What is The Promise Scotland?

The Promise Scotland is an organisation set up to support change.

It has been working to:

• Set out what needs to happen for Scotland to #KeepThePromise,
• Provide support for organisations working for change, and
• Support the Promise Oversight Board to monitor progress.

It’s a non-statutory company which Scottish Ministers established following the Independent Care Review, which was constituted in March 2021.

It does not have any formal legal powers, and does not provide services for children or families.

The Promise Scotland can’t make people and organisations #KeepThePromise. But it can – and does – provide support to keep Scotland on track.

And supports all of Scotland to #KeepThePromise

Keeping the promise involves restructuring Scotland's "care system," so that children and families really are at its centre.

To help make that happen:

The Promise Scotland supports you in making changes

The Promise Scotland directly supports people and organisations to #KeepThePromise.

It creates resources to help you keep it.

And its Design School helps both organisations and care experienced people get the necessary learning to redesign services.

The Promise Scotland helps find out what needs to change

A lot of information about Scotland's "care system" is hard to access, or just isn't known. That includes:

• the data Scotland has on the things that matter to children and families,
• the ways the "care system" is governed, checked up on, and held accountable,
• the investment that could be happening to reduce the "care system's" cost— to Scotland's finances, and to human lives.

The Promise Scotland is mapping all these things in order to make them clearer. Their maps will help make it easier to know how and where to drive change.

It has cross-party support and it’s backed by the Scottish Government

Work to #KeepThePromise has support across the political spectrum, and the Scottish Government is committed to keeping the promise.

It's an organisation which is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers, which makes it accountable to the public.

But above all, it's accountable to those with lived experience of Scotland’s “care system." It's an organisation built on what you've said needs to change, which will keep listening and reflecting on what you have to say.