 Yr adnod ymlaen i ymddymol yng ngyŵr yn ddegwbod yn MOTION 17102 yn ddigwyd Cezedugdale yn ymddymol ymddymol yn Fforser Care Fortnight 2019 ac ydw i'n ddigwyd ddigwyd wedi gwneud y ffrasig o unrhyw cyflwyntau i gael, felly, ddigwyd Cezedugdale yn ddigwyd Cezedugdale, rwy'n gweithio i gael. Felly, rwy'n ddigwyd Cezedugdale, rwy'n gweithio i gael, ddigwyd Cezedugdale yn ddigwyd Cezedugdale I call on Chisae Douglas Dill to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thanks to colleagues for signing the motion and staring to hear the debate this evening. Let me say from the offset that this won't be my last speech in the chamber, but it will be my last member's debate. Throughout my eight years here, I've always tried to use these slots for a purpose, from paidy loans to misothelioma, a living wage to rape-rosecution rates. I've sought to push the minister for answers and I intend to do so again today. Of course we should take a moment to celebrate and thank foster carers for the job that they do. There is a debate to be had about the degree to which you consider fostering employment in the traditional sense, but first and foremost the job they do is to provide a loving home for children and young people who, for whatever reason, need it. I am grateful to Shirley, Alex and others who travelled from Lanarkshire and Lonehead this morning to share their direct experiences with me and, equally, thanks should go to my constituents who have allowed me to share their stories with the chamber this evening. The best way that we can show our gratitude is to listen hard and choose to act upon what we hear. Scotland needs at least 580 more foster families as things stand. Closer to 900, if you factor in what would happen if every young person entitled to continue in care actually took it up. Recruitment is tricky and numerous local authorities are reporting difficulties. Although there is a national minimum standard on pay and allowances, local authorities are now supplementing that to attract families. That is creating a market economy in what should clearly be a state responsibility, for those are our children. What is more, when a foster placement comes to an end, a foster carer goes from a full income to zero income in the space of four weeks. They only get paid when they have a placement, despite giving up work to be foster carers. The money only starts when the next placement begins, with no control over when a match will be made. It is the equivalent of a zero-hours contract for something as important as caring for a vulnerable child. I know that the care review is looking into this, as there are many fundamental changes, but some of the solutions are so screemingly obvious that they should be made now. An example of that is clearly keeping brothers and sisters together. I heard the Scottish Government announcing plans to keep siblings together earlier this year, and I was delighted to hear it. When I started to look for details of how that would be done, there was precious little available. I know from PQ answers from the minister that there is a plan to place legal requirements on local authorities to keep siblings together in the forthcoming family law bill. That is welcome, but as we have seen so many times in this chamber before, legislating for something and it actually becoming a reality are two very different things. I led for labour and education through the passage of the 2014 Children and Young People Act that gave, looked after young people entitlements to continuing care and aftercare, but five years after its passage precious few young people actually realised those rights. One way we can fix this is by ensuring that the fostering allowance is available for everyone in continuing care. If fostering is how you pay your mortgage, how can we expect those carers to live off half the money that they used to receive simply because they continue to house someone they love and care for past their 18th birthday? There are a few broader points that I wish to make about housing now. Today's daily record carries the story about Jamie Cunlocken, whom many in this chamber will know as one of the leading advocates for looked after young people in this country. Outside of his day job, he has now made the commitment to become a foster carer himself but hit a blockade immediately upon applying because he does not have a spare room. That ruled him out completely. The first question was not what do you know about trauma or attachment theory or even something as simple as what makes for a loving home. It was how many bedrooms do you have? If we are to break down the barriers that people put in their name forward to foster, it has to start here. I understand that the fostering network this afternoon warned about abandoning the requirement for foster children to have their own room, but that is not what I am calling for at all. The change that I am looking for is that people who apply to be foster carers, a process that can take 18 months, should be asked to make a commitment to live in a suitable house before they take on their first placement. Jamie does not have a spare room today but he is committed to doing that in three months or six months well ahead of the time of placing the first young person with him. Do you know what else? We the state, the corporate parent, we should be helping him and many other loving families like him to do that. I go as far as to give them extra cash to move because look at what we are spending on the alternative. It can cost up to £6,000 a week to house a child in secure care. A fraction of that would help a foster carer suitably house a young person. That is the financial cost. Before you even consider the human cost—this is where I get really angry—where rules and bureaucracy, competing priorities and the culture of its eye being get in the way of providing safe, loving and stable homes, where algorithms compound trauma and young people become yet again a number in a system that we know is broken. I have a constituent who lives in a three-bedroom house two miles from the building. She has one birth child, fosters a baby intermittently