Keeping the promise
How is Scotland keeping the promise? Who supports it to be delivered? And where does The Promise Scotland sit?
In 2017, the Independent Care Review was established, following years of campaigning from the care community demanding change.
On February 5 2020, it published its full findings, with an ambition for Scotland that all its children and young people will grow up loved, safe and respected— so that they will realise their full potential.
To realise this ambition, the Independent Care Review set out over 80 recommendations on what must be done to overhaul the ‘care system’.
These were set out under five foundations – Voice, Family, Care, People and Scaffolding – in The Promise Report.
Scotland makes a promise
Scotland's then First Minister promised that that the country would implement these recommendations in full, by 2030. That commitment got the support of all of the Scottish Parliament's political parties, and so Parliament made the promise.
Read the reports which form the Independent Care Review’s conclusions on the Review’s website.
What is the promise?
The promise is “that all Scotland’s children and young people will grow up loved, safe and respected so they can realise their full potential.”
To keep this promise, all the conclusions of the Independent Care Review must be implemented, in full, by 2030. When people speak about keeping the promise, this is often what they are referring to.
Roles and responsibilities
Since this promise was made, a large number of different things have been set up to help to keep it. The Promise Scotland is one of these.
It can be hard to keep track of everything which has been set up, and the roles and responsibilities of every organisation which works to keep the promise. So below we have a guide to help you to understand who does what.
The Promise Scotland
What we do: Once the promise was made, Scotland agreed to change how it cared for its children and young people.
The Promise Scotland was then set up by the Scottish Government, to help support those working to make the changes needed to keep the promise. We also help to monitor the change that is happening.
We will not exist after 2030, when the promise must be kept.
What we don’t do: We do not have any formal legal powers, and do not provide services or direct support to children or families. So we are not the ones who will make the changes to keep the promise, but we will support those who are doing that.
The Promise Scotland can’t make people and organisations keep the promise. Instead, we provide support and challenge to keep Scotland on track.
Read more about The Promise Scotland.
The Oversight Board for the promise
What they do: The Oversight Board exist to check up on and report on whether the promise is being kept.
They report to the care community and the Scottish Parliament, tracking Scotland’s progress and making recommendations as to what needs to be done to ensure the promise is kept.
What they don’t do: The Oversight Board do not do a full evaluation of all the work to keep the promise across Scotland.
Instead, their reports focus on key areas, while drawing from a range of different sources.
Find out more on The Oversight Board’s website.
The Independent Strategic Advisor, the promise
What she does: Fiona Duncan is the Independent Strategic Advisor. She sets the strategic direction and culture of all work to keep the promise, chairs The Promise Scotland, sustains relationships with Ministers, and gives advice to those who require it.
What she doesn’t do: The Independent Strategic Advisor works closely with The Promise Scotland and is the chair of The Promise Scotland board, but is not a day-to-day member of the team.
The Scottish Government
What they do: The Scottish Government holds a number of the key levers for change. They are required to join up work across Government policies and actions, and to make legislative, financial, administrative and public sector reform.
It is not just for Government to take action. But for the promise to be kept they must “move first and move furthest” to enable change for children, young people and families.
The Government’s work to keep the promise – and all that they are accountable for – is set out in their Keeping the Promise Implementation plan. Read the Implementation Plan here and their update on progress here.
What they don’t do: The Scottish Government does not lead change at local levels.
The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise
What they do: The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise is responsible for Scottish Government work to keep the promise, including driving forward policy and legislative change. They report directly to the First Minister on progress, and support the cabinet secretary for education and skills.
What they don’t do: The Minister does not sit in the cabinet.
Cabinet sub-committee on the promise
What they do: This sub-committee explores progress on keeping the promise and decision making on key issues while the promise is being implemented.
It provides its members with the opportunity to direct and support, to prioritise, and to influence and challenge decision making around the promise.
Scottish Parliament
What they do: Parliament’s role includes:
- Passing Bills
- Supporting and scrutinising the legislative and policy changes needed
- Examining the work of the Scottish Government.
Corporate parents
What they do: The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 defines corporate parenting as "the formal and local partnerships between all services responsible for working together to meet the needs of looked after children, young people and care leavers".
