The Promise Bill: Not the finishing line, but a step towards it

Innes Burns, Participation & Communications Officer at Children in Scotland

‘The Promise’ is a national commitment, taken forward by the Scottish Government, to reform the care system for our children and ensure they grow up loved, safe and respected. It’s built on the findings of Scotland’s Independent Care Review, which identified systematic failures in our current system.

It’s a Promise that is widely endorsed. Nobody wants to see the number of young people in Scotland that are currently lacking in the care and support they need. There is a nation-wide feeling of togetherness on meeting its conclusions by 2030.

This Bill makes necessary strides, but we cannot let this be the end of the conversation if we are to fulfil our wider ambitions.

What is the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill?

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill introduces wide-ranging changes to the services and support provided by our care system in Scotland. These changes include:

• giving people who left the care system before their 16th birthday the right to apply for aftercare
• requiring Scottish Ministers to ensure care-experienced people have access to advocacy services
• requiring Scottish Ministers to publish guidance which promotes understanding of “care” and “care experience”
• giving Scottish Ministers powers to limit the profits that can be made from children’s residential care
• requiring fostering services to register as charities
• giving Scottish Ministers the power to create a register of foster carers
• making changes to the children’s hearings system.

This aligns with The Promise’s direction of travel. It speaks directly to the five “foundations” needed to revolutionise our care sector.

In “Voice,” the Bill sets out a clear need for support-heavy entitlement to advocacy. There is no doubt that rights, on paper, are strengthened for the child in this department. This also helps meet the expectation of skilled support around children and families that The Promise requires within “People.”

In “Family,” there is progress in closing the loophole of those that miss out on help from the Government up to the age of 26 having left care before the age of 16.

In “Care,” we see increased power for Ministers to limit profit-making in residential care. There will also be positive moves in fostering services being registered as national charities.

And lastly, in “Scaffolding,” stigma-absent guidance provided by public bodies, coupled with Integration Joint Boards strengthening cohesion, will lay the groundwork for a system that is dependable: the scaffolding of help, support and accountability.

This intent should be welcomed on all fronts.

Why is there a note of caution?

If this Bill is passed through Parliament, we will not wake up the following day in a society in which every child in Scotland is loved, safe and respected. There is still plenty of work to be done to get to this place by 2030.

Whilst this Bill is a useful lever to widen support, strengthen accountability and steer us in the right direction, this outcome will only materialise if several other factors are also heading the same way.

One of which, most notably, is whether funding and resource will be made available to meet ambitious demands. Aftercare expansion, increased advocacy, changes to the hearings system, transitional costs… all this points towards the need for more money and skilled workers able to deliver.

…and this is already sitting in a tough economic backdrop. Inflation continues to add pressure and local budgets are stretched thin with rising demand for services.

Financial pressures will  increase without working co-operation between Government and private sector. Limiting profit and charity status echoes welcomed values in The Promise, but implementing this will not be seamless. Transparency, clear agreements and contingency plans will be crucial to ensuring there is no cliff-edge drop in capacity risked with profit-making organisations walking away from service provision.

And speaking of collaboration… creating a Board tasked with overseeing cohesion does not guarantee cohesion. All stakeholders must be at the table, including the third sector, putting together shared outcomes and a plan that all contributors can feasibly follow through with.

A huge step, if taken seriously

This is a well-intentioned Bill and, if taken seriously, is a big step towards keeping The Promise. It widens aftercare, tackles profiteering and pushes for clearer planning across services. This gives Scotland a strong platform to reduce the number of children entering care and improve stability for the care-experienced. If Ministers and local partners follow through with proper funding, support for the workforce and genuine co-design with the third sector, the Bill will quickly turn good intentions into tangible results.