategic direction.
Our latest published statistics show that there was a 15.6 per cent reduction in the number of looked-after children between 2020 and 2023. Although that figure tells only part of the story, the recently launched Promise progress framework puts the framework in place to track and review progress and to inform the action that is required over the next five years. The framework consolidates nearly 50 different streams of national data into one place—the first time that that has happened—and lets us paint a picture of the state of play nationally. The framework means that organisations can contextualise their own progress and use it for their own reporting, to change their processes and, in turn, to change the system.
The system is changing. In August 2023, we introduced the Scottish recommended allowance for kinship and foster carers, bringing the benefit to more than 9,000 families. In June 2024, the Parliament passed the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill and ended the placement of children in young offenders institutions in Scotland. Significant steps have been made in introducing the bairns’ hoose model, with 10 pathfinder and affiliate test sites up and running, backed by almost £10 million of investment to date.
In education, we are investing £1 billion in the Scottish attainment challenge, including more than £130 million in pupil equity funding in the budget, as well as additional funding to support care-experienced children’s and young people’s attainment and wellbeing. Since 2021, we have invested £20 million through the Promise partnership fund to support local projects and initiatives.
The Government is committed to a programme of national public sector reform that will support Scotland to move away from crisis intervention, and my colleague Mr McKee led a meeting earlier this week to support the next steps in greater alignment and delivery in public services.
Our commitment to whole-family support is central to that. Since 2022, we have invested more than £110 million through whole family wellbeing funding. I was pleased that, earlier this month, the First Minister announced that an additional £6 million will be allocated to children’s services planning partnerships as part of the 2025-26 budget. That increase means that the share of the whole family wellbeing funding that is provided to children’s services planning partnerships will rise from £32 million to £38 million in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years.
It is by stepping alongside families early on that we can break the terrible pattern that results in too many children having to live away from home. Every children’s services planning partnership has received a share of that funding and has delivered a range of support, including holistic support for parents with mental health or substance abuse issues, welfare rights advice and community-based family support hubs. However, I recognise the calls to action that the oversight board has identified, and I am pleased to say that further engagement is already under way.
On homelessness, Scotland has the strongest rights across the United Kingdom nations for people experiencing homelessness, and the duties of local authorities and corporate parents to support young people leaving care are set out in legislation. We recognise our role in working alongside partners in implementing the “Improving Care Leavers Housing Pathways” report, and work is progressing on all the recommendations.
On foster care, the contribution that is made by our foster carers and foster families is of the highest value. In November, I launched the next stage of our work to set a vision for the future that is shaped by the voices of children and young people and that prioritises their experiences. Our commitment is not only that foster care provides stability and support but that our foster carers are well equipped, supported and empowered to continue nurturing the children in their care.
The role that kinship carers play must also not be understated. As I have said before in the chamber, this is of particular importance to me personally, as I experienced informal kinship care in my childhood. I am determined to strengthen the support that is available, ensuring that kinship carers have the resources that they need to care for the children in their families. To do that, we have updated the kinship care guidance and have introduced a new kinship care assessment framework to provide clearer and more consistent support for carers and practitioners.
For our young people who are transitioning out of children’s services, we continue to work with staff, The Promise Scotland and key stakeholders to increase the coherence around the package of support that is available, including by continuing to invest in continuing care and aftercare, broader financial and education supports and the introduction of the care leaver payment later this year.
In delivering that change, the importance of the relationship between national and local government is key. The Scottish Government continues to provide £2.8 million to fund the work of The Promise Scotland and to fund a dedicated Promise post in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to work across all 32 local authorities to help to build that important link.
The oversight board is clear that there is still a way to go. It recognises that some people, organisations and systems are not yet doing enough, and I second its call to step up, to prioritise and to engage. There is a role for legislation in helping to enable that, and the Scottish Government is actively working to develop the policy and the legal understanding that are required to prepare a bill for introduction later this year. That is informed by what The Promise Scotland tells us must change and by recent engagement and consultation work on children’s hearings redesign, moving on from care into adulthood, the definition of care experience and the future of foster care.
