Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board: terms of reference

Background

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board progressed the recommendations of the Children and Young People Mental Health Taskforce with a focus on prevention and early support as well as promotion of good mental health. This included delivering the recommendations of the Taskforce, the Youth Commission on Mental Health and the Audit of Rejected Referrals.

The Scottish Government’s Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan outlines the Scottish Government’s response to the mental health impacts of Covid-19. It addresses the challenges that the pandemic has had, and will continue to have, on the population’s mental health. The Plan included the commitment to:

• in partnership with COSLA, review the deliverables, remit and membership of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board in light of Covid-19

The original aims of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board have been achieved, or evolved into the refreshed deliverables which have been approved by Scottish Ministers and COSