David Anderson: Scotland has made progress— but it needs to pick up the pace

David Anderson – Chair of the Oversight Board for the promise - writes about the findings of Report FOUR, which the Board has published today.

The promise, made in 2020, is that Scotland’s children and young people should grow up loved, safe and respected so they can realise their full potential. It was a big commitment, deliberately so, and it was never going to be kept simply by changing policy or creating new structures. It has to mean something different in people’s lives.

Scotland has made progress in keeping that promise, and for some that change is being felt. But it remains far too inconsistent and, with only four years left until 2030, we could and should be much further forward. Four years is still enough time to make a real difference, but not if we continue at the pace of the last six.

What Report FOUR shows

Our latest report, published today - Tuesday 29 September - shows progress, but not for everyone. We have seen good practice, strong partnerships and services finding better ways to support children and families.

We have also seen the difference that more stable funding and greater flexibility can make, particularly when workers are given the time and freedom to build the relationships that matter.

That contribution needs to be recognised. Across Scotland there are people working extremely hard, often in stretched services and with resources that do not match demand, to make the promise real in people’s lives.

But the wider picture is still too uneven. Good support remains too dependent on where someone lives, the capacity of the service they reach and how well different parts of the system work together. A child should not have to rely on good luck, persistence or the right person being in the right place to get the support they need.

The differences can be stark. In the evidence we considered on children cared for at home, rates varied from around 11 per 1,000 children in one local authority to around 28 per 1,000 in another. Different communities will always have different needs, but variation on that scale should make us ask hard questions about how consistently Scotland is responding to children and families.

Too much of the promise still remains on paper— rather than felt in practice

Some commitments have not been delivered, some have taken too long and elsewhere there is a great deal happening without enough evidence yet that it is changing people’s lives. Too much of the promise still remains on paper, rather than being felt in practice.

That is the point Scotland now has to confront. Plans, legislation, programmes and new structures can all be necessary, but they only matter if they lead to better experiences and better lives.

We know much more now than we did in 2020: we have examples of support that is working and we have enough evidence to know where many of the barriers still sit. The task is to build on what works, deal with what is stuck and stop accepting delay as an inevitable part of the process.

The next four years have to look different from the last six. There is less room for commitments to slip, for work to sit between organisations or for responsibility to become blurred while children and families wait for the difference they were promised.

That responsibility sits across Scotland. National government has a major role, but so does local government, where many of the decisions that shape everyday experience are made. A national promise will never be kept if the support available to children and families continues to vary so significantly from one part of the country to another.

If keeping the promise is like building a home, parts of that home are already standing and, for some, providing the safety, care and support that were intended. But too much remains unfinished.

A home is not the plans, the foundations or the work that has gone into building it. It is somewhere you feel safe, where there is warmth, where somebody notices when you need help and where you know you are loved.

That was the promise. The next four years are about making sure it is kept for everyone it was made to.

About the author

David Anderson

As chair, David focuses on evidence, accountability and progress. He supports efforts to ensure that the voices and experiences of children, young people and families remain central to how Scotland delievers its commitment to keep the promise.

He brings  experience in children's services, social policy and community development and, with his wife Anne-Sophie, runs a seven hectare theraputic farm providing animal assisted education and care for children and young people.