I am keen to continue that engagement with all stakeholders, particularly the care-experienced community, as the legislative drafting happens and progress is made through Parliament. Although that will provide a substantial step forward in facilitating the next stages of our work, I am conscious that the legislative landscape surrounding the care of children and young people is already wide ranging, and further legislative direction should not add unnecessarily to that. I am conscious that legislative change must be accompanied by the required capacity, resource and finance to ensure the implementation of the legislation.
I do not shy away from the task ahead. We should reflect positively on the progress that we have made, and we should look ahead with optimism. It is important to consider that the oversight board says that we can deliver the promise by 2030, but we must be open and honest about the work that we still have to do. Together, we are working hard towards changes that I believe will have a positive impact for all of Scotland’s care-experienced children and young people, and I look forward to hearing the perspectives of members across the chamber this afternoon.
The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we need to move on to the next item of business. Members wishing to ask a question should press their request-to-speak buttons if they have not already done so.
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement and for all the points that have been mentioned in it, but the report from the oversight board is saying, “It is not enough.” The report should be a wake-up call for the Scottish Government that we are not on track to deliver the Promise by 2030.
Specifically, the report notes that, in order to keep the Promise, we need
“explicit leadership and drive from Scottish Government and scrutiny bodies to articulate a clear set of principles, outcomes and milestones”
and that that leadership has been severely lacking. There have been shortcomings that have needed urgent attention, including workforce shortages, financial instability for care labourers, inadequate focus, fragmented services and lack of co-ordination—as I have said before, the list goes on.
I am afraid that the minister’s statement will do absolutely nothing to address those issues. Frankly, it does not display the leadership that is needed.
How will the Scottish Government ensure that the cluttered policy landscape that is detailed in the report will be addressed? Secondly, how will progress be measured and data be collected to ensure that progress towards 2030 can be put back on track? Thirdly, how will the Scottish Government work at pace to articulate a clear set of milestones that will guarantee that the Promise is kept?
I thank Roz McCall for her questions, but I disagree with her saying that nothing in the statement will help to deliver the Promise. I clearly set out the actions that have been taken and a recognition that we still have a way to go. I accept that we may not be where we wished we would be when the Promise was made in 2020, but as I said in my statement, there has been a pandemic and a cost of living crisis. However, we are in a good position. There has been real leadership and real policy change that will make a real impact on the lives of children and young people.
The member noted issues around the cluttered landscape, which I alluded to in my statement. Work on that is on-going, and it is something that I am very aware of in my thinking around the Promise bill. I have already discussed that with the member, and I am more than happy to continue to do so.
I note the importance of the Promise progress framework and the different factors in it that will help to track progress across the whole landscape, whether at Scottish Government or local authority level. We will track progress in a number of ways. If Roz McCall has other ideas or if there are other areas that she would like to see a focus on, I am more than happy to discuss them with her.
I, too, thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. She will be aware that the report clearly states that
“the journey is behind schedule”
and that we are
“not halfway towards”
keeping the Promise. I know that the minister is aware of that.
I have two specific questions. The first comes from the letter from The Promise Scotland, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission: when will the Government publish the statutory framework on restraint and seclusion?
The second question is on a more worrying issue, from an imminent danger point of view. On 8 January, when the minister was asked in the chamber about the lack of secure accommodation in Scotland, she responded:
“As I have said, however, there are regular conversations between the Government, partners and heads of secure care to ensure that a situation such as that does not happen.”—[Official Report, 8 January 2025; c. 29]
There were no independent secure centre vacancies in Scotland on Tuesday and there are none today. What is the Government going to do about that problem, which is not a hypothetical problem but one that those centres face currently?
I thank Martin Whitfield for the important points that he raises.
