Social Work Policy Panel newsletter February 2026

Listening for Impact: The Promise Bill – A Care Experience Planning Conversation

On 3 February 2026, the Social Work Policy Panel hosted a session examining the Children (Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, commonly known as the Promise Bill. The session brought together Scottish Government policy officials and social work colleagues to explore how this legislation will shape practice and support for care-experienced children and young people.

Overview of the Bill

Kal Roderick, Bill Manager for the Promise Bill, opened the session alongside colleagues Stephen Shields (Aftercare Lead) and Angela Latta from the Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser. Kal explained that the bill addresses multiple areas linked to keeping The Promise, with Stage 2 amendments proceeding through the Education, Children and Young People Committee

The Bill covers several key areas: extending aftercare rights to those who left care before their 16th birthday; placing duties on Scottish Ministers to ensure access to advocacy services; establishing guidance on care experience and a definition through regulations; financial transparency and profit limitation in residential care; requiring independent fostering agencies to register as charities; creating powers for a register of foster carers; implementing recommendations from the Children's Hearings Redesign Board; and bringing Integration Joint Boards to parity of responsibility for children's services planning.

Aftercare Provisions

The bill expands aftercare eligibility significantly. Currently, aftercare applies only to those who were in care on their 16th birthday. Under the new provisions, all children who were looked after at any point will have a right to aftercare following an eligible needs assessment. Young people who left care before age 16 can now apply for support, though this remains subject to assessment rather than automatic entitlement. The bill also extends corporate parenting duties to this wider group of care-experienced children and young people.

Kinship Care Amendments

Stage 2 amendments introduce a right to comprehensive needs-based assessment of kinship care assistance and a duty on local authorities to offer such assessments. New regulations will require local authorities to share anonymised data about kinship care assistance, building a clearer picture of provision across Scotland. The intention is to make support for kinship carers more transparent and dependable, ensuring families understand what support they can request and how decisions will be made, while promoting consistency across the country.

Discussion

Influencing the Regulations

A key theme throughout the session was how social workers can influence the secondary legislation that will follow the bill. Kal explained that many provisions create regulation-making powers, allowing detailed implementation to be developed with practitioner input rather than being prescribed in primary legislation. Working groups will be established after the bill becomes an act, continuing through to 2030 when Scotland has committed to keeping The Promise.

The Bill team acknowledged the challenge of engaging an already stretched workforce and asked practitioners how they would prefer to feed into the process – whether through sessions like this, written consultations, or other mechanisms. The Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser and the incoming National Social Work Agency will be key links for this engagement.

Multidisciplinary Approaches and Early Intervention

Discussion highlighted the need for multidisciplinary assessment processes, particularly at pre-birth and transition points. Participants emphasised that adverse circumstances reviews consistently show gaps in integrated assessment from early stages. The elevation of the Chief Social Work Adviser to a statutory director-level post was noted as creating new opportunities for social work to have parity at decision-making tables alongside directors of mental health and other services.

The conversation returned repeatedly to the challenge of crisis-driven practice. As one participant observed, the biggest single problem professionals face is being on the back foot dealing with crises, consuming energy and resources that could otherwise support earlier intervention and prevention.

Corporate Parenting and Adoption

Questions were raised about extending corporate parenting responsibilities to adopted children. A Scottish Government colleague clarified that corporate parenting operates within existing legal and financial functions of public bodies – it cannot override parental rights or require families to engage with corporate parents. The extension responds to care-experienced people who, through the Independent Care Review, expressed that they want to feel part of the care-experienced community. Guidance will be developed with expert input to ensure there are no unintended consequences for adoptive families.

Transitions and Eligibility Criteria

The challenge of transitions between children's and adult services featured prominently, particularly for disabled young people. While the bill addresses looked-after children, broader transition issues will be taken forward through the National Transitions Strategy. Participants noted that eligibility criteria variations between services create barriers, leading to disputes between children's and adult social workers. The Bill team acknowledged that children's services planning provisions aim to join up transitions to adulthood across services.

Resources and Deliverability

COSLA raised concerns about deliverability, workforce capacity, affordability, and alignment with wider reform. With the pre-election period approaching and Parliament set to dissolve, there are questions about whether sufficient thinking and detail has been possible, particularly given an announced review of children's legislation that will follow. The Bill team emphasised their commitment to working collaboratively on implementation planning alongside guidance development, and that guidance has not yet been written precisely because they want practitioner input from the outset.

Consistency Across Scotland

The panel discussed whether 32 local authorities means 32 different approaches – or more. While acknowledging that local flexibility is essential, participants agreed that basic entitlements to assessment should be consistent. The Bill team clarified that consistency of access to services is the goal, not identical service delivery everywhere. Angela Latta from OCSWA acknowledged that variation is not always about local need and expressed hope that the Scottish Social Work Partnership and National Social Work Agency can help drive improvement through standards and better communication.

About the Social Work Policy Panel

All students, newly qualified and experienced social workers are welcome to come along to our events.

The panel is jointly run by the Scottish Association of Social Work, the Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser, and Social Work Scotland. It was created to bring frontline workers and policy makers in Government together to address the issues affecting social work today. It is an opportunity to influence those policy makers and the future of social work with your experience and knowledge. 

As a social worker, we know you’re busy and facing lots of competing pressures. That’s why we want to make the panel as influential and meaningful as possible.

Get in touch with us through the panel mailbox: SWPP@basw.co.uk