around their parents' cancer treatment. She can stay in their bedroom, but she also fosters a set of mixed sex twins. They have lived with her since they were one years old. They are seven now, going on eight. When they turn eight, they will not be allowed to share a room anymore because of their different genders. One of them will have to move out unless a more suitable home can be found. This woman has lived in the same council house for 15 years, the same street in Craig Miller for 22 years, but is prepared to move to keep her family together. She came to me because the council told her that she would not get priority or extra points for being a foster carer. How incredibly, stupidly, short-sighted is that. The computer says no, and we are on the cusp of breaking up a family, separating siblings, knowing all the damage that will do. When I checked the rules with Spice, they told me that just two weeks ago on 1 May, provisions that this Parliament passed in the Housing and Scotland Act 2014 came into effect, provisions that said that landlords should give serious consideration to giving additional priority based on adopting, fostering or being a kinship carer. Five years on to seriously consider it. It is just not good enough, so warm words are great, but they are meaningless in the demand for meaningful change. In conclusion, let me present to the minister a mini manifesto. Pay foster carers the same rate for continuing care. Do not rule out families based on the size of their house at stage 1. Keep siblings together by prioritising looked after children in the housing system. Incentivise suitable housing options for people taking their first step. Stop local authorities competing with each other for foster carers and end zero-hour contracts for those very foster carers. Maybe then we will have more to celebrate than the work of a community of foster carers who lives are devoted to the simple act of providing a safe and loving home. Move on to the open debate. The speeches have up to four minutes, please. Rona Mackay, followed by Michelle Ballantyne. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am grateful to Kezia Dugdale for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I thank her for her very powerful opening speech on behalf of so many children looking for a home. Foster care fortnight is the perfect opportunity to highlight the fantastic work that foster carers do. I am not sure that the word work really is appropriate here, as I am sure that it is much more than that for them. People I know who have fostered talk of how their lives have been enriched by the young addition to their family, however temporary or more long term. As a former children's panel member, I was constantly in awe of the foster parents who attended hearings, clearly with the best interests of their foster child or children at heart. However, as we know and as we have heard, there are issues that must be addressed now. In Scotland, there are approximately 4,000 foster families who do an amazing job, but that still leaves a foster carer shortfall of 580 needed in the next 12 months. That is 580 more families who could give a child a safe, loving home. Something that most of us may take for granted but have never had. A helpful briefing from Action for Children, who supports foster carers every day of the year, reports that one in 10 people said that nothing would put them off becoming a foster carer, and that is encouraging. Why the shortfall in foster carers? Is it lack of knowledge? Is it the many issues that Kezia has highlighted? Or is it fear of taking on that responsibility? Or is it down to family finances? Understanding what allowances and fees a foster carer is entitled to is a minefield due to the differences throughout the UK and different policies adopted by fostering services. Scotland does not currently have recommended minimum allowances for foster carers and payments vary depending on where you live. Fostering can be an enriching positive way to help children, sometimes the most vulnerable in our society. It should not be a stressful experience and money worries should not be a feature. What price can you put in giving children a warm, loving home? The Scottish Government has committed to making national recommendations in the near future. I believe that this must be resolved now and I look forward to the minister updating us on that in our closing speech. I would also like to mention concurrent planning. Quite simply, it means that a foster carer would look after a child while it is decided if a child could not go back to live with her birth family or not. If it is decided that the child cannot go back to their family, foster carers can then apply to adopt the child. When the decision to put the child forward and adoption happens, all the hard work is done and approval can happen much quicker than waiting for a year or so. It is much better for the child than relieves the stress on the adoptive parents. The fostering network is the UK's leading fostering charity. It, along with excellent third sector organisations, work to ensure all fostered children experience stable family life and that they are passionate about the difference that foster carers make, not just to children but by supporting foster families and carers. I look forward to hosting an event in Parliament for the fostering network next Wednesday, on 22 May, where I expect that many of the issues that we are discussing today will be continued. Foster carers come from all walks of life and a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and ethnic groups. There is no upper age limit to your sexuality, marital status or whether you are in a home. It does not matter, although we have heard issues from Kessie on that one. The only thing that matters is that you are giving a child the most important thing in the world, a caring, loving home and an equal chance to thrive and grow. Michelle Ballantyne, followed by Ian Gray Thank you, Presiding Officer. Every 20 minutes in the UK, a child comes into care needing a foster family. In Scotland, of the 14,738 looked after children in 2017, 35 per