Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 04 February 2026 [Draft]
04 Feb 2026 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Good morning. Amendment 4 seeks to ensure that kinship carers are on an equal footing with others who provide care, such as foster carers. Both take in children at the point of need, and a relative should not be differentiated from a state-supplied foster carer. In particular, that should apply to financial support and social work support. The Social Justice and Social Committee—no, sorry. The Social Justice and Social Security Committee—on which I have sat for only nine years—took evidence on that some years ago. A number of kinship carers gave evidence in this very room. It was clear that they feel that they are a Cinderella service. I welcome the minister’s amendments, but I think that we can go still further in recognising the vital role that kinship carers play in our system.Children First has stated that kinship care“accounts for 35% of all children who are looked after in the community.”However, the financial contribution and other support from agencies is not the same.Many kinship carers will stop or reduce working to take on those additional caring responsibilities. Eighty per cent of kinship carers report financial hardship. Even in this parliamentary session, kinship carers were being paid different amounts, depending on the local authority area in which they lived. I appreciate that the Scottish Government is dealing with that issue at the moment, and that some of the amendments that we will discuss later seek to address it. However, I am still concerned that, during the tenure of future Governments, kinship carers could end up not getting the amount of money that they require to meet the financial needs that come with the responsibility they have been given.My other concern, which, again, comes from kinship carers directly, is that they find it very difficult to access the services that they require, be those in social work, education or health. A distinction is made in most local authorities between foster carers and kinship care. I fully accept the minister’s point that definition is an issue, and I accept that amendment 4 is very broadly written. That was deliberate, so that we could start a conversation. When the minister winds up, I will be interested to hear about how we can look at not just the financial need but how we get the right support in social work, education and health.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Douglas Ross)
Con
Good morning and welcome to the fifth meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee in 2026.Today is the first day of our stage 2 proceedings...
The Convener
Con
Welcome back. We move to our stage 2 consideration of the bill. Amendment 87, in the name of Sue Webber, is grouped with amendment 225.
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
It is nice to be back here in committee room 1 on a Wednesday morning.My amendment 87 seeks to place prevention, minimum intervention and family reunificatio...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (Ind)
Ind
I have some sympathy for the idea of having general principles in a bill. However, Sue Webber mentioned prevention, and subsection (2)(e) in her amendment 87...
Sue Webber
Con
A whole host of things could come under the banner of preventative measures. However, far too often, those preventative measures are not fully funded. We wil...
Martin Whitfield (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
We are talking about young people and so we have to go back to the basis of getting it right for every child. The individual support and assessment that one ...
Sue Webber
Con
Mr Whitfield is right. We hear time and again that it is about getting it right for every child, and every child is different and every family circumstance i...
Paul O’Kane (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of interests, which shows that my husband is a service manager in children and families social work and...
Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green)
Green
I have a lot of sympathy with what Paul O’Kane has outlined. My concern is the feedback that we have had from so many people in the care-experienced communit...
Paul O’Kane
Lab
I recognise Ross Greer’s point and some of the concern about renaming the bill. I have heard the flip side of that, too. I have met many care-experienced peo...
The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise (Natalie Don-Innes)
SNP
In the first instance, I thank Sue Webber for explaining the rationale behind amendment 87. I agree that the welfare of a child or young person should be par...
Sue Webber
Con
Surely, for the sake of transparency and accountability, all the preventative measures that are considered should be documented somewhere, so that there is a...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
That may be, and I would be happy to debate that with Ms Webber, but I do not feel that the child’s plan is the right place for that.Under current legislatio...
Paul O’Kane
Lab
In her opening remarks, the minister referred to the fact that she has referred to the bill as “the Promise bill”, both at the committee and in the chamber. ...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
As I have just laid out, I do not believe that the bill is the be-all and end-all of delivering the Promise. As I have stated in committee before, a huge amo...
Paul O’Kane
Lab
I do not think that anyone is suggesting that the bill is the be-all and end-all. In fact, we are quite far away from that. However, thinking about a stateme...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
I understand the intent behind the proposal, as I think I have said clearly. However, given the feedback that I have heard from young people on what the bill...
Sue Webber
Con
I will keep my remarks brief, because I know that we have lots to do.I am curious to know where the minister thinks that information about preventative measu...
The Convener
Con
The question is, that amendment 87 be agreed to. Are we agreed?Members: No.
The Convener
Con
There will be a division.
ForBriggs, Miles (Lothian) (Con)O’Kane, Paul (West Scotland) (Lab)Ross, Douglas (Highlands and Islands) (Con)AgainstAdam, George (Paisley) (SNP)Dunbar, Jacki...
The Convener
Con
The result of the division is: For 3, Against 7, Abstentions 0.Amendment 87 disagreed to.
The Convener
Con
Amendment 1, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 2 to 4 and 126. I call the minister to move amendment 1 and speak to all the amendments ...
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
Moved.
The Convener
Con
I am asking you to move amendment 1 and speak to all the amendments in the group.
Natalie Don-Innes
SNP
Sorry, convener, I was a little bit behind—I am organised now.I welcome the opportunity to speak to this group of amendments, which relates to kinship care a...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
Good morning. Amendment 4 seeks to ensure that kinship carers are on an equal footing with others who provide care, such as foster carers. Both take in child...
John Mason
Ind
I accept that the issue is not just about finance, but it partly is. Does Jeremy Balfour have any idea about what the proposal would cost?
Jeremy Balfour
Ind
At the moment, the cost is being met by each local authority, because the Scottish Government is funding it, so there is no cost. In addition, it cannot be b...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Good morning. I am pleased that we start by, I hope, putting kinship care at the heart of the bill, as Jeremy Balfour said. I recognise what the minister sai...