£ 2.7bn for a care system that fails too many? We can’t afford not to keep The Promise

The leader of a landmark review into Scotland’s care system says the country cannot afford not to overhaul it.

Fiona Duncan steered the In d e p e n d e n t C a re Review that earlier this year set out a ra f t of recommendations – called The Promise – intended to dramatically improve the experience and life chances of children in care.

She admits some have asked if Scotland can afford to adopt the wideranging recommendations but insists the countr y must implement them.

She said: “Because what we are doing is so very different from anything that has gone before, of c o u r s e we had people wonder ing if we could afford to do this.

“Quite apart from my own view that you can’t put a price on ensuring a child has a happy childhood, the truth is that Scotland really couldn’t afford not to change.

“We spend £1.1 billion on a care system that doesn’t work for all the people it’s supposed to serve.

“But it also costs us a further £1.6bn in lost income tax and national insurance because those in care ended up in lower-paying jobs, and needed extra help because the system failed them.”

Fi o n a has spent her lifetime around children in care and vulnerable families and intends to sweep away practices and cultures that served bureaucracy more than children.

Over three years the review heard from many people who had grown up in care, and she said: “That helped me devise The Promise, and it is a promise from the heart, that Scotland will deliver the care that will allow each child to have the best possible childhood.

“For every single one of them, I want them to have the love, support and nurturing they need so they can live their best lives.”

In May she was appointed chairwoman of the Promise Oversight Board, which will work to ensure those recommendations are followed and believes the only way to ensure The Promise succeeds is to enlist those who access care to make it work for them.

That is why, in the coming weeks, Fiona and her team are launching a recruitment drive a to take part in the “Design School” along with the families and children who use services to become “Design School Champions” to shape how the new system will work.

Fiona said: “We must shift the balance of power to those c h i l d re n and families so they can access what they want and need and they should also play an active role in that.”

“I don’t think anyone has ever done what we are doing and that is why it is so important for it to work.

“In the last couple of years I’ve sat and listened to over 5,500 people who work within the system or use services, from watching small babies communicate in their own unique ways what they need to listening to the most incredible, inspiring people who have lived through the system.

“Along the way there have been far too many sad stories, awful stories that will stay in my heart forever, but I believe all of those experiences help shape the way forward.”

Very little will remain of the way things were done before. Fiona fears there is little point spending time and energy trying to repair something that is so broken. She will concentrate, instead, on early intervention, developing a system that is flexible and able to respond quickly to individual needs.

She added: “I don’t have time to spend pointing fingers or blaming anyone for mistakes of the past, because our task ahead is so momentous and so pressing, we cannot waste a second looking back.

“Instead, we must not only look forward, we must have the conviction to act now and change how we deliver care and support. Instead of making people fit the system, we must make the system fit the people it is there to help.”