cent were in foster care. Whilst that is not enough, it actually represents an increase of 66 per cent since 2002, but we do have to do more. Having worked with children in care, I am in no doubt about just how important the right placement for a child is. In the words of a child who has moved into foster care, the first night I fell asleep with the biggest smile on my face, I felt at home. The independent care review under the chairmanship of Fiona Duncan is currently working with and listening to those who provide and experience care. I want to thank them for the work that they are doing because I believe that it will change the way that we think about the delivery of care for some of our most vulnerable children, those who are dependent on the state to make the most right decisions. It is that dependent on the state that I think brings this debate to the chamber today. Because building resilience to cope with the issues that life throws at you is essential for every child. Babies are not born with resilience to stress, but they are born with the ability to become resilient if provided with the right environment. If a child or young person has to go into care, then making the right decisions early are key. Identifying the right placement and ensuring that foster carers and those involved in the decision making have the right training and development is essential, particularly when it comes to the effect of trauma on children. Children and young people in care often feel that they have no control over the decisions that impact on their lives. I am concerned that too many children have their placements moved, often without consultation and often when the foster carer is not happy about it. That, in turn, undermines the relationships that have been built with carers and not just with their carers. Children build relationships with others in care settings, akin to those of siblings. The emotional impact of being moved can be felt as heavily as being separated from blood relatives. In the words of one young person, my foster siblings were there, that was my security, that was my safety. Concern has also been expressed by foster carers and practitioners who perceive a lack of emphasis on the current system, on helping a child to maintain links with their siblings and their original community and friends, in stabilities and relationships, place and school, or to military against the stability that is crucial to any child. It is vital for a child's emotional health to recognise their key attachments and to maintain birth family links wherever possible if they are not detrimental to the child. However, that requires good, solid support for foster carers. They need the aid not only financially but in the support networks and the training that they receive. Deputy Presiding Officer, we cannot treat foster caring lightly. I echo all the sentiments that Kezia Dugdale offered in her opening statement. At the end of the day, when they come into state care, when the local authority becomes the corporate parent, that responsibility extends even further than that of an ordinary parent, because those decisions affect that child for the rest of their life. We see that when their attainment is not as good, we see that when they get into more trouble, we see that when they fail to know the love and security that a child has a right to expect. However, tonight, I would like to end my contribution by paying tribute to the 4,000 foster families in Scotland. Foster carers really matter in the lives of infants, children, young people and their families. By providing consistent support, care and love, they are giving children and young people the chance to thrive. As one foster carer said, and I think it echoes very much the words of Kezia Dugdale, we have made a lifelong commitment to those children and we think that that needs to be recognised in a more formal way. We do not forget children when they become young adults and we have a lifetime with them as they are part of our families. Iain Gray, followed by Kenneth Gibson. To my colleague Kezia Dugdale, who has been a champion of care-experienced young people throughout her time in this Parliament for bringing forward this important debate this evening, we can be in no doubt of the irreplaceable role that foster carers play within our society. Our approach to care in Scotland depends upon thousands of foster parents and families committed and highly skilled, able to provide loving and secure homes for our young people. During this campaign, we must not just acknowledge but also celebrate the vital contribution that those carers make. We must also listen to organisations such as Action for Children, which has already been mentioned, and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain Foster Carers Network, who are working to improve the circumstances of foster carers and those who are looking to foster. To do all of that properly, we have to understand the issues that they are facing and the reason why we have a significant shortfall. Only then can we get round to finding solutions to improve things for foster families and, indeed, for our young people. The truth is that fostering in Scotland is becoming more difficult, not least due to the significant financial pressures that exist on individual foster carers. In the system as a whole between 2015 and 2017, we saw a drop of 591 in the number of households approved for foster care for longer than exclusively short breaks. Fostering services report a rise in staff vacancies with an 8 per cent increase in the same period since 2015. Those increased vacancies are also becoming harder to fill as the number of fostering services who report difficulty recruiting has risen from 10 to 17. In 2017, 45 per cent of fostering services experienced a net loss of households. We hear that potential foster carers have been dissuaded from applying, as we did from Kezia Dugdale, due to criteria such as needing a spare room during the 18 months of their assessment. As Kezia said, that is not what should be the priority. The priority should be what they can offer young people. I was shocked to hear