Auditors warned there was still “confusion” about The Promise five years on after it was first announced.
Nicola Sturgeon unveiled The Promise in 2020(Image: PA)
A landmark pledge by Nicola Sturgeon to improve the lives of Scots children growing up in care is in danger of being broken as the SNP Government did not fully consider the work involved.
The Promise was announced by the then first minister in 2020 as a decade-long commitment to care-experienced children they would grow up loved, safe and respected.
The policy, which won cross-party support, was launched after an official review concluded children in care were being failed.
But a review by Audit Scotland now warns The Promise has been slow to come together after not enough planning by the SNP Government and local authorities.
Auditors warned there is “still confusion about what different bodies should be doing to deliver the changes needed” and criticised plans that “lacked detail and direction for individual sectors”.
SNP ministers and councils also “did not give sufficient thought to the work that would be needed” to deliver the pledge, the report added.
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“Initial planning for the Promise by the Scottish Government and Cosla did not give sufficient thought to the work that would be needed to deliver its aims over a 10-year period – including the resources required, and how success would be defined and measured,” auditors said.
“This has meant that public bodies across Scotland were not given a strong foundation to deliver on the care review ambitions, and work since then has been slow.”
Martin Whitfield, Scottish Labour spokesman for children and young people, said: “This damning report lays bare the SNP’s shameful failure to deliver on its promises to young people in Scotland’s care system.
“The Scottish Government has a responsibility to do right by these children, but it’s clear there has been a lack of leadership and delivery under the SNP.
“A Scottish Labour government will step up and make the changes needed to keep The Promise and give every care-experienced child the best possible start in life.”
A joint statement from the bodies involved in keeping the Promise – including the Scottish Government and local authorities body Cosla – said they were taking the report “seriously” and “remain fully committed” to the Promise.
The report recommended setting out a plan for the next five years, along with an assessment of the Government’s £500 million Whole Family Wellbeing Fund – which has only paid out £148 million, according to the report.
Natalie Don-Innes, the SNP minister for The Promise, insisted the Government was “resolute” in its commitment to delivering the pledge.
She said: “We are seeing good progress, with fewer children in Scotland growing up in care since 2020, no young people under-18 being admitted to young offenders institutes, and more people with care experience going on to positive destinations nine months after leaving school.
“There is more to do to Keep the Promise, and we acknowledge there have been challenges to progress in the early days after the Promise was made in 2020, including the pandemic.
“Independent analysis published this year outlined that The Promise can be kept by 2030 and we are determined to work with councils and partners including The Promise Scotland to achieve that.”
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