Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 11 February 2026 [Draft]
11 Feb 2026 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Subordinate Legislation
Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 [Draft]
I thank the committee for inviting me to give evidence on the draft Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 and welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the regulations.The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to keeping the Promise to all our children and young people and to making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. That commitment resonates strongly with me personally and I remain dedicated to ensuring that that commitment extends to all children and young people with care experience as they transition from care and move on into adulthood and independent living.Moving into adulthood is extremely challenging for any young person of any age, but the challenges can be exacerbated when there are limited support networks in place. Many young people who move on from care do not have the same informal support networks that other young people have during the transition points in their lives. Financial stress and strain for young people moving on from care can quickly escalate to create a multitude of challenges and can lead to financial hardship. Our intention with the care leaver payment scheme is to provide additional financial support for young people who are moving on from care and into adulthood in order to help reduce some of the challenges faced during that transition.The regulations will allow local authorities to make a one-off £2,000 payment to care leavers at the point when they leave care or continuing care. The payment will be made by the local authority that last looked after the young person and the regulations allow the young person autonomy over how they wish to spend or save the payment.I have listened to the voices of care-experienced young people and understand how important it is for their experiences to be reflected in policy design. I want to get the new payment right and to ensure that its structures are based on solid evidence and real-time feedback from the care community and workforce. My officials have consulted extensively on the design and development of the care leaver payment and have co-designed it with people who have experience of care and those who provide support to care leavers in order to ensure that the voices of lived experience and of those with professional expertise have been incorporated into the design of the payment.A full public consultation, a series of safeguarding workshops with practitioners and our targeted engagement with care-experienced young people have all contributed to the development of the payment to best meet the needs of our young people as they move on from care. Stakeholders have welcomed the new payment as providing an additional opportunity to reduce the vulnerability and financial barriers that young people face when moving on from care.The Scottish Commission on Social Security has scrutinised the draft regulations and produced a report. I thank the commission for that thorough consideration and welcome the first observation within the report, which is that the new payment is a welcome addition to the existing support available to young people who are leaving care and is another step the Scottish Government has taken towards keeping the Promise. The Scottish Government’s response to the commission’s report was laid alongside the draft instrument.I welcome the committee’s questions on the draft regulations and would be happy to provide any further information.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Douglas Ross)
Con
Good morning and welcome to the sixth meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee in 2026. We have received apologies from Willie Rennie.Th...
The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise (Natalie Don-Innes)
SNP
I thank the committee for inviting me to give evidence on the draft Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 and welcome the opportunity to assist the...
The Convener
Con
Minister, you mentioned the public consultation. That closed in January 2024. Why has it taken two years since then to bring the instrument forward?
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I will bring in my official, Aisha Pereyra, to say more in a moment, but a number of things had to be considered following the consultation, including the de...
The Convener
Con
Before we come to your official, were those issues things that ministers and officials had anticipated? When you were carrying out your consultation, which w...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I will have to ask my officials to clarify that.
Aisha Pereyra (Scottish Government)
We had to create an enabling power in primary legislation for the payment, and the enabling power in the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025 did ...
The Convener
Con
But we are now in February 2026. I am just curious as to why the process seems to have been quite elongated.My other concern relates to the consultation. You...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I accept that that is a lengthy period, but the committee has been given an answer on the legalities relating to the timescale. My focus was on getting the p...
The Convener
Con
Are you aware of young people having missed out on the payment as a result of the lengthy period between the consultation and the regulations being introduced?
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
There was no guarantee that the young people who engaged in the consultation would get the care leaver payment. No specific timescale was set for the payment...
The Convener
Con
What was the issue in May?
Aisha Pereyra
The enabling power commenced in May 2025.
The Convener
Con
Could the regulations have been introduced in May or June before last year’s summer recess? What is the reason for the delay until February 2026?
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I am not able to clarify the point about the parliamentary timescale, so I will need to ask my officials.
Aisha Pereyra
As I said, the enabling power commenced in May 2025. Once we knew that we had that power and the bill became an act, we continued at pace with the draft regu...
The Convener
Con
Earlier, you said that the work was running concurrently.
Aisha Pereyra
Yes. We were, of course, thinking about the draft regulations at the same time as we were going through the consultation process and holding the safeguarding...
The Convener
Con
Were those workshops held before or after the enabling power was granted to the Government in May?
Aisha Pereyra
Sorry—I do not have my calendar with me.The workshops were held after the consultation; they were running concurrently—Interruption.—Yes. We ran workshops pr...
The Convener
Con
It sounds like there was an opportunity from when the Government had the enabling powers. Most of the workshops and consultations had taken place. We still h...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I could not say that for certain, although I believe that that was an aspect—as well as the further work that had to take place in preparation for bringing t...
The Convener
Con
Perhaps you could write to us on that, if you want to.
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I would be happy to do that, to clarify the point about the time between May 2025 and bringing the regulations to the committee today.
The Convener
Con
There are no further questions. Is there anything more that you wish to say in response to the questions that have been asked, minister?
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I have nothing further to add.
The Convener
Con
I invite the minister to move motion S6M-20537 in her name.Motion moved,That the Education, Children and Young People Committee recommends that the Care Leav...
The Convener
Con
The committee has agreed to the draft regulations, on which it must now produce a report. Is the committee content to delegate responsibility to me, as conve...