The new corporate parenting advice lays the foundations to ensuring local authorities, health services, the independent sector and the policy makers give children in care the support they need to go on to lead fulfilling lives.

The guidance outlines the statutory duty on all parts of a local authority to co-operate in promoting the welfare of children and young people who are looked after by them, and the duty on other agencies to co-operate with councils in fulfilling that duty. It also highlights the importance of joining up the activities of the many different professionals and carers who are involved in a child or young person’s life and taking a strategic, child-centred approach to service delivery, and stresses the need to think like a parent and constantly challenge by asking, “Is this good enough for my child?”

Launching the guidance, Minister for Children and Early Years Adam Ingram said that despite good intentions over the years we have “collectively failed the children and young people who have been entrusted to us.”

He continued: “We have a social and moral obligation to do our very best for those most vulnerable members of our communities and to show that we can and will do better as corporate parents.

"We are particularly grateful to all of those people who told us their stories to illustrate this guidance. Their words inspire all of us to make a positive and enduring difference to the children and young people in our care."

He said that corporate parenting is not only a responsibility but a real opportunity to improve the future of looked after children and young people.

He continued: "The aim of this guidance is to support councils and their community planning partners in closing the gap which has existed for decades between people who have experienced the care system and people who have not. 

"We must improve educational achievement and attainment, achieving sustained positive post-school destinations, reduce looked after children and young people and care leavers' involvement in the criminal justice system, their levels of homelessness, and help them to live full and healthy lives."

He added that children in care deserve every opportunity to be part of a successful Scotland and said he wants to see an improvement across the board in outcomes for all young people.

Councillor Isabel Hutton, COSLA Education, Children and Young People Spokesperson, said that local government is “completely behind” the new guidance as “looked after children deserve to live and grow up in a caring, nurturing environment and have all the opportunities in life that we would expect for our own children.”

She said the guidance shows how the collective effort of the public sector can add up to improving the lives of looked after children, but stressed that the guidance can only take us so far and it will require hard work on the ground to “deliver the improved outcomes we all want to achieve.”

She added: “I know that for too long the system has let vulnerable young people down. This has to change. However, I also know that there are young people with heartening stories, which should inspire us to do better for every looked after child. This new guidance will help, and I am grateful to all those who have devoted time to develop it. "

The guidance is available here