Nicola Sturgeon thinking ‘long and hard’ about fostering children

Nicola Sturgeon has said she is thinking “long and hard” about becoming a foster parent.

The former first minister said there was a “burning need for change” in the system that deals with children in care and she felt a “duty to ensure it happens” despite her move to Holyrood’s backbenches.

But she said some youngsters she had spoken to during her time in office were “very well supported by dedicated members of staff in children’s homes and exceptional foster carers”.

Ms Sturgeon said that “hearing about the impact good foster care can have” had motivated her to consider taking a young person in care into her own home.

Writing in the Daily Record, she said “That is something I must think long and hard about” before making a final decision.

Ms Sturgeon first raised the possibility of becoming a foster mother in an October 2021 interview with Vogue magazine, saying it “may be something” she and husband Peter Murrell would consider after she stepped down as first minister.

She said at the time it was an option “my husband and I have only scratched the surface of talking about”.

However, police investigating the SNP’s finances arrested Mr Murrell on April 5 and conducted a two-day search of the couple’s home. He was later released without charge pending further investigations.

Ms Sturgeon has kept an extremely low profile at Holyrood since his arrest but her Daily Record article is the latest in a series of public interventions she has made elsewhere on issues such as LGBTQ rights.

At the same time, she has refused to answer any key questions about the affair, including why police confiscated a luxury motorhome from outside her elderly mother-in-law’s house.

Writing in the Record, she recalled a commitment she made in 2016 to speak to 1,000 youngsters about their experiences of being in care and the “profound” impact it had on her.

“These conversations would often bring me to tears. I heard from young people who had been separated from their brothers and sisters when taken into care – in some cases losing touch completely,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon added: “I have spoken before about the possibility of fostering myself in future. Obviously, that is something I must think long and hard about, but it was hearing about the impact good foster care can have in the life of a child that motivated me to even consider it.

“But for every positive experience, I heard many more that were heart-breaking. Young people who need love and nurture too often end up adrift in a ‘system’ which puts rules and processes ahead of their needs. And the impact on them is lifelong.”

She said she was “persuaded” the care system was “broken” led her to unveil an initiative pledging that all children would “grow up loved, safe and respected”.

Ms Sturgeon said Humza Yousaf, her successor, was as committed to this as she was but “if I ever get the sense that government is not prioritising the change it demands, I will say so – loudly and clearly”.