Chair of Nicola Sturgeon’s review of care system announced

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Fiona Duncan, Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and chair of the Care Review in Scotland

The chair of the review of the care system in Scotland, announced by the First Minister at the SNP conference in October, has been named today.

Fiona Duncan, who is currently the chief executive of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and is a member of Comic Relief’s grants committee, will head up the independent review.

While at the foundation she has brought forward a new strategy and contributed to its Partnership Drugs Initiative.

Last year it produced ‘Everyone Has a Story’, an action learning project co-designed with children and young people.

RELATED CONTENT

Nicola Sturgeon announces new flexible childcare policy and review of the care system

Nicola Sturgeon: why I announced a review of the care system

In announcing a review of the care system Nicola Sturgeon knows she has made a big commitment

Children in care review: We've got our revolution

Duncan has more than 20 years’ leadership experience, mainly in the third sector, including seven years as director of external affairs at Capability Scotland.

Prior to that she was head of development at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and she also established WaterAid’s office for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Before joining the Lloyds TSB Foundation, Duncan spent seven years at THINK Consulting Solutions, an international consultancy specialising in not-for-profit fundraising.

She will also bring her personal experience to the review, having lived through a chaotic childhood with adoptive parents who struggled with alcoholism and a father who was diagnosed with mental health issues.

The review will look at the "legislation, practices, culture and ethos" of the care system for children and young people in Scotland.

The First Minister has promised that it will be shaped by the evidence of care-experienced young people.

Duncan said: “While the review will be complex and the issues challenging, it will be the expertise of children and young people with lived experience of the system who will ensure a focus on what matters.

“It will be crucial that the review not only hears their voices, but that real change happens as a result.”

Commenting on the appointment, Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am delighted that Fiona will lead the review.

“Having previously worked within the voluntary sector for more than 20 years and with direct, personal experience of the care system, she will bring a challenging perspective to the role, ensure that the voice of young people is at its heart, and steer it towards a set of recommendations that will deliver real and lasting change.”

CELCIS, the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland at the University of Strathclyde, has been appointed to support the review.