Keeping the Promise - national advisor visits East Lothian
Fiona Duncan, the Independent Strategic Advisor – the promise recently visited East Lothian to find out how the promise is being kept here in East Lothian, including:
- what is working well, and why
- what is proving harder to achieve, and why
The promise, made in 2020, is that all of Scotland’s children and young people will grow up loved, safe and respected - so that they will realise their full potential.
Over 80 recommendations
This was made following the Independent Care Review, which spoke to over 5,500 children and adults with experience of care and members of the paid and unpaid workforce. The Care Review, which was chaired by Fiona Duncan, set out over 80 recommendations on what must be done to overhaul the ‘care system’.
Scotland's then First Minister promised that that the country would implement these recommendations in full, by 2030. That commitment got the support of all the Scottish Parliament, local government, COSLA, corporate parents, the wider public sector, charitable sector, private service providers and others.
Strategic direction
Following the promise being made, Fiona Duncan became the Independent Strategic Advisor. She sets the strategic direction and culture of all work to keep the promise, chairs The Promise Scotland, sustains relationships with Ministers, and gives advice to those who require it.
Fiona’s meeting here is one of 32 she is having across this year. The meetings will help to ensure that local change informs and contributes to national change.
Watch a video from Fiona's visit.
Following the final catch up Fiona will be producing a series of mini reports, linked to Plan 24-30 route maps and the Promise Story of Progress. The mini reports will be her reflections and perspectives on what she has heard. The aim will be to help overcome the barriers, and ensure that where good practice is happening, it can be replicated.
Plan 24-30 is a shared planning framework for Scotland to keep the promise by 2030. It is made up of two parts:
- 25 route maps, which turn the vision of the promise into a deliverable plan by creating clear, measurable outcomes with timebound milestones.
- The Promise Story of Progress, which supports understanding of progress and impact, by answering three questions around:
- national change (what is shifting over time)
- organisational learning (how change is happening)
- the impact on the care community (how change is being felt)
Working hard every day
Fiona said: “I know that there are thousands of people out there working hard every day to keep the promise. But I also know that this can be against a difficult backdrop of slow structural and system change. Being able to hear from them, learn from them, and share that is so important.
“We are over halfway to when the promise must be kept, there is not a minute to waste in creating change, so it’s vital that good practice can be replicated, and barriers can be understood and overcome.”
Find out more: https://www.plan2430.scot/