from my own council fostering team that they need to identify 100 interested families for everyone who completes the journey to fostering. That is how hard this is. A significant problem exists with fragmentation of the regulation of foster carers across 32 different local authorities. That leads to disruptive irregularities in the placement of children and councils being assessor and employer of foster carers. It is one aspect of the disruptive market that Kezia spoke about in her introductory speech. The IWGB is currently working on proposals for a nationally co-ordinated approach towards assessment and registration, and to deregistration as well. Such an approach would also allow for a much more fluid and flexible network of foster carers who are independently assessed on their fitness to foster, which would of course better serve young people. Such a change, in my view, has merit and deserves scrutiny and consideration. I look forward to working with and hearing more from the IWGB about these proposals and how we can progress them. We have heard tonight that we know what many of the problems are. We have heard about some of the possible solutions. Several colleagues have mentioned the on-going care review, and that is vital to transforming the lives of care-experienced young people in this country. However, the truth is that we need not wait until its conclusion to start making the changes that we know we need to. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Kezia Dugdale on securing today's debate to Mark Foster, care fortnight 2019, and for her impassioned opening speech. Fostering is one of the greatest things a person can do. It is a shame for both the future of the foster child or young person and the family that cares for them. Regardless of why a child or young person can no longer live with their family, being welcomed into a loving and stable home through fostering can be an enriching and indeed life-changing experience. Foster care fortnight, organised by the fostering network, runs from 13 May to 26 May and is focused on that very idea of changing a future. Latest figures show that, as of 31 July 2018, 5,058 children and young people in Scotland are being fostered in families air through their local council, an independent fostering agency or a charity like Action for Children, which provided an excellent briefing for today's debate. That figure is an incredible demonstration of the generosity of families across Scotland, and yet there remains, as Kezia Dugdale and Rona Mackay pointed out, anesthimated shortfall of 580 foster carers today. That gap must be closed to ensure that we do right by Scotland's children and young people by providing the love care and safety that they need and deserve. A survey of 1,000 Scots commissioned by Action for Children that are happening 11 per cent said that there was nothing stopping them from becoming a foster carer, but clearly there is, because we need to translate that attitude into increased numbers fostering. Awareness-raising events such as foster care fortnight play a big part presenting an invaluable platform for sharing information about how to become a foster parent, eligibility, allowances, the effect in the host family and the transformative impact fostering has on a child or a young person's life. The same survey found that one of the biggest obstacles to people becoming foster carers was feeling that it didn't fit in with their lifestyle. It's therefore important to dispel some persistent myths about fostering that you cannot be too old to become a foster carer. You don't need to be a heterosexual, married or own your own home. What makes fostering so valuable is a wide range of backgrounds and life experience that ffosterers bring to the table. As long as you're over 21, have a spare bedroom in that issue has been discussed quite a lot already this afternoon. The time, energy and loving home to provide you could be a valued foster carer. With the right support, many more people can be empowered to become foster carers. In my kingdom, North constituency, the North Ayrshire family placement team offer a confidential and extremely informative service to help people to decide if now is the time to foster. They are therefore foster carers every step of the way from an in-depth and personalised induction to regular training and support sessions. They even offer the opportunity to study for an SvQ level 3 in caring for children and young people at no cost to the foster carer. Everons demonstrates that sibling relationships are incredibly important in nurturing continuity, security and stability for children. It's therefore vital to place siblings together as much as possible, provided that is in their best interests. Unfortunately, it is particularly challenging to recruit households to foster sibling groups, largely due to accommodation constraints. We have to be more flexible in how local authorities allocate housing to households with growing foster families. On 31 December 2017, there were 1,012 sibling groups in foster care, and sadly 23 per cent were separated on placement. I'm therefore pleased that, in March this year, the Scottish Government outlined plans to strengthen the law to place brothers and sisters together when in care and give that higher priority than at present. It was also pleased to see recognition of the importance of brothers and sisters who are not able to live together, maintaining contact, as those relationships are critical to a child's wellbeing. Other than fostering, there are many other ways to support looked after children and what can be a challenging period in their lives. For example, the charity Comfort U bags or Cubs provides a bag-pack filled with items to help ease the transition into first-time foster care. From a soft-toil blanket to pens, books or craft supplies, essentials such as toothpaste and shower gel, each cub is carefully put together to support the wellbeing of each individual child. The value of a seemingly small gesture cannot be overstated, and I commend Cubs and all their volunteers. Foster care has changed lives for the better, whether that is immediately providing a place of safety at a time of need or part of a longer journey towards a brighter future. One thing is certain, the caring and supportive actions of foster carers will be felt throughout a foster child's life. The last of the open debate contributions is from Jeremy Balfour. