We all want our children to grow up loved, safe and respected so that they realise their full potential. That's an ambition shared across Scottish and Local Government and we're able to say that for the majority of children, that happens.
But the pandemic has demonstrated that where it doesn't, where children and families struggle and don't have the support they need, the impacts are devastating.
The National Records of Scotland (2021) data shows that COVID-19 death rates are more than double those in the least deprived areas. The ACEL data showed that from 2018/19-20/21 the poverty-related attainment gap widened.
But as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have said, this "does not make action to tackle poverty more difficult, it makes it more urgent."
That is why we must accelerate our efforts to tackle inequality in Scotland. We must focus our energy and resources on building a Scotland where our children, and our grown ups, thrive.
And we are building on strong foundations. In Scotland we have a long established shared understanding of "Getting it Right for Every Child" which Governments, public and third sector services work to, putting the child's and family's needs at the centre of decisions and supports.
A great deal of work has been undertaken to de-stigmatise help seeking. We all need support at different points in our lives, whether its practical, emotional or financial.
I think we can all think of a time we've needed a hand. In our early learning and childcare settings and schools we've made it easier to access family support and information. We've brought youth work, advice and employability services to the places we all go.
Counselling, mental health and social work support in schools also means we've got opportunities for early support as problems arise.
Taking children's services into a National Care Service risks undoing all of that work. We don't want people to face additional barriers to support. We don't want people to feel like they are accessing a service, we want them to feel like the community is offering them support.
Councils know their communities best and should be there to support all aspects of our lives - housing, education, environment, employment, social support, all of which impact on improved health and wellbeing.
This is important in our collective efforts to tackle child poverty, close the poverty-related attainment gap, and help children thrive. We undermine our ambitions if we can't offer that holistic, child centred support, if we create further divides after years of working to overcome those barriers.
We have a shared commitment to Keeping the Promise to our care experienced children, young people, adults and families, improving the support and care they need to have loving homes and stay together where possible.
Radical change to the way we support children and families is underway and must not be compromised by national restructure.
We are also committed to implementing the UNCRC. Despite the challenging landscape, councils have made excellent progress with partners in championing children’s rights over the years.
We don't celebrate the efforts of our skilled workforce enough. We clapped for carers, rightly so, but we didn't highlight the often unseen efforts of our childrens’ workforce- our social workers, our youth workers, our early years practitioners, school staff and the staff working behind the scenes to keep children safe and well - keeping the promise and championing children's rights.
And we don't celebrate our children enough either. If focus on the lower attainment levels this year we forget their achievements in other senses, how they've supported each other, their families and their communities.
With the right support and encouragement I'm confident we'll see a caring generation with far more empathy than mine. And with the right actions by us, the adults, now, they'll grow up in a far more equal society.
We don't know the cost of setting up the National Care Service. But we do know the human cost of not tackling the poverty and inequality in Scotland. Rather than disrupting the services and workforce that support children and families, let's look at how we accelerate our efforts to improve those services, support our workforce, so they can help our children to realise their full potential and thrive.
Councillor McCabe is COSLA’s Children and Young People Spokesperson.
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