A corporate parent should carry out many of the same responsibilities as a loving parent. All corporate parents have committed to keeping the promise.
What they don’t do: Corporate parents can’t provide everything a parent can, but they should still be able to provide all children and young people they’re responsible for with the best possible support and care.
Scotland
What Scotland does: When reading or hearing about the promise, you will often see or hear that Scotland made the promise, or that Scotland’s progress is being monitored.
This is because keeping the promise stretches far beyond those who provide care, beyond politicians or local authorities. It is the responsibility of everyone who is involved in the life of a child, young person, or a care experienced adult.
No one lives in an individual silo: everyone comes into contact with a huge variety of people, services, organisations and places every single day. Any of those could have a role in keeping the promise.
What Scotland doesn’t do: The term Scotland is used to ensure that everyone in the country knows they could be responsible for keeping the promise.
However, this does not mean that everyone in Scotland is responsible for all the elements of this. Some parts of keeping the promise will be the responsibility of specific organisations or individuals, and it will always be clear when that is the case.
COSLA
What they do: COSLA has a number of key roles in ensuring the promise is kept across local authorities, including:
- Supporting council leaders and spokespeople to represent local government with Scottish Government Ministers and the Scottish Parliament.
- Keeping elected members informed and engaged on national and local developments around the promise
- Supporting elected members in policy design and decision making to ensure local needs and challenges are understood and met
- Engaging with professional associations in policy development and delivery to ensure that national decisions represent local need and views.
Read the partnership agreement between COSLA and The Promise Scotland.
Local authorities
What they do: All local authorities have pledged to keep the promise, and have statutory duties to deliver for care experienced people— with a responsibility to promote their wellbeing. Co-ordination and delivery of the promise is largely concentrated in children’s services.
What they don’t do: Not all local authorities are working in the same way to keep the promise. There are variations in local area governance and delivery of services.
Local Government Programme Board— The Promise
What they do: In March 2022, local authority leaders agreed to establish a Local Government Programme Board to oversee and accelerate work on the promise. The Programme Board monitors and drives the delivery and implementation of the actions required of local government to keep the promise.
Plan 24-30
What this is: Plan 24-30 sets out WHO needs to do WHAT by WHEN to keep the promise by 2030.
It is organised around the five foundations of the promise: voice, family, care, people, and scaffolding. All of the conclusions of the Independent Care Review have been organised and grouped under these foundations.
The Plan has route maps to get Scotland to 2030. Find out about them here.
What this isn’t: Plan 24-30 is not The Promise Scotland’s plan. It is Scotland’s plan, and the responsibility to deliver sits across a wide variety of different people, organisations and institutions.
The Promise Story of Progress
What this is: The Promise Story of Progress is the way that Scotland will know about progress across the breadth and depth of the promise. To get the right data, The Promise Story of Progress will answer three questions:
- Does the care community feel the impact of the promise being kept?
- How is Scotland doing in its progress towards keeping the promise?
- How are organisations doing in their work to keep the promise?
What this isn’t: The Promise Story of Progress isn’t the same as the Promise Progress Framework, which it sits above.
The Promise Progress Framework
What this is: The Promise Progress Framework sets the frame for all the questions in the Promise Story of Progress to be answered, by aligning data to vision statements taken from the promise.
Currently, the Framework collects all relevant national data around the promise to answer the Promise Story of Progress question: How is Scotland doing in its progress towards keeping the promise?
What this isn’t: The national data currently in the Promise Progress Framework cannot, on its own, tell the whole story of progress. The stories behind the numbers are needed to give context on what matters to care experienced children, young people and their families.
The Promise Report
What this is: The Promise Report is one of the reports which make up the conclusions of the Independent Care Review. It set out the ambition for Scotland’s children and young people, which became the promise.
It also sets out the actions which need to be taken to keep the promise.
What this isn’t: The Promise Report doesn’t contain all the Independent Care Review’s conclusions— it’s part of a wider set of reports, which can be found on the Independent Care Review’s website.
Who else is involved in keeping the promise?
As well as involving the organisations, individuals, reports and statements above, keeping the promise stretches right across Scotland.
It involves many sectors and organisations including the third sector, health care, justice, education, youth clubs and – currently – private sector service providers.
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