Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, convener, for the opportunity to attend the committee today. I really welcome the committee’s on-going engagement in and support for the work that is under way across Scotland to keep the Promise by 2030. The Scottish Government is committed to lead from the front to make national changes that will be felt by the care communities locally.

As the recent oversight board report identified, the Promise is on course and can still be kept by 2030 if everyone involved plays their part and works together constructively with children and their families. The Scottish Government is making progress and I hope that, through the detailed review of the implementation plan that was published last September, the committee will have been reassured by the breadth of actions that are under way. However, delivery of the Promise is a Scotland-wide goal, and it is only through local partners that change will truly be felt.

I sit here in no doubt that there is a lot more to be done and that there are a number of challenges to be overcome to get there. The cross-Parliament commitment that was confirmed during the debate in November is key to ensuring that we work together to ensure that politics does not get in the way of delivering the change that is required.

To help us all, nationally and locally, to achieve that, it is essential that we can fully understand the progress that is being made across the country. The oversight board report has provided a high-level view. In addition, I know and have seen first hand, through visits to projects and programmes, through conversations with care-experienced children, young people, adults and families, and through engagement with carers and the hard-working workforce across the public and the third sector, that there is a lot of good work under way and that the commitment is strong.

To assist with that further, I have asked The Promise Scotland to provide a picture of the activity that is under way in localities across Scotland and to present the organisation’s insights into what is happening. Fraser McKinlay has written to me recently to confirm that that work is under way and will be provided by the end of April. The picture will be instrumental in capturing the progress that, as I have seen, is under way on the ground and where the focus of our collective attention over the next five years must fall.

I am clear that progress through national indicators is not enough. Change must be felt by our care-experienced community. I, and many of you who were at the recent reception, have spoken to members of the care-experienced community who feel that things have changed. It is our collective responsibility to be balanced and to recognise success to date, as well as to recognise what more has to be delivered in the years to come.

The Promise progress framework, which was published in December, provides the basis for how we can consistently report on national data. It brings together, for the first time, more than 50 national data indicators that inform the picture of outcomes for children and young people with care experience. The next stage of work is to tell the stories of change.

As recognised as early as 2022, in the first iteration of our implementation plan, there is a place for legislation to support the change that is required. I will introduce a bill this year that will set out key provisions to increase the supports that are available to children, young people, adults and carers. The committee will recognise and respect that I am limited in how much more I can add at this stage, prior to the proposed legislation being agreed through the formal Cabinet process.

Convener, I thank you again for the opportunity to provide you with an update on progress on the Promise. We have an opportunity to work together to ensure that the Promise is kept. As Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, and with the full support of the First Minister and the Cabinet, I am committed to leading the change that is required, and I welcome the committee’s role in providing the appropriate level of challenge and support.

I cannot give you a rough date. I am hoping to introduce the bill prior to summer recess, but that is dependent on agreement by the Cabinet and the Cabinet process. That is my personal view; that is when I want to introduce the bill and, indeed, when I feel that it needs to be introduced with regard to the timetabling of the rest of the parliamentary session. I have been clear that I want the bill to be introduced through the parliamentary process in this parliamentary session.

We are dealing with legal matters. There are processes in place for writing legislation.

I will bring in my official, Gavin Henderson, to see whether he can add anything.

It could, yes. I am considering that at the moment—based on a lot of the responses to that specific consultation—because I know about the work that has been done in that regard. I have also heard from care-experienced people about the importance of lifelong support, because things can happen later in life that they might not have considered and that can bring trauma back. I appreciate that, and I am looking at that, yes.

Will Ms Duncan-Glancy elaborate on that question? I am aware of the very good work that has been done in relation to our virtual school network—I have visited two or three virtual schools, and I have heard about the really positive outcomes that they are achieving—but what would Ms Duncan-Glancy like to see in the bill in that regard?

That is not something that we are looking at for inclusion in the bill, but I continue to encourage the implementation of virtual schools with local authorities. Indeed, after my last visit to a virtual school, I asked why we do not have a virtual school that is accessible to pupils across Scotland. It is something that I am actively working on, aside from the bill. I do not feel that legislation is necessarily required for it, but I think that we can make progress by showing the outcomes that the virtual schools and the virtual headteacher network are having for pupils.

Trade unions are key partners. Just last week, I engaged with them on separate matters relating to the Promise. I regularly engage with social workers, and I am sorry to hear examples of specific difficulties. I have alluded to a number of different moves that the Government is making to provide support, because I know that social workers are dealing with extremely difficult and complex issues. As Iona Colvin has said, they are absolutely committed to delivering the Promise, which sometimes means that they go above and beyond their expected duties. I thank them for that commitment. I have set out a plan that will help to support the current workforce and add to it, so that work is spread more evenly and people do not have to work such long hours.

Iona, do you have anything to add?

If you could, please, Mr Rennie.

Sure. The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of children from hearings who are not allowed entry to, or are not able to enter, secure care. If a space was not available to a child who needed entry into secure care, intense discussions would take place between COSLA, the secure care centres, social workers and all the other relevant stakeholders to ensure that what was carried out would best suit the child’s needs.

Of course. As I said, discussions in relation to joint work on secure care are continuing with COSLA. What was the specific question? Was it about national referral?