FAILINGS in the children’s care system cost Scotland £1.6 billion a year, an unprecedented study has found, as it called for a “radical overhaul” of existing structures.

The Independent Care Review revealed a system that is “fractured, bureaucratic and unfeeling for far too many children and their families”.

It called for a shift away from “professionalised language”, insisting it can be stigmatising for children.

And it hit out at “fear and complex bureaucracy”, adding: “Staff can feel they are risking disciplinary action if they go above and beyond their express duties to act in kindness towards children in their care.”

Nicola Sturgeon said the review, which launched three years ago, represented one of the most important moments in her time as First Minister.

She pledged to deliver its recommendations “at pace”.

Chair Fiona Duncan said too many childhoods “have been lost to a system that serves its own convenience rather than those within it”.

She said: “I have heard countless stories of when the care system gets it wrong; separation, trauma, stigma and pain.”

She added: “The Care Review has listened to what care experienced people have said needs to change and those voices have driven its work and underpin its conclusions.

“It has sought to understand how the system feels to those who live and work in and around it. And it has produced the what, how, why and when of what needs to happen next.

“This is a radical blueprint for a country that loves, nurtures and cherishes its children.

"This is Scotland's chance to care for its children, the way all good parents should.”

There are almost 15,000 children in Scotland's care system.

The review, which is split into seven parts, outlined the human and economic cost of the current provision and its failures for the first time.

It heard “many stories” of children being separated from their brothers and sisters, with lifelong consequences.

It also heard distressing evidence around the use of restraint by care workers. Some children, the review heard, “actively sought restraint as it was the only time they felt human touch”.

The review calculated that the services which deliver and surround the care system cost £1.2 billion annually.

This includes children and families support services, Children’s Panels, Children’s Hearings Scotland and the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration – as well as the delivery of other universal services such as education and mental health.

Meanwhile, it calculated the cost of the care system letting down children and their families at £1.6 billion.

This is a combination of £875 million in meeting the needs of care-experienced people as a result of the system failing them and £732 million in lost income tax and national insurance.

The review heard from around 5,500 people, more than half of whom were children and young people with experience of the care system, adults who have lived in care, or their families.

It said people who have been in care are twice as likely to have been homeless and earn only around 75 per cent of their peers.

The report identified five foundations for change, with more than 80 specific changes which must be made over the next 10 years.

It called for children and young people to be listened to when making decisions about their lives to upend the "balance of power".

And it recommended that there is a focus on building life-long relationships, with families kept together whenever it is safe to do so.

Ms Sturgeon said changes would be made " as quickly and as safely as possible"

She said: “In 2016 I accepted a challenge to listen to the experiences of 1,000 looked-after young people because I knew the care system needed a transformation and I wanted to hear first-hand what had to change.

“These early conversations inspired me to announce an independent root-and-branch review of the care system.

“So for the first time ever the voices of people with experience of the care sector have been, and will continue to be, at the heart of shaping care policy.

“Over 5,500 people, including care-experienced individuals and their families, as well as paid and unpaid care workers, took the time to discuss their thoughts, feelings and experiences to highlight where things are going well and where we need to improve.

“I have had the privilege of meeting many young people with experience of care who are doing extremely well, I have also been given the chance to see the dedication, commitment and passion of those who work in the care sector.

"But I’ve also heard some extremely difficult stories which portray the care sector as bureaucratic and even unfeeling. It is clear that despite the efforts of those within the system, the actual experience of too many people in care is not what we want it to be."