In this video, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, issues a statement on the publication of the final report of the Scottish Independent Care Review. In her statement, she welcomes the release of the report, noting that she considers it to be one of the most important moments in her tenure as First Minister. She underlines her personal and political commitment to turning the recommendations made by the report into reality as quickly as possible.
"There is possibly no country in the world where the Care Review's vision of care is yet a living reality," said Sturgeon. "The opportunity for Scotland as a result of this report is to become the first country that makes it so and I am determined that we do that."
Sturgeon thanks those involved in the Review, including the people with care experience who contributed, noting that it was conversations she had with care-experienced young people in 2016 that directly led to the creation of this Review.
"I am determined to get on, at pace, with implementing [the recommendations]. That will involve practical change at every level. But more fundamentally, it will require a transformation in the culture of care," Sturgeon says. "Today's report leaves no doubt that we must do more and we must do it more fundamentally, more systematically, and more quickly. Radical overhaul is what the Review demands and that is what we have a duty to deliver."
Sturgeon also promises to continue to listen to the voices of people with experience of care, saying there will never be a "closed door." In the immediate, Sturgeon says, the government will act to implement the plan section of the report in two key immediate actions: (1) the establishment of a team to take the report and turn it quickly into a detailed delivery plan, and (2) the creation of an independent oversight body. Both groups, she continues, will have members with experience of care.
"The responsibility we owe to young people in care is a very special one. In fact, ensuring that they have an equal chance to succeed, that they benefit from the stable, loving relationships that so many of us took for granted when we were growing up, is one of the most important duties that any of us have in public life."