On secure accommodation policy, I am very disappointed that we are in the place that we are in, and I am sure that the member is aware of that. I am aware of the on-going pressures and I monitor them pretty much on a daily basis. The member will be aware that secure accommodation demand is complex and volatile and that capacity can be extremely tight. Of course, decisions on the placement of children in secure accommodation and the appropriate continuation of placements remain with the relevant decision makers, but I assure the member that every appropriate action is being taken to increase capacity in both the short and long term and that those actions go over and above what I laid out in my statement at the beginning of January, because this is an extremely important matter. I am more than happy to discuss that with the member if he would like that, and to update him, going forward.
Work is under way on restraint. Issues in relation to restraint in different settings came up regularly during the passage of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, and the matter is being monitored and worked on.
Keeping the Promise will require partners across Scotland to work together. The oversight board’s report says that
“local authorities”,
as corporate parents,
“play a critical role.”
How is the Scottish Government working with local government to drive progress?
The scale of the work that is required to keep the Promise calls for a cross-portfolio, cross-department and cross-agency response at both national and local levels. As corporate parents, the Scottish Government, local authorities and all public bodies have a collective responsibility to help to shape lives and provide opportunities for looked-after children with care experience and young people who leave care. We require visibility, transparency and accountability at all levels.
The relationship between local and national Government is key to delivering the required change. Collaboration to develop the Promise progress framework, and engagement through the network of local authority Promise leads and the programme board, including the national leadership group, are good examples of the joint working that is helping to drive progress. The Scottish Government and local government have put in place appropriate structures to monitor and review progress, and we all have a key part to play.
The Scottish Government continues to fund The Promise Scotland and Fiona Duncan in her role as independent strategic adviser. I put on record my thanks to Fiona, Fraser McKinlay and the Promise team for their continued work in their role as a critical ally to Government and bodies across Scotland.
It goes without saying that we all want to see the Promise delivered. However, I am sorry to say that the statement does not feel like the words of a Government that is on course to meet the Promise. For example, in it, the Government congratulates itself on homelessness legislation when the fact is that, over the past two years, there has been a 14 per cent increase in the number of care leavers under the age of 25 who have been made homeless or threatened with homelessness. That is a complete failure.
Nowhere in the statement is the national social work agency mentioned, but the agency will be key to delivering the Promise. What is the vision for the national social work agency, and when will the agency be delivered?
I have been very clear when I have spoken previously in the chamber about the workforce. The workforce is absolutely key not only to helping us deliver the Promise but in relation to a number of Government priorities. I am very pleased that a national social work agency will be established, as that is absolutely key to supporting our workforce—I am looking at Miles Briggs and I do not know whether he is entirely happy with my answer. I am more than happy to have a further discussion with him on the timelines of the national social work agency and what we think can be achieved by that.
Could the minister say any more about how children’s services planning partnerships are supporting families alongside third sector organisations? How is the Scottish Government supporting them to carry out that important work?
Children’s services planning partnerships are absolutely key and play a vital role in supporting families and improving outcomes for children. By shifting investment from reaction to crisis towards early intervention and prevention activity, we can improve outcomes for families across Scotland.
Collaboration is a legal requirement under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, which mandates local authorities and health boards to develop joint children’s services plans. Those plans must involve key stakeholders, including third sector organisations, many of which are already delivering real change on the ground, to ensure that services are well integrated, proactive and focused on enhancing child wellbeing. That is why—as I have already alluded to—we have prioritised funding to maintain the programme of activity established across children’s services planning partnerships and increased it by a further £6 million for 2025-26.
The report stresses clearly the importance of the workforce in delivering the Promise, and in particular the pivotal role of social workers. It calls for recommendations to be implemented, including that on the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities producing a joint workforce improvement plan, which was due in autumn 2024 and should now be delivered as a matter of urgency. It also says that
“Ways of working should be reviewed to ... drive out duplication and wasted effort.”