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I also thank Kezia for bringing this debate forward this evening. I suppose that I come to this with a very personal side, as some members will know last autumn, my wife and I started fostering a little boy with the hope of adopting him. For lots of different reasons, that arrangement broke down earlier this year, and he had to leave our household. As I have been on this journey with my wife and have spoken to many other individuals and couples who want to foster and adopt, a number of things have struck me. I would like to share three of them briefly with you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The first thing that we have to acknowledge is that it is becoming harder and harder for people to want to foster. The recruiting process puts people off. For myself and my wife, the process took over 80 months from the day that we started the process. That is due to pressure of social work, but I think that there is almost a mentality of trying to poop you off fostering and adopting. I was struck by Kezia's remark by the first comment that that person was asking. Do you have two rooms? That is not the only story that I have heard over the last number of years. People who want to go ahead and foster are often put off at that first stage. I think that we need to look at the process of how we recruit individuals to come ahead and foster. Yes, we need to get the right checks, yes, we need to get the right people for the most vulnerable in our society, but at the same time, we need to encourage not discourage. Secondly, and picking up to some extent the comments that were made already, is in regard to the money that people receive for fostering. I think that we could have a debate and it would be worth having a debate on whether it should be seen as some form of career or not. However, it is clear that here in Scotland, a fairly small country, there are different amounts of money that are paid depending on what local authority it is. For example, the minister's region pays less than Angus plays. To me, that is a similar geographical type—I am happy to be corrected as a lowlander—but it feels similar to me. Why does Highland pay less than Angus? What is the justification for that? I am all for localism, but I also think that there is a role for Government and Parliament to ensure that the payments that people get are more reflective across the whole of Scotland. Finally, I think that social workers in our 32 local authorities and in the third sector are under immense pressure. I have been amazed by the dedication of the different social workers that I have come into contact with over the past number of years. The hours that they put in, the kindness that they feel towards the children that they are trying to place, but they are under pressure. They are facing financial difficulties and some of the decisions that they are forced to make are not necessarily driven by best practice but simply worked out on financial costs. I think that we need to look at the resources that we are given in the social work department. In conclusion, there is a place for the third sector, which is already there to play a greater role. Organisations such as Home for Good and others, which are trying to encourage people into fostering, need to be given the profile that is required. I welcome the debate, but I think that there is a danger, if I can conclude with that, that we can have lots of warm words from across each of our parties. However, unless all of us are willing to change and bring forward policies that will radically change the most vulnerable in our society, then simply words would change nothing. I gently remind members that, before we move on to the minister's conclusion, it would be helpful if they would always refer to other members by their full name, much as we all like each other, please. Two names is better for the official report and for anyone listening in. You are not the only one, Mr Balfour, do not look guilty. We now move on to the minister to respond to the debate. I call Marie Todd for around seven minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased that today's debate has been an opportunity to highlight the fostering network's annual foster care fortnight as a valuable awareness raising campaign. I might just take this opportunity to add my thank you to the fostering network, and especially Sarah Lurie and our team in Scotland who provide such valuable pre- and post-approval foster carer training and much-needed support to foster carers through the foster line helpline. I thank the member, Kezia Dugdale, for bringing this issue to the chamber and, indeed, for her championing of the interests of care experience children and young people over her time in Parliament many years. She raised a number of issues, and I certainly would appreciate more detail to look into some of the specific cases that she raised. Certainly with regard to the spare bedroom issue that a number of members have raised, the looked-after children regulations and guidance do not specifically stipulate that foster carers have to have a spare room. However, they specify that fostering panels have a duty to ensure that the needs and wellbeing of looked-after children and the potential impact on prospective foster families are taken into account. Given that many children coming into care might be recovering from the effects of neglect or abuse or trauma, those and many unknown factors must be taken into consideration to ensure the safety and protection and privacy of the looked-after child. I agree that that spare room does not necessarily need to be in place at the start of the process, but it certainly needs to be in place at the end of the process. I share many of the member's frustrations about the bureaucratic barriers and that