Oversight Board update: February 2026

From David Anderson, Chair of the Oversight Board.

Attending the Public Audit Committee

As Chair, I attended the Public Audit Committee session on 10 December to give evidence on behalf of the Oversight Board. I am grateful to the Committee for recognising the important role the Oversight Board plays in holding Scotland to account, on behalf of the care-experienced community, for keeping the promise.

The Oversight Board is a unique model. With more than 50 percent of our members bringing lived experience of the care system, alongside expertise across a wide range of professional domains, we are well placed to provide both constructive support and robust challenge where it is needed to drive change.

As is often the case in Committee sessions, there was insufficient time to explore all the issues we wished to raise or to present the full breadth of evidence we hold across the delivery of the promise. We will therefore be holding a meeting at Parliament at the end of February to expand on key areas of concern, and we will publish our fourth report later in the year, setting out in more detail our assessment of progress. What is already clear is the need for greater urgency in decision-making and for clearer accountability where action has not taken place as expected.

Meeting the Minister for the Promise

Following the Committee session, the Oversight Board met with the Minister for The Promise and her officials. We again raised concerns about the pace of progress on Family Group Decision Making, Housing, and other issues.

The Board has been consistent in its position: seeking timely responses, clarity in decision-making, and transparent communication is not a barrier to progress but a prerequisite for it. Delay without explanation is neither neutral nor inevitable, and it risks undermining confidence across the sector. The Oversight Board will continue to press for clarity, pace and accountability in a constructive and evidence-based way, to ensure that commitments made to children and families are delivered without unnecessary delay.

Working on our fourth report

After a short pause over the festive period, the Oversight Board has resumed its regular meetings and work programme. We are currently developing briefing papers for our February parliamentary event and progressing our fourth report. A particular focus is the emerging narrative or Promise Story of Progress being presented jointly by The Promise Scotland, COSLA and the Scottish Government. Our task is to test how well this reflects the reality on the ground and whether the data being used aligns with the lived experience of children, families and the workforce.

In relation to the recent announcement by Government of a 12-month review of the legislative landscape, the Oversight Board recognises that the legal framework affecting children and families in Scotland is complex and, in places, fragmented. This is not a new observation. It has been identified repeatedly through the Independent Care Review and referenced over time by organisations central to delivering and supporting the promise, including CELCIS, The Promise Scotland and the Oversight Board itself, particularly in the context of implementation challenges and barriers to pace. Significant analysis already exists, and the sector has long been clear about the need for greater clarity, simplification and coherence.

At this stage in the delivery of the promise, the Oversight Board's primary concern is pace and follow-through. Part of the stated aim of the 12-month review is to 'gather evidence on whether the existing legislative framework should be revised'. The Oversight Board consider that this work has already been carried out.

While a formal review of the legislative landscape may have value if it builds directly on existing work and produces an actionable plan to improve things, it must not be treated as a rediscovery exercise, nor should it be used as an explanation for why action slows or decisions are deferred. Critically, the review cannot become an excuse for delay in delivering changes that are already overdue, nor a mechanism to postpone decision-making on matters where sufficient evidence and direction already exist. We fear all three are possible.

A redesign that would be used as a template for positive change could provide the simplification, clarity, and coherence needed. One that tells us what we already know without an actionable plan to address the identified issues will not. There are already concrete suggestions from organisations such as Clan Childlaw, which clearly show where clarity and strengthening of rights would change things.

If the promise is to be kept, there is not a minute to lose. There can be no further delay. We urge that this review is reimagined and takes into consideration the advice of those experts who encourage a different approach to dealing with this issue.

Learn about the work of the Oversight Board.

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.