Given that the latest chief social work officer survey report from Social Work Scotland describes a crisis in local authorities in recruitment and retention, and given the ageing workforce and capacity issues, does the minister agree that social work and the wider workforce are vital in delivering the Promise?
I think that the words of support that the minister gave in her statement were the only mention of the workforce in the entire statement. When will the improvement plan be produced? What action will be undertaken to tackle the issues that are leading to depletion and burnout?
I do not think that that was the only reference to the workforce. I put on record a clear thanks to everyone who is involved in such work across Scotland for the priority and commitment that they give to driving forward change. I have stated that the Scottish Government fully recognises the pressures that the social work workforce is under, and we will work collectively to ensure that children and young people receive the level of care that they deserve.
As I set out in my answer to Miles Briggs, we are clear that a strong and well-supported social work profession is key to delivering the aims that are set out in the independent review of adult social care and the Promise. We are already working collectively with partners to identify different ways to resolve the issues that social work faces, such as the recruitment and retention questions that Mr O’Kane mentioned. As I said, the immediate priority is to focus on wider improvements for the profession through the development of the national social work agency, which the Scottish Government is committed to.
Following on from the issues that Miles Briggs raised, what work has been done in relation to homelessness prevention for our care-experienced young people? We must ensure that corporate parental responsibilities extend to the transition away from care and that young people are not funnelled down the homelessness route when they should be supported by their local authorities into adulthood and sustainable independent living, especially in light of the current housing emergency and the rise in care leavers experiencing homelessness.
The Scottish Government’s continuing care and aftercare policies help to provide young people with a supported transition from care. Eligible young people can live with their carers until they turn 21 and access support and assistance based on their individual needs.
Following our recent consultation, work is on-going across the Scottish Government and with stakeholders to ensure that eligible young people continue to benefit from a person-centred support package that enables them to thrive into adulthood. We have not paused or put on hold priority for housing support for young people who are leaving care, and we remain committed to supporting care-experienced young people to flourish.
Following the passage of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025, work is continuing across the Scottish Government on the care leaver payment, which will provide a one-off £2,000 payment to young people who are moving on from care. The intention is to help to reduce the financial barriers that they might face as they transition into adulthood.
The report from The Promise Scotland says that
“some people, some organisations, and some systems are not yet doing enough, and this risks the country as a whole failing to deliver the promise.”
What is the minister doing with the organisations that are not doing enough, and across portfolios, to ensure that individual intransigence in organisations is not risking the Promise as a whole?
I agree on the cross-portfolio approach. Keeping the Promise depends on all levels of government. It is important to everyone, and everyone has a responsibility to help to deliver and drive forward that change. My commitment to delivering the Promise is rock solid.
As I set out in my statement, the Government has already taken a number of key actions, and the detailed implementation plan sets out the broad range of activities across ministerial portfolios. That is overseen by the cabinet sub-committee, which ensures that we take the cross-portfolio approach. I have met different ministers to discuss how the Promise meets or intertwines with our respective portfolios, and I will continue to do that.
We have discovered that there are no secure unit beds. The minister was not going to tell us that, and we found out only because Martin Whitfield asked the question. She said that the issue was important, but she did not include it in her statement.
Why has there been no reference to the fact that we are way behind schedule on spending the whole family wellbeing fund? Why has there been no mention of the fact that care-experienced children go from social worker to social worker year after year after year? None of that is mentioned. That is deeply unimpressive. Is the minister surprised that care-experienced people have no confidence in the Government to deliver the Promise?
Secure capacity issues were not something that I was going to put in my statement. I am not trying to hide anything; I am very aware that people can view the figures on a daily basis, which is what members have done. I am standing here and I am accountable in relation to that. I have said that I am monitoring the issue on a daily basis, and I am committed in the short and the long term to finding the solutions to the issue. Given what I have previously said to Parliament and the committee, I am very disappointed that we find ourselves in this situation.
