Change Programme published to drive forward the changes called for by Scotland’s Care Review
The Promise Scotland has published its first Change Programme – Change Programme ONE - outlining what is happening now, what is happening next, and what needs to happen to realise The Promise of the Independent Care Review published in 2020.
Change Programme ONE explains what The Promise Scotland - a non-statutory company established by Scottish Ministers to support and monitor Scotland’s progress to Keep The Promise - will do to support the pace of change; and what action is underway in the priority areas of supporting childhood, families, and the workforce, what planning needs to happen, and building capacity, detailing examples of organisations and projects already working to better meet the needs of children and families.
The Change Programme will be used by the Promise Oversight Board to assess progress against Scotland’s commitment to Keep The Promise. It assesses whether what is happening is good enough and fast enough, and in doing so will be a live publication, regularly updated to help drive Scotland forward.
Introducing the programme, Fiona Duncan, Chair of The Promise Scotland, said: “In many areas, there is a lot of action, but it is not sufficiently comprehensive to achieve Scotland’s ambitions to #KeepThePromise. However, this assessment does not come without significant hope and belief in change.”
Change Programme ONE follows on from Plan 21-24, which mapped the calls to action in the Care Review’s conclusions and identified the five priority actions for the next three years.
Welcoming the publication of the Change Programme, Claire Burns, Director (Acting), CELCIS, said:
“As Scotland’s Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection, we remain dedicated to working to ensure Scotland is able to realise The Promise of the Independent Care Review and to advance the changes and improvements we all want to see.
“Much of the work we are currently delivering supports organisations to improve and make these changes happen now, so we know that not only is change possible but that change is happening.
“There is still much to do and having The Change Programme to accompany The Plan can help us all to build on and accelerate this work to deliver on the pledges people and organisations across Scotland have made. Lived experience drove this ground-breaking review and shaped its ambitions; children and adults with experience of care must continue to be at the centre of the improvements being developed.
"Since the publication of The Promise last year, we have been offering, and will continue to offer, support in partnership to Keep The Promise for all our infants, children, young people and families.”