Taxpayer-funded firm set up by Nicola Sturgeon to help children in care splurged £100k on SNP-linked lobbyists
dailyrecord.co.ukA 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.
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