The Scottish Government and others come together to respond

Plans to improve Scotland’s care system have been slow to come together after not enough early delivery planning by the Scottish Government and Cosla, a new report claims. 

The Promise, a national commitment to improving the lives of care experienced people by 2030, was made by the Scottish Government in 2020. 

Organisations and individuals remain dedicated to achieving that goal. But five years on, there is still confusion about what different bodies should be doing to deliver the changes needed, according to the Auditor General for Scotland and Accounts Commission report, ‘Improving Care Experience, Delivering the Promise’.  

A number of concerns have been outlined. 

Plans to date have lacked detail and direction for individual sectors. New structures set up by the Scottish Government to help deliver The Promise have lacked clarity about their roles and responsibilities. And Scottish Government efforts to streamline The Promise's complex governance arrangements have been insufficient. This has contributed to slow progress and made collective accountability challenging.  

The report claims that, from the outset, there was no assessment of what resources and skills were needed to deliver The Promise by 2030, or how success would be defined or measured. A framework to measure progress was agreed in December 2024 but further work remains. The Scottish Government is working on national data, which is not currently good enough to assess if services are improving the lives of care experienced people.  

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Public bodies remain committed to improving Scotland’s care system and the lives of people who go through it. But initial planning about how The Promise would be delivered didn’t provide a strong platform for success.  

“The Scottish Government needs to work with its partners to clearly set out the action that will be taken over the next five years to deliver The Promise, and how that work will be resourced.”  

Angela Leitch, a member of the Accounts Commission, added: "Despite public bodies working hard to support local and national change to the services underpinning Scotland’s care system, greater pace and momentum is now needed.  

“Local bodies need to work with their national partners to clarify roles and responsibilities, and prioritise the work needed to achieve The Promise’s aims.”

In a joint statement, the Scottish Government, Cosla, Solace, The Promise Scotland and The Independent Strategic Advisor for the Promise, said they were taking the report seriously, and that they remained committed to keeping the promise. 

They wrote: “Keeping the promise will transform the lives of Scotland’s families, children, young people in care and care experienced adults, now and for generations to come. It is an ambitious, long term change programme, requiring unprecedented levels of collaboration across different systems, organisations and sectors.

“The unified commitment around the promise is vitally important and reflected in the unusual step of issuing of a joint response to this report.

“Scotland has a responsibility to all those to whom the promise was made, to ensure that the pace of change is increased and delivery is felt in people’s lives, every day. This requires person and family centred approaches to how Scotland provides care and support.

“We are taking today’s report from the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission seriously. Together, we remain fully committed to the shared goal of ensuring that all of Scotland’s children grow up loved, safe and respected.

“The report has a number of recommendations on how to help achieve this, many of which align with work underway. This includes continuing to develop Scotland’s delivery plan, ‘Plan 24-30’, and telling the Promise Story of Progress.

“We will review all the recommendations and respond accordingly, ensuring we continue to work in the best way possible for children, families and care experienced adults.

“In doing so, we will ensure that everyone working to keep the promise has the clarity needed. We remain steadfastly committed to working in partnership to keep the promise.”