This government wants for Scotland’s children, the same as what parents want for their own children, in essence happy, healthy bairns. And it sounds simple – but we all know that it’s currently not the case for every child.

That’s why this Government has set out an ambitious programme of transformational changes we want to see happening in children’s services and beyond. We want the focus to be on early intervention and preventative spend. I know I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: every £1 spent on prevention saves £9 in ‘cure’ later on. In the current financial climate this seems more than ever like plain common sense.

We’ll legislate where we think that will help to improve, the lives of children and young people and we’ll drive forward new policies and programmes of work to complement and support the legislative foundation.

To start the discussion on how we bring about this change – and to find out what you think will make the difference – I’ve been meeting people from across the range of children’s services at five major engagement events. These were all fully booked – in all, more than 500 people came along. I realise that many more will want to engage with us as we consult on the new Rights of Children and Young People Bill, and discuss other major pieces of work like the National Parenting Strategy, the Early Years Change Fund and the proposed Children’s Services Bill.

So to widen the discussion, we’ve followed up the engagement events with a ‘virtual’ event on our web pages. While it’s not quite the same as being there, you can see what issues we talked about, and how participants voted (electronically) on a series of questions. You can also read the full transcript of my speech (you’ll be pleased to know it’s quite short), and all the presentations made on the day, Engagement Events – Online.

The events may be over but it is absolutely not too late to join in the discussion – you’ll find a dedicated email address on the website, or you can of course post your comments here on Engage. We want this to be a truly collaborative programme of change so please share with us the things you think are important, so that we can all get it right for every child.

Angela Constance,
Minister for Children And Young People