computers say no attitudes that people come upon when they are attempting to enter the foster system. I thought that Jeremy Balfour's personal contribution was very powerful and I am grateful for it. I agree that we need to tackle many of those issues now, but the purpose of the independent care review was a recognition of the many and complex issues that interact. Some of them are easy to fix and some of them are much harder to fix. I recognise that we really need a Root and Branch review and we need to be thinking about doing things differently and we need to go on and do things differently. There can be absolutely no doubt that foster caring is challenging at times. The crucial encouragement that foster carers provide to children and young people in their care every day helps in many ways to restore self-belief where it has been eroded and to instill a sense of security and confidence. For children and young people who can no longer live with their families for whatever reason, our foster carers provide a safe, secure and loving family environment, a place to call home. Our national outcomes challenge us to ensure that children and young people grow up with equal opportunities, feeling loved, safe and respected at home and by society, maintaining the relationships that matter to the most is so important. How do we preserve important relationships? I would like to touch on some of the issues that are raised today. The recent care inspectorate bulletin and local authority and independent fostering and adoption services that are provided to providers included really important data on the reality of foster care in Scotland. That report acknowledged the complexities and highlighted a number of positive trends, with 93 per cent of our 60 local authority and independent foster care providers achieving grades of good or better across all quality seams. However, 45 per cent of all foster care services had experienced a net loss in the number of foster carers. Kezia Dugdale raised the issue of keeping brothers and sisters together and the importance of ensuring that the best interests of the child are at the heart of all decisions is absolutely evident. However, that report also highlighted that local authority, foster carers and independent service providers found it a challenge to recruit foster carers to care for sibling groups. I recently announced that we are going to be strengthening the law so that staying in touch with the brothers and sisters will become a much greater priority when we are making plans for children and young people in care. Most of you will be aware by now that the national review of care allowances made 12 recommendations that are themed on improving consistency and transparency in allowances and also in the information that is available for families and carers. That is a complex area, particularly in the current financial climate, but we are committed to working in partnership with COSLA to respond in a way that best meets the needs of our foster children and carers. As Jeremy Balfour again mentioned, the situation in Highland compared with other local authority areas with similar topography and geography and challenges with sparse population is difficult to understand the difference in foster care allowances. However, that is why we need to improve transparency in allowances and explain what is included in the MIRIAD of extra allowances that people can also claim. A central register of foster carers is something that was considered as part of a previous national review of foster care. At the time, it was not considered to be a viable option, but the potential benefits of a central registration body have been presented to the independent care review. We are interested to hear what conclusions are reached as areas for improvement in care system are explored. I am also very aware of some of the difficulties regarding continuing care, and we have been working with and listening to key partners on those issues and are exploring what more we can do to support a smoother implementation. We want to do what we can to help eligible young people stay with their foster carers and benefit from a much more supported transition into independent living. We as a Government look forward to hearing about what further improvements we can all make and that will make the care experiences of vulnerable children and young people as valuable and as rewarding as possible. In this portfolio, I have the opportunity to meet lots of young people and I have heard some heartbreaking experiences. I have also heard inspirational stories of the extraordinary people, including foster carers, who have been here to help a child to achieve their ambitions. I want to ask all of us to do what we can to support the foster care fortnight campaign to raise awareness about foster caring in Scotland. I thought that I would finish with people who write to me regularly about their experiences of foster care. I thought that it was important to hand the microphone to a foster carer who explains about what drew them to foster caring. We care about children, we want to help them and we have developed skills through work and parenting that can benefit children in need. We feel that we have done well out of society and perhaps we can give something back. I want everyone listening to consider that. Can you give something back? In his final message, he captured beautifully the joy and some of the heartbreak that comes from foster caring. This man and his wife fostered very young babies. When their time with us comes to an end, there is a delight and a heartbreak in seeing each child move on, either back home or more often to a permanent placement with the doctors. We still think about all the different little characters who have lived with us over the years. As my wife says, every time a child leaves, they take a little piece of our heart with them. I want to end, therefore, by thanking Scotland's foster carers again for their commitment. There is absolutely no doubt that you improve the lives of children and young people in your care and that you make our collective vision for them a reality.