Adult support and protection improvement plan 2019-2022

2. Development of the Improvement Plan

The Scottish Government worked on developing the ASP Improvement Plan between October 2018 and April 2019. The Scottish Government worked in close collaboration with the following groups and stakeholders to develop the plan:

• The ASP National Strategic Forum (re-established in November 2018)
• Scottish Adult Support and Protection Independent Conveners Association
• Social Work Scotland ASP Leads Network
• Police Scotland ASP Strategic Group
• Social Work Scotland Chief Social Work Officer Network
• NHS ASP Network Group
• The Care Inspectorate
• Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland

A draft three year improvement plan went out for consultation to stakeholders in November 2018 and proposed six interlinked improvement strands. The following illustrates the high level improvement areas and activities proposed in the draft improvement plan:

A total of 17 responses were received in December 2018 from a combination of
the stakeholders described above. The feedback overwhelmingly provided support for the proposed six interlinked improvement strands and also provided specific feedback which assisted the Scottish Government to further develop the improvement plan. A small number of additional suggested improvements emerged from the feedback and these were either incorporated into the plan or agreed as areas for future development. In January 2019, planning work also commenced
on the multi-agency inspection and scrutiny work required for ASP. The outcome
of this work, and the subsequent proposal for a phased multi-agency inspection programme, was then incorporated into the improvement plan within the
assurance strand.

The Scottish Government developed an outcomes model to describe the national improvement work, including the activities, outputs and indicators described in more detail in the tables below. The ASP National Strategic Forum reviewed and provided feedback on the draft improvement plan in March 2019. By April 2019, the improvement plan was fully developed and encapsulated all existing Scottish Government improvement activity alongside new improvement activities around assurance, governance and legislative review. The improvement plan was approved by Scottish Ministers in June 2019 and is now included in Scotland’s Programme for Government 2019-20.

The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening adult support and protection across Scotland by delivering specific support for improvement. The purpose of this three year improvement plan is to complement and strengthen local improvement, it is not intended to replace local improvement activity. The ultimate outcome of the improvement plan is that adults at risk of harm in Scotland are supported and protected. The short, medium and long term outcomes of the improvement plan are illustrated in the model below: