Sturgeon to ‘make up for lost time’ over young people in care system

NICOLA Sturgeon says she is determined to “make up for lost time” to improve the experiences of children and young people in care.

Scotland’s First Minister said her promise to transform the culture of care for people separated from their families had suffered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Sturgeon announced “The Promise” in February 2019, following a damning report that highlighted the “separation, trauma, stigma and pain” in the care system that had let young people down.

Two years on, head of oversight at The Promise Scotland, Fiona McFarlane, told STV that many careexperienced people’s lives “won’t have improved over the last two years and things will have been really, really hard and may even have got worse”. She added: “That’s heartbreaking and shameful, and it shouldn’t be the case.”

But speaking on Care Day in Glenboig after meeting carerexperienced young people, Ms Sturgeon pledged her “personal commitment” to ensure the improvements are put “firmly back on track”.

She told the PA news agency: “Just before Covid struck, we published the outcome of the independent root-andbranch review of the care system which culminated in The Promise.

“Obviously, the last two years with Covid have disrupted progress on a number of things but hopefully now we have sustainably turned the corner on Covid, I’m determined and give a real personal commitment and determination that we get this work firmly back on track and make up for lost time.”

Ms Sturgeon added: “It is really important that we focus on that, that we deliver that and we keep the momentum behind that.

“But we’ve got to listen to those with experience. In summary, we need to do much more as a society to prevent the need for young people going into the care system, and that means more support to keep families together where possible.

“What we announced in the recent Budget – a Wellbeing Family Fund – is an important part of supporting that.

“But when young people do need the care of the state through the care system, we need to make sure that they don’t then experience disadvantage for the rest of their lives. So, there’s a whole range of things that we’re taking forward, it’s a whole-system approach but it is really important that we keep focused on it and listen as we go to new ideas and new experiences.”