Dunlop tells First Minister to publish premature death rate of care experienced people

Scottish Liberal Democrat children and young person spokesperson Duncan Dunlop MSP has directly pressed the First Minister on whether his government will publish the rate of premature deaths among those with experience of the care system.

It comes after a new report from the Promise Oversight Board highlighted that improvements promised to the care system have not been “real enough, fast enough or for enough people.”

The report states that, “too much of the promise remains on paper, not in practice.”

Crucially, it indicates that time is running out to make sure the Promise is kept by 2030.

Mr Dunlop has written to the Scottish Government and urged them to publish the number of care experienced people who die prematurely and because of drugs.

Speaking in the chamber, Duncan Dunlop said:

“A child who was six when Scotland announced its care review is now sixteen. In essence, a childhood.

“Today, the independent oversight board has again warned that progress is still too slow, but that properly scrutinizing premature deaths in the care experienced community could improve outcomes.

“Last week’s appalling drug deaths figures will include many care experienced people, but we cannot say how many because the Scottish Government chooses not to track them.

“I ask the First Minister again, please, when will your government start publishing the premature death rate for all care experienced people?”

Speaking after the exchange, Duncan Dunlop said:

“The First Minister failed to answer my question. Despite report after report showing just how broken things are, the First Minister is still refusing to acknowledge that progress is nowhere near good enough.

“I don’t just want the government to ‘explore’ the idea of publishing the premature death rate of care experienced people- I want them to do it. Without that essential baseline, there’s no way of knowing whether we’re making progress.

“When it comes to the Promise, there is no leadership, no real plan of action and no clear metric to measure success. The consequences of that are horrendous for the children left to suffer in the broken care system.

“We should be relentless in making sure every child in Scotland has a life-long, loving relationship. That is the real test of success."