In 2020, Scotland made a promise that every child and young person would grow up loved, safe, and respected. That promise became the focus for a country determined to do things differently for its care-experienced children. Now, in 2025, the first major piece of legislation relating to children’s social care since 2014 marks a significant step towards making that promise a reality.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, informally known as the Promise Bill and introduced to the Scottish Parliament in June 2025, aims to integrate the values of The Promise into law. It sets out new legal duties, protections, and entitlements for care-experienced children and young people, and with it, an opportunity to make sure no young person is left to navigate life without support and with it, an opportunity to make sure no young person is left to navigate life without support.

What does the Bill do?

This Bill, if passed, will:

• Extend aftercare support to care leavers who left care before their 16th birthday, closing a gap that has left many without help.
• Create a statutory right to independent advocacy for all care-experienced people, ensuring their voices are heard throughout their care journey.
• Establish national oversight of profits in residential care, to help tackle excessive profit-making.
• Strengthen the not-for-profit in relation to foster care, reinforcing that fostering is about care, not financial gain.
• Develop a national register of foster carers.
• Redesign of the Children’s Hearings System.
• Extend the statutory responsibility to Integrated Joint Boards in the development of Children Services Plans, ensuring that health and social care planning is more joined up.

A halfway point and a warning

In February 2025, the Promise Oversight Board published a report, marking the halfway point on Scotland’s journey to fully keeping The Promise by 2030. The conclusion was clear, while there has been some progress, Scotland is not yet halfway to keeping The Promise.

The report identifies key barriers to change, including a lack of long-term, joined-up funding, delays in developing a clear and unified Plan 24-30, and the absence of a national roadmap outlining responsibilities and timelines.

It also highlights ongoing variation in support across local authorities, leaving some children without the help they need, and an overstretched, under-supported workforce facing increasing pressure and high turnover. Most concerningly, the Board warns that for some children, The Promise has already been broken, with systems too slow to respond and support unavailable at critical moments.

Opportunity and risk

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill has been welcomed by Fiona Duncan, Chair of the Independent Care Review and Independent Strategic Advisor on The Promise. In her statement, she described the Bill as “an important step” and emphasised that while legislation alone is not the solution, it can help to remove the barriers that get in the way of doing the right thing.

There is, however, a real risk that the Bill becomes a reason to pause, re-consult, or delay progress. The Oversight Board has cautioned against this, stating: “The upcoming Promise Bill … is also a ready‑made excuse to slow the process down … What we need is action. Action around spending decisions; bravery to do things differently; courage to count what matters rather than what is easy or politically palatable.”

Why this matters to us

At Home for Good and Safe Families, we believe that every child should grow up within a stable, loving family. For children in care, the system must be designed around their needs, not bureaucratic convenience or profit margins.

This Bill has the potential to be part of a turning point, supporting families before crisis hits, through a stronger focus on whole-family support and early intervention. It could offer continuity for care-experienced young people as they move into adulthood, so they aren’t left to navigate it alone. And it could give local and national services the tools to plan more effectively, with clearer accountability and better coordination across agencies.

Together, we hope for a society where no family feels alone, and every child has a home where they can flourish.

Reflecting on the significance of the Bill, Sam Lomas, Head of Advocacy, said:

“At Home for Good and Safe Families, we welcome the introduction of the Promise Bill as an important step towards building a system that truly puts children and young people first. We are committed to playing our part in ensuring that the ambitions of this legislation translate into real change, so that every child in Scotland can grow up safe, loved, and supported. For this to happen, it is vital that carers are fully supported too, recognised for the essential role they play, and given the resources they need to provide stable and loving homes.”