Sturgeon's Promise to children in care will be 'impossible' without 'aggressive' investment
The education committee heard the stark reality of trying to implement The Pro
A social work chief has warned Nicola Sturgeon’s Promise to care experienced young people will fail unless an "aggressive" plan is developed to increase staffing numbers.
Speaking to the Scottish parliament’s education committee on Tuesday, Ben Farrugia, Director of Social Work Scotland, gave a stark warning on lack of resources.
The Promise is a plan for root and branch change of Scotland’s care system with “transformation” schedule to be in place by 2030.
Mr Farrugia said: “Unless there is a really coherent and aggressive plan to increase the capacity of the system, whether that's in carers, whether that's in advocates, whether that's in social workers or family support workers, we are not going to deliver The Promise.
“That's our assessment.”
Mr Farrugia went on to say there is no evidence in any of the planning around The Promise that staffing levels have been considered.
“This underpins some of the emotion that I bring into these spaces - we are now in 2026,” he added.
“That needed really to happen in 2021, so that we have all those people in place now.
“We are in exactly the same position, if not worse, in some respects, with the number of people and capacity we have in the system.”
The committee heard that, with four years left until 2030, there is no convincing workforce expansion plan and experts said the current capacity in the system is already inadequate.
While praising the efforts of social workers, Mr Farrugia added: “It is an awful job most of the time at the moment.
“The moral distress of feeling that you are letting families and children and care-experienced adults down continuously is awful.”
MSPs were also told there is an accountability vacuum in determining who is responsible for ensuring the landmark pledge is fulfilled on time.
They also heard that important family support work could stop because contracts are currently funded only until March.
Third sector funding is suffering from short-term funding cycles with calls made for five, 10, and longer-term strategies to ensure stability of services.
“We are constantly trying to deliver with very meagre means what we are already delivering,” the committee was told.
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Kay McKerrell, Chief Executive of Who Cares? Scotland, warned MSPs of a lack of data gathering around policy and implementation, insufficient funding and a lack of cross-party organisation.
Ms McKerrell told the hearing she began working in the sector because she wanted to prevent another generation experiencing what she had experienced.
In response to questioning by Liberal Democrat MSP Duncan Dunlop, the previous Chief Executive of Who Cares? Scotland, she said: “I've met with two young people who we now have to describe as the generation below me, who have come into the environment of trying to deliver The Promise for exactly the same reason.”
The chief executive called that “heartbreaking”, adding: “We will know that The Promise has been realised and has been kept if we manage to save a next generation of care-experienced people from coming in and desperately trying to save the next.”
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