Nicola Sturgeon has hailed the Daily Record's Our Kids, Our Future campaign as she vows to commit to tackling youth violence in Scotland.
12.02.2023 - 08:27 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A taxpayer-funded firm set up by Nicola Sturgeon to help children in care splurged £100,000 on SNP-linked lobbyists.
The Promise Scotland is facing claims it has failed to make “any tangible difference” for disadvantaged youngsters despite handing the huge sum to controversial PR consultants Charlotte Street Partners. The Promise was set up by ministers with a budget of over £1million in 2021 after an official review concluded children in care were being failed.
But its 18-strong staff, headed by £100,000-a-year chief executive Fraser McKinlay, admit they have “no regulatory powers or service delivery function”. Much of their work to date appears to have been setting up a website which boasts a mission to ensure “care experienced children and young people grow up loved, safe, and respected”.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “There are legitimate concerns this is nothing more than an expensive talking shop through which SNP cronies are making a lot of money while achieving little for children in care. Meanwhile, frontline services are in crisis thanks to Scottish Government cuts.
“Almost two years after the launch of The Promise, there are big questions about what’s being done to improve the life chances of care-experienced people. Hiring consultants and highly paid executives is all very well if it’s making any tangible difference but there is a lack of progress and evidence to prove that everything that can be done is being pursued.”
Sturgeon announced The Promise following a damning report that highlighted the “separation, trauma, stigma and pain” in the care system that had let young people down. Edinburgh-based Charlotte Street Partners was paid almost £100,000 despite close links to the SNP and having been embroiled in a
Nicola Sturgeon has hailed the Daily Record's Our Kids, Our Future campaign as she vows to commit to tackling youth violence in Scotland.
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