Item 9 - The Promise
West Dunbartonshire Council · 27 August 2025
Back to West Dunbartonshire Council — 27 August 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by: Head of Children’s Health and Justice Chief Social Work Officer Date of Meeting: 27th August 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: The Promise 1. Purpose 1.1 This report provides an overview of the work and ambition in relation to the implementation of The Promise in West Dumbartonshire between 2020-2025 2. Recommendations 2.1 To note the extensive work taking place across West Dunbartonshire to improve life chances and opportunities for our Care Experienced Young People. 2.2 To Keep the Promise when involved in decision making, and thinking about changes to policy, asking “what will the impact of decisions be for children, young people and families with care experience?” 2.3 Note that Members will receive an annual update on the implementation of the Promise through an Elected Members’ Briefing. 3. Background 3.1 All children need the same things to thrive: a stable home, strong support and steady, loving relationships. The Promise is Scotland’s commitment to making sure this is a reality for all children. The Promise emerged from Scotland’s Independent Care Review: a comprehensive, participatory process launched in response to longstanding concerns about the experiences and outcomes for children and young people in the care system. The movement for change was driven by activism and advocacy from care-experienced people across Scotland, who sought to ensure that all children grow up loved, safe, and respected. 3.2 The Promise is the output of the Independent Care Review and sets out a framework for Local Authorities and wider partners to ensure that the interests of looked after and care experienced children are promoted and that inequality of opportunity and barriers to children thriving and achieving are removed. 3.3 The Promise is built on five key foundations: ITEM 9
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Voice: Children and young people must be listened to and involved in decisions about their care. Family: Where safe and loved, children should stay with their families and be supported to overcome difficulties. Care: If children cannot remain with their families, they should stay with their brothers and sisters where possible and belong to a loving, stable home for as long as they need to. People: The workforce must be supported to build trusting, compassionate relationships and to listen to those they support. Scaffolding: The broader system-laws, policies, and services-must provide the necessary support for these aims 3.4 The report attached at appendix 1 sets out clear definitions of who is a looked after child and the responsibilities that local authorities and wider corporate parents have for children and young people in their care. Corporate parenting in Scotland is a statutory duty for public bodies and certain organisations to act collectively and proactively in supporting, protecting, and advocating for the wellbeing and rights of looked after children, care experienced young people, and care leavers, aiming to give them the best possible start in life. 3.5. The Promise Progress Framework was launched in December 2024, and is a national tool developed by The Promise Scotland, the Scottish Government and COSLA to track and understand Scotland’s progress around keeping the Promise. The framework brings together fifty streams of existing national data, with ten vision statements, linked to outcomes and indicators which will show measurable changes over time. We are working to incorporate the Promise Progress Framework into our Integrated Children’s services activity reported through the Community Planning Partnership. 4. Main Issues 4.1 Nationally, the number of children who are looked after has been reducing since 2020 and is the lowest the figure has been since 2005/06. In West Dunbartonshire our number of looked after children has been increasing. This is a key driver to the Children Social Work Services What Would It Take? 5 Year Re-design of Children and Families Services, which aims to safely shift the balance of care, so we are able to support many more children and young people to remain at home with their families, dis-invest in purchased external care provision and reinvest in developing the scaffolding which enables families to stay together or where this is not possible to live within local family based care. 4.2 West Dunbartonshire has one of the highest percentages of looked after children living in kinship care in Scotland. In 2023 49% of our looked after children were in kinship care, whilst the national average was 34%. .
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4.3 Child poverty is considered a contextual factor within the Promise, providing context to the improvement work. Addressing child poverty is a crucial aspect of family support, with it widely acknowledged that whilst child poverty levels remain so high it is difficult for the Promise to be kept. In 2023 West Dunbartonshire’s child poverty levels were above both the Glasgow City Region (average) and the Scottish and UK averages. 4.4 The report at appendix 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the work that is taking place across West Dunbartonshire, to strengthen the voices of care experienced young people, to ensure that they are listened to, be able to form trusting and stable relationships and shift the balance of care, so more of our children and young people can be supported in their local community. 5. Options Appraisal 5.1 No options appraisal has been carried out. 6. People Implications 6.1 All people implication relates to our care experienced young people and as corporate parents helping to improve their outcomes. 7. Financial and Procurement Implications 7.1 None within this report 8. Risk Analysis 8.1 N/A 9. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 9.1 None within this report 10. Environmental Sustainability 10.1 N/A 11. Consultation 11.1 No additional consultation has taken place other than consultation with young people referenced in this report. 12. Strategic Assessment 12.1 N/A 13. Directions 13.1 No directions
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Lesley James Head of Children’s Health Care and Justice Date 11th August 2025 Appendices: Appendix 1 Promise Progress Report Background Papers