Children and families: National Leadership Group minutes - 21 May 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Louise Long(Co-Chair), SOLACE
• Laura Caven, CoSLA 
• Gillian Gibson, CoSLA
• Lynne McNiven, Directors of Public Health 
• Lynda Fenton, Public Health Scotland
• Andrew Gillies, Social Work Scotland
• Helen Happer, Care Inspectorate 
• Jess Elsey, SSSC 
• Elliot Jackson, Children's Hearings Scotland
• Lisa Bennett, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration 
• Mark Ratter, ADES 
• Sarah Gadsden, Improvement Services
• Tam Ballie, Child Protection Committees Scotland
• Mary Glasgow, CCPS 
• Jude Turbyne, Children in Scotland
• Fraser McKinlay, The Promise
• Claire Burns, CELCIS 
• Jane Scott, CELCIS 
• Lorraine Sillars, CELCIS 
• Emma Hanley, CELCIS 
• Deborah Burn, CELCIS 
• Kirsty Doull, 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

Louise Long welcomed members to the meeting with thanks that they had been able to attend the group’s first in-person session. The meeting’s purpose was to discuss how the main improvement themes from the children’s services reform research can help the group consider its own leadership role and functions in supporting change.

Andrew Watson also thanked members for attending and summarised the new First Minister’s priorities particularly eradicating child poverty and improving public services.

Leadership functions - drivers for change from the research on children's services reform

Jane Scott (CELCIS) presented the main issues for the group’s leadership functions arising from the drivers for change from the research on children’s services reform. These were:

• continued focus on and realisation of rights including a clear focus on UNCRC Incorporation into Scots law; and ongoing work to ensure the participation of all children, young people and families in decision-making, strategic planning and service delivery
• address poverty and deprivation - consider what more decision-makers and policy-makers can do to meet current financial, housing and health challenges particularly improving co-ordinated action across services
• cluttered legislative and policy landscape – consider simplifying and better aligning policies and approaches and ensuring these are more clearly delineated, communicated and operationalised for frontline practice
• better quality and greater sharing of data – address data gaps including qualitative information on the experiences of children, young people and families; develop better integrated or shared data systems to support multi-agency working
• improve the relationship between integration and outcomes – more joined-up national and local leadership with a clear, shared vision of change that provides better outcome measures; greater stability and a stronger basis for long-term planning
• support for the Workforce including staff wellbeing; recruitment; pay; and strengthening relationship-based practices
• timely access and seamless transitions across services including earlier and better access to preventative family support services and specialist health, mental health and disability support. Lack of secure, long-term funding for services, particularly in the third sector was highlighted in the research as contributing to gaps and weaknesses

Claire Burns (CELCIS) discussed the leadership roles and qualities required to best utilise these drivers for change that the research had identified. There is a strong desire for collaborative leadership across national, local and community levels. A national approach with local flexibilities is the preferred approach although the difficulties of achieving this in practice are recognised. Examples of national approaches to support local service delivery are implementation of policy and guidance; workforce planning; and data infrastructure.

In terms of the qualities required for developing collaborative leadership, leaders have to build trust across partners. They also need to nurture a supportive culture where learning, development and wellbeing of the workforce is valued. Leaders should be “authentic”, “humble” and “courageous”. Courageous was described as taking risks including through making difficult decisions and giving permission for the workforce to do things differently. 

The discussion session for members focused on the Group’s leadership function, practices and priorities. Initial feedback highlighted that the group should:

• have a more defined, pro-active and influential role as expert advisors especially in shaping future Scottish Government policy
• prioritise its work more clearly and firmly – focusing on a few key activities and pursuing these in depth over the remainder of this year. There were a number of suggestions for these priorities including policy alignment; workforce wellbeing; improving data quality and sharing; shifting resources towards prevention; review of statutory guidance for children’s services planning
• help to promote and support collaborative leadership approaches at national and local levels – unblocking barriers and dealing with challenges
• create better alignment across different working groups
• learn from what worked well in tackling the Covid pandemic and apply this to current challenges including tackling child poverty

Case study - key issues and challenges for policy implementation

Claire Burns and Lorraine Sillars (CELCIS) encouraged members to use the ways of working and outcomes from the previous discussion to consider solutions to help resolve key issues and challenges for policy implementation from the research on children’s services reform.

The research found that practitioners described working in the context of a cluttered, insufficiently aligned and, at times, contradictory legislative and policy landscape. Policy changes were seen as being ‘layered on’ without a clear understanding of the impacts on other existing policies. This results in confusion and a continual shifting of focus. Local leaders, managers and practitioners are also struggling with implementation, particularly as there is no national sequencing, insufficient support for implementation, and all services are trying to manage the crisis in recruitment and retention at the same time.

Initial feedback from members was as follows:

• need to make policies robust and flexible enough to deliver the greatest improvements over the long term while being responsive to shifting contexts and demands.  GIRFEC was suggested as a good example of this type of policy
• once these more future-proofed policies have been identified then all partners need to avoid “layering-on” by continuing to add “new things” This will require partners to agree collectively the policies that will have the greatest impact; ensure they are coherent; well-connected and well understood; and maintain the course in implementation. This will help to ensure shared ownership and accountability. There also needs to realistic funding for implementation over the long term
• need to consider how to take some of the demands out of the system to free up time and resource (e.g. in relation to reporting – “there is a lot of time spent proving what we do rather than improving what we do”). This will require partners to agree both what will be done and what will not be done
• need to strengthen the policy feedback loop and “flip it” so we are learning more from practice. This includes greater empowerment of the workforce; children and families

Next steps

The Co-Chairs thanked attendees for their input. The feedback from the session will be collated and analysed in more detail for the group’s next meeting.  It was suggested that the group’s membership should be reviewed following agreement of the group’s function and priorities. This should include consideration of how to ensure greater participation from children and young people.

Any other business and date of next meeting

There was no any other business. The group’s next meeting is on 11 June between 3.05 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. and will be online.