Explainer video: Plan 24-30, its route maps, and The Promise Story of Progress
01/04/2026
The Promise Scotland has released an explainer video on Plan 24-30, which shows how the Plan’s two linked parts work together.
About Plan 24-30
Plan 24-30 exists so that Scotland can deliver the The Independent Care Review’s calls to action on what must change in order to keep the promise— through ensuring children, young people, families, care experienced adults and those that support them have what they need to thrive.
It has two key parts, which are linked together:
What are Plan 24-30’s route maps?
The 25 route maps of Plan 24-30 group The Independent Care Review’s calls to action into delivery-focused outcomes.
These set out who must do what by when to bring about the change which is needed to keep the promise.
What does a route map look like in practice?
Take Plan 24-30’s Rights and Restraint Route Map.
It focuses on incorporating and implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
It also strengthens the other route maps in Plan 24-30 by making it clear what rights children have, clarifying responsibilities and accountability.
Route maps in Plan 24-30 are separated into outcomes. For the Rights and Restraint route map, these are:
- Scotland fully upholds children and young people’s human rights.
Every child, young person, and carer understands and can access their rights, which are taught, modelled and embedded across all settings.
If children are moved from their families, their rights will be upheld as a minimum standard for their care. - Rights are upheld through relational practice rather than bureaucracy.
Definitions of care experience and entitlements are inclusive and enduring, and systems address social and economic barriers that prevent nurturing care. - Scotland upholds children’s right to safety, dignity and relational support in all settings.
Scotland is a nation that does not restrain its children unless in exceptional circumstances, and when it is unavoidable it is co-regulated, trauma-informed, lawful, recorded and used only to keep a child safe. The workforce are nurtured and supported, recognising their needs in this.
Consistent definitions, safeguards and leadership cultures grounded in care and rights ensure restraint and seclusion is continuously reduced and monitored across all settings.
The first two outcomes focus on Rights, and the third focuses on Restraint.
What do Plan 24-30’s route maps display within their outcomes?
Under each outcome, the work underway is listed. There are milestones for the years until 2030, and there is information around who is responsible for each.
For example: in the third outcome, one milestone for 2026 concerns the expected passage of the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill.
Its passage should introduce:
- New requirements for Scottish Ministers to issue statutory guidance on the appropriate use of seclusion and restraint
- A duty on education providers to report all incidents of restraint or seclusion in their schools.
Each route map includes what matters to children, young people, families and care experienced adults— to ensure we never lose sight of why it is essential that the route maps outcomes are realised.
What is the Promise Story of Progress?
The Promise Story of Progress contains three types of data to show progress towards keeping the promise:
- At a national level, data shows what is changing over time
- At an organisational level, learning shows how those changes are happening, and
- The experience lens shows whether those changes are being felt.
The voices of those impacted by change stay at the centre, driving planning, delivery, monitoring and continued improvement.
How do Plan 24-30 route maps link to The Promise Story of Progress?
While route maps support planning and delivery, the Promise Story of Progress measures:
- The impact of this delivery nationally,
- The learning from organisations, and
- The impact felt by those with care experience.
The Promise Story of Progress is organised around 10 vision statements, which link Scotland’s understanding directly back to the promise and lived experience.
Vision statement 5, Scotland must strive to become a nation that does not restrain its children, connects directly to the delivery of the outcomes in the Rights and Restraint route map which we looked at earlier.
For example, introducing new statutory guidance following the passage of the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill is a milestone in the route map, and will be a positive step forward.
But statutory guidance must translate to trauma-informed approaches, built on communication and understanding, put in practice by those working in schools and other settings— so the children in classrooms in a local area and across Scotland feel safer and more empowered.
So the Promise Story of Progress can help us understand the whole picture, and feed those insights back into delivery, shifting resources to priority areas.
What’s next for Plan 24-30?
The route maps are a national shared planning framework for keeping the promise, built on – and for – collaboration.
They are not a substitute for organisational plans— instead, by making clear destination statements, outcomes and milestones, they provide clarity on what actions are the responsibility of which organisations, by when.
The Promise Scotland will be supporting organisations and local authorities to engage with the route maps and Promise Story of Progress and embed them in their plans and reporting processes.