Chamber and committees

I can answer that question. The National Social Work Agency is working with COSLA and Social Work Scotland, I think through the Scottish social work partnership, to develop a strategic plan on the workforce, which is due in spring 2027.

It is important to get on the record what the Scottish Government is currently doing. We recognise the importance of continuing to improve our understanding of the outcomes of people with care experience and of ensuring that the evidence that is available to us supports learning and action. The Scottish Government collects data on the number of statutory notifications received for those who are looked after at the time of their death or are in receipt of continuing care or aftercare at the time of death. Ministers are made aware of all those tragic incidents. That is why we have taken steps to strengthen reporting, through the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026, which introduces a statutory reporting requirement that requires the Scottish ministers to lay before the Scottish Parliament and publish an annual report detailing the number of deaths of children and young people who were looked after by the local authority or were in receipt of continuing care at the time of their death. The first report will be published in May next year.

I am not in a position today to commit specifically to tracking the deaths of all care-experienced people, but I am happy to have the on-going conversation with Duncan Dunlop.

I will come in briefly on that, convener. The sustainable workforce element will be fundamental to our delivering the Promise. I know that a lot of work is ongoing with the National Social Work Agency, which was established earlier this year. We see the Promise as public service reform in action because it has the aim of improving support for children and families through joined-up services, with a strong focus on prevention. As the cabinet secretary said, PSR is not about cuts or reducing the workforce; it is really about effectively reducing duplication and bureaucracy, and about how we streamline things to get better services.

The implementation strategy will definitely be in place by February next year—hopefully, earlier.

Okay. One point in relation to the Promise is that we have been listening. Obviously, a lot of work has been happening over the past five years. We recognise and welcome the oversight board’s report last week. There is work to be done.

A high-level implementation strategy will be published setting out how we will implement the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026—the bill was passed at stage 3 in March, and was dealt with by my predecessor. That should be done by the beginning of next year.

Alongside that, a delivery coalition will be established, which I will be part of and which the cabinet secretary will chair. We are still making preparations for that and will see how it develops. However, we want to focus on implementation through to 2030. We want to establish a timetable and identify who is responsible for what. A risk register will also be included as part of that work. I hope that that answers the question.

We made that announcement in June. I had an urgent meeting with kinship and foster carers and then convened a round table in August with all stakeholders regarding the urgency of childcare placements. It is a shared challenge for all stakeholders, and one of the things that we are looking at is what we can do in the short to medium term. I will indicate just a few of the actions that we are actively considering: the three-child placement limit; foster care support and incentives; streamlined assessments; the development of the whole family integrated programme; service registration; and options to strengthen the recruitment and retention of foster carers, including potential incentives and support measures.

There is a capacity issue at the moment, and we are working actively with local authorities, COSLA and all stakeholders to consider how we can address that.

Good morning. The Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Order 2014 sets out eligibility criteria for funded early learning and childcare for two-year-olds whose parents are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits. As this is the first time that I am bringing a Scottish statutory instrument amending the 2014 order to the new committee, I thought that it would be helpful to set out some background and explain the timings of this year’s amendment.

The main route for eligibility for funded ELC for two-year-olds is receipt of universal credit where the household has earned income that does not exceed a certain income level. The maximum income level is set out in the 2014 order at approximately the equivalent of a person working 16 hours a week at the national living wage.

When the United Kingdom Government raises the national living wage, we uprate that maximum income level through an amendment to the 2014 order. The amending order is usually laid around January every year, to come into force on 1 April. There was a delay in laying this year’s amending order due to the later timing of the UK budget and the compressed parliamentary timescale due to the dissolution for the Scottish Parliament election.

In order to ensure that no families would be negatively impacted by the delay, the Scottish Government worked with COSLA to ask local authorities to use their existing discretionary powers to apply the new maximum income level from 1 April 2026 on a temporary basis until the 2014 order could be amended. COSLA and local authorities have been very supportive and co-operative, and we are not aware of any child not accessing a place due to that approach.

The 2014 order currently specifies that a two-year-old is eligible for funded ELC if their parent is in receipt of a universal credit award, with a monthly income that does not exceed £850 per month. This amending order ensures that the maximum income level of £885 per month, which local authorities have been applying since 1 April 2026, is reflected in statute.

We will continue to review the maximum income level in the 2014 order. For the committee’s awareness, if there are any changes to the national living wage in the 2026 UK budget, which is to come into effect in April 2027, an additional SSI will be laid in early 2027.

I am happy to take any questions.

Yes. I conducted several visits in the summer and have had some really emotional meetings with kinship carers. I value all the work that kinship and foster carers do.

One point that has come across to me is that all local authorities do things very differently, and there is a feeling that there is a lack of support. One thing that we are looking to do at pace is consider how we can put support in place for when someone becomes a kinship carer, so that they get guidance on the legalities and what they are entitled to and are signposted to support. We are actively working to put that in place between the beginning and the middle of next year.

The member highlights an important issue that has been raised with me several times since I came into post. I assure him that our approach to transformation will be informed by the lived experience of parents and carers, including those whose children have additional support needs. We recognise that understanding the experiences of families is essential to ensuring that future childcare provision is accessible, inclusive and responsive to children’s individual needs and supports families to access the services that they require. We will work closely with delivery partners and the sector to ensure that workforce requirements are understood and addressed and that they have the knowledge, skills and support required to meet the needs of children with additional support needs.

In our programme for government, we have committed to transforming the childcare offer to provide support for children from nine months through to the end of primary school over the course of this parliamentary session. We will publish and consult on a blueprint for a transformed childcare offer in 2027, focusing on what matters most to families.

We are already preparing to roll out free breakfast clubs for children in primary school areas from August 2027, giving children access to a nutritious breakfast and making it easier for parents to get to work, while also reducing costs.