Children and Families: National Leadership Group Minutes - 11 June

Attendees and apologies

• Louise Long(co-chair), SOLACE 
• Laura Caven, CoSLA
• Jillian Gibson, CoSLA
• Lynne McNiven, Director of Public Health 
• Lynda Fenton, Public Health Scotland
• Tracy Davis, Child Health Commissioners 
• Alison Gordon, Social Work Scotland 
• Laura Lamb, SSSC 
• Neil Hunter, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration 
• Caroline Wilson, Police Scotland
• Sheena Devlin, ADES 
• Tam Baillie, Child Protection Committees Scotland
• Jude Turbyne, Children in Scotland
• Fraser McKinlay, The Promise
• Kathy Henwood, Children's Services Planning Strategic Leads Network 
• Jane Scott, CELCIS 
• Lorraine Sillars, CELCIS
• Emma Hanley, CELCIS
• Kirsty Doull, CELCIS
• Kathleen Doyle, CELCIS 
• Andrew Watson(co-chair), Scottish Government
• Joanna MacDonald, Scottish Government
• Gavin Henderson, Scottish Government
• Bryony Revell, Scottish Government
• Peter Donachie,, Scottish Government
• Emily Aitchison, Scottish Government

 

Items and actions

Welcome from co-chairs

Andrew Watson welcomed members to the meeting. The meeting’s purpose was to follow up the discussions from the group’s planning session on 21 May particularly to decide on the group’s leadership function and priorities in light of the outcomes from the research on children’s services reform.

Follow-up from planning session on 21 May

Jane Scott (CELCIS) provided an analysis and summary of members’ feedback from the planning session on 21 May. The main points included the following:

• role and function – the group’s overall role is to provide collective leadership and collaborative decision-making. This includes acting as a “critical friend” to support transformational change legislatively, strategically and structurally. Early sight of and involvement in policy development will enable members to provide evidence-based, data-driven collaborative views to Scottish Government and constructive challenge when necessary. A stronger approach to prioritisation is needed. So too is a need to overcome silos and take more holistic approaches to improving outcomes
• problems to be solved – more work is needed to provide a clear vision and secure collective agreement on the priority outcomes to be achieved. There are disconnects between policy intents and practices “on the ground.”  This includes layering on additional policies without sufficient consideration of the impact on existing work. This has implications for staff workloads with staff feeling overwhelmed. There is also a lack of capacity within the system to support delivery and implementation exacerbated by siloed working
• how can the role and function of the leadership group help to address this – the group needs to agree its own vision and priorities and better utilise the collective expertise provided by members across national, local, organisational and sectoral boundaries. There needs to be a stronger drive towards the group influencing decision making recognising that this will require members to firmly agree which issues should receive more focus and which should receive less attention in its future work. This increases the need for the leadership group to better connect with and empower sub-groups and other groups to ensure a more holistic approach is taken

Members made the following points in response to follow-up discussion questions:

• the original leadership group had a clear role and function in responding to crisis situations such as the Covid pandemic and support for Ukrainian refugees and specific issues including under-18s in custody. The group worked extremely well in these contexts but was now having to deal with a wider range of complex challenges (keeping the promise; children’s services reform) where the group’s responsibilities and authority over the problems to be solved were less clear-cut
• the group has tried different ways of working including deep dives into particular topics. While helpful to some extent, this was not completely satisfactory as there was too much emphasis on information updates and less time dedicated to discussion and considering next steps. The group needs to have a more defined role and authority on specific issues as expert advisors to Scottish Government
• the group’s membership needs to be reviewed as there are both some potential gaps (e.g. children and young people; early years; childcare) and some opportunities for streamlining. It was recognised however that form follows function and the group’s membership needs to reflect the priorities that are agreed
• a communications strategy needs to be developed to link across national networks and local service areas
• the group needs to have a clear understanding of what impact/difference is being made as a result of its work

Potential priorities for the group were suggested as:

• reducing complexity/layering of the legislative and policy landscape
• workforce and workforce wellbeing but it will be crucial to define the scope of activity
• tackling child poverty although other groups are involved in this area so the leadership group will need to consider carefully what added value it can provide (e.g. ensuring greater policy coherence)
• outcomes and data at a strategic level
• keeping the promise (e.g. supporting the early development of the promise bill; planning and strategy to keep the promise with a focus on addressing “layering on” challenges and opportunities)
• children’s services planning including review of statutory guidance and how the leadership group can support the effective operation of children’s services planning partnerships.
• improving service delivery including transitions particularly greater “upstream” provision and support for children and young people with additional support needs

Next steps

The co-chairs will review the feedback from the discussions and consider the group’s priorities and work programme for the remainder of the year. A review of the group’s impact will be undertaken towards the end of the year.

Action

• members invited to volunteer to assist the co-chairs in developing the group’s priorities and work programme

Any other business and date of next meeting 

There was no other business. The group's next meeting will be in August. 

Action 

• Secretariat to arrange dates for meetings from August to December