I am absolutely committed to the whole family wellbeing approach, which is absolutely key to delivering on the Promise, and we are making very good progress. I understand that children’s services planning partnerships experienced issues with regard to the time that it takes to make such transformational change at local level. However, as I have said, we are invested and we are prioritising that, which can be proven by the extra £6 million that is going to children’s services planning partnerships.
A number of colleagues want to ask questions, so we will need a bit more brevity in questions and in responses, minister.
What steps is the minister taking to ensure that children are empowered, involved and included in the current and future delivery of the Promise?
I have made it very clear that the voice of care-experienced children, young people and adults across Scotland is at the heart of the work that is under way and continues to drive the actions that we take. The Scottish Government continues to build that voice through the breadth of consultation and engagement that is undertaken at a national level, and I am grateful to organisations across Scotland that take the time and focus to link into that and lead engagement.
I want to continue to ensure that children and young people feel empowered and included, and I want to ensure that we continue to reach as many young people as possible, including those who might not have engaged before. Bill Kidd, and all members, can be assured that that will continue to be a priority for me and a number of the organisations that have helped to facilitate many of those conversations so far.
Willie Rennie is right to be deeply unimpressed with the statement and the answers to our questions, but at least we have learned that there is a new way of saying “failing” without saying “failing”, which is to say, “We are behind schedule but still on course.” I do not think that that is good enough. The minister talks about embedding the Promise across the Government, but the oversight board states the reality. As Gillian Mackay mentioned, many organisations’ systems are not doing enough. Will the minister reply to this question? Who exactly is failing to step up, and what consequences, if any, will they face for that failure?
Mr Kerr disagrees with my assumption that we are “failing”—that is not my word—but still on course, but I remind him that the oversight board’s report specifically said that the Promise is still deliverable and can still be kept, so I refer him back to the report.
I have been very clear today that I think that everyone in Scotland is accountable for this, because the Promise means something to everyone. There is of course a responsibility at Government level to show leadership on the issue. I have gone through a number of the areas where we have made positive progress, but there are also responsibilities for local authorities, our third sector and a number of organisations. I encourage them, and I will work with them, so that we can all address the issue together and deliver the Promise by 2030.
I commend the minister on the continued commitment to the Promise and the significant progress that has been made. However, the oversight board is clear that delivery by 2030 needs increased pace and renewed purpose, so I would like to press her on that point. What in her statement will increase the pace of delivery, rather than simply continue it at a pace that we all agree is not sufficient at this stage?
I thank Nicola Sturgeon for that question. I also thank her for her engagement on the issue and for the priority and dedication that she gave to the matter during her time as First Minister. I want to be very clear, as I already have been, that my commitment to delivering the Promise is rock solid, and that I am driven as minister to do the best that I can for all children and young people across Scotland.
One of the key points in my statement was the introduction of a Promise bill later this year, which will be a major step forward in setting the legislative direction. The Promise progress framework, which was developed with COSLA and The Promise Scotland and was published in December, will provide the means to track the outcomes where we want to see change and the indicators that will give us a much clearer picture than we have had to date of what is happening and what needs to go further.
The oversight board’s third report confirms that there have been systemic failures in child safeguarding, but I am afraid that I am not picking up a sense that there is any recognition of that or of the accountability that is needed from the Government in driving change forward.
In the light of the calls in petition PE1979 for an independent inquiry into the mishandling of child protection and the establishment of a national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services, will the Government commit to ensuring that whistleblowers are properly protected and that public bodies are held accountable for safeguarding failures and not left to mark their own homework?
I appreciate that that is a very sensitive issue, which I believe that the member has written to me about previously. I have already met the petitioners to discuss the issue; I am looking into their calls and concerns, and I will update accordingly following that.
I apologise to members whom I could not call, as we have to move on to the next item of business.
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