Chamber and committees

We recognise that we need stronger evidence on children's experiences and their outcomes over time, instead of relying solely on snapshots of individual services. Strengthening children’s services planning will improve the consistency of information across the whole of Scotland, and our wider work on measuring progress towards the Promise needs to bring together data and evidence of children’s experiences, relationships and outcomes to provide a richer picture of whether the change is making a difference.

I might bring in Gordon Paterson or Gavin Henderson here, but I know that a few studies are being carried out, and there is also the Promise story of progress. Gordon, would you like to touch on that work?

I totally appreciate where Mr Dunlop is coming from. As the cabinet secretary has said, this is a very sensitive issue, and I appreciate that the Oversight Board wants to see this work put in place. I think that it is something that we can continue to discuss. However, if we were going to move forward with it, we would have to consult those in the general public with care experience to see whether they would like it to happen, and that could take time. It is not something that can be done quickly, but I am happy to keep the conversations going.

We can definitely look into it.

Convener, I do not know whether you want us to move on to the Promise now or to stay on the education side of things. I have quite a few points that I could speak to on our implementation strategy and on establishing a delivery coalition, which might touch on Ms Ross’s point.

At the moment, the independent strategic adviser is going round all 32 local authorities to see what they are doing well in relation to the Promise and where some might not be doing so well. Through conversation, I understand that Moray Council has introduced an approach of ongoing connection, which is what I think you were talking about, Mr Dunlop. In other words, if there is a mentor or someone who a care-experienced person has a connection with, that connection will be ongoing. I think that we could learn from Moray Council when we are discussing the issue with all local authorities.

On the point that I raised with Angela Ross, the cab sec and I, coming into our roles, feel the responsibility that we will have up to 2030. My feeling is, not another implementation strategy, because everybody gets sick of all those strategies. We are determined to be involved through chairing the delivery coalition. As I said, it is a work in progress at the moment, and we are hoping to meet by the end of the year, to have oversight of who is responsible for what and what timescales will be implemented. Over the next four years, we will be working very closely so that we have oversight on what is happening on top of the implementation strategy.

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.