Nicola Sturgeon has warned John Swinney’s Government to “raise” their game in helping the country’s most vulnerable children. She said everyone had to be “brutally honest” about the progress in keeping a “promise” she made to care-experienced young people.
The former SNP First Minister said: “A promise is not kept until it is delivered.”
Sturgeon made The Promise five years ago to the day after an independent review into children in care.
Commitments to vulnerable young people included ensuring they will be able to stay at home with their family where that is safe. Another part of The Promise, which has to be delivered by 2030, is that young people will feel loved, safe and respected if they need to go into care.
But implementation, which involves Government and councils working together, has been patchy. Swinney was Sturgeon’s deputy when she was FM and the pair remain political allies, but she has fired a shot across the bow of his Government.
In an article for the Record, she wrote that the Government had “shown leadership” on the care-experienced student bursary and ending the incarceration of young people in Polmont. She also welcomed a new allowance for foster and kinship carers.
But she added: “In order to deliver The Promise, we must see an increase in the scale and pace of change. Continuing as we are is not good enough.”
She continued: “Of course we should rightly celebrate the steps forward that have been taken but we must also be brutally honest about the areas where more progress is needed. A promise is not kept until it is delivered.
“We all need to raise our game. Politicians, Councils, Government.”
In a coded dig at the SNP Government, she added: “We must show the leadership that all of the children and young people in Scotland deserve.”
Local authorities are a key partner in delivering The Promise, but they have been accused in the past of not doing enough. Sturgeon wrote: “It means every council across Scotland setting, tracking and sharing the progress being made in their area. And it means collaborating – working together and pushing each other to go further, faster.”
Sturgeon resigned as FM in 2023 and she has yet to say whether she will stand again at the Holyrood election.
Labour MSP Martin Whitfield said: “These damning comments lay bare the work the Scottish Government still needs to do to deliver on the Promise. It is a scandal that so many care experienced young people are still being let down. We all have a duty to listen to these warnings and work together to improve support and keep the Promise.”
Natalie Don, the SNP Minister for The Promise, defended the Government’s record: “All children deserve to grow up loved, safe and respected, and be supported to reach their full potential – that remains at the heart of the Scottish Government’s commitment to keeping the Promise as we reach the pivotal halfway point to 2030.
“We have seen important progress towards keeping the Promise – the latest statistics show a 15.6% reduction in the number of looked-after children, since 2022 over £110 million has been invested to increase whole family support, and, as of August last year, no children under 18 will be admitted to young offender institutes, backed by £7 million to cover the cost of placements this financial year.
“Throughout this work, Ministers have listened to people with care experience and their insights will continue to inform our approach to shaping the Promise Bill, which will be introduced before the end of this Parliamentary term.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “As a former youth worker, I know how important it is that no child or young person is left behind. Those in care or who are care experienced already face an uphill struggle and it is incumbent that politicians of all parties drive forward efforts to support them. Nicola Sturgeon was an absolute master of over promising and under delivering so no one will be surprised that her government’s commitment looks like it will be broken. Given how little time she spends in Parliament, she has plenty of time to muse on where her government went wrong.”
A COSLA spokesperson said “COSLA is pleased to see the Oversight Board recognised the value of the joint Progress Framework which Local Government, Scottish Government and The Promise Scotland developed together. It demonstrates where progress has been made, and where we need to focus our energies nationally to support local areas to support their children and families. That means all corporate parents working together to Keep the Promise.”
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