By JB

Today in The Herald I see that they are blaming the Scottish Government, or more succinctly and inaccurately,  blaming the SNP for fostering agencies robbing millions of pounds of public money for their own profit, or as the headline states….” Call to end ‘backdoor profiteering’ in Scotland’s fostering system”.

The article opens with…….”Campaigners have called on the Scottish Government to take action against fostering agencies diverting millions of pounds of public money to their private equity-backed parent companies. Legally, foster care services for children and young people in Scotland must be provided on a not-for-profit basis”.

Call to end ‘backdoor profiteering’ in Scotland’s fostering system | The Herald

Damage done…shouts of SNP corruption, get Sarwar or Baillie or any British unionist party “spokesperson” or a “campaigner” working alongside those unionist parties, to deride and insult the Scottish Government who are, according to the report ‘Legally compliant, morally questionable’: Calls to end foster care profit ‘loophole’

No need to read any further as The Herald readers know all about that “nasty” SNP Government. No need to find out more information of the ‘real’ story as The Herald readers ‘know’ that their paper wouldn’t lie to them.

Or would they?

This from Community Care 2016 where the President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Dave Hill, spoke out against Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs) offering £3,000 “Golden Hellos” to foster carers to switch agencies.

“He urged ministers to consider lessons from Scotland, where laws state fostering agencies which are profit making cannot approve, review or terminate the approval of foster carers. Only a local authority, or voluntary agency acting on their behalf, can do this.

Hill said: “It just seems to us that this idea of a golden hello of £3,000 then charging higher rates back to us in a very short space of time is just immoral.”

In the article The Sunday Times reported last weekend how two of Britain’s biggest foster care companies, Acorn and the National Fostering Agency, were to merge in an ambitious £400m plan.  

Government wants to keep profit making out of child protection – why not from care?

So from what I can tell, this is a problem in England and not Scotland but because the problem is in England it is a problem in Scotland…..according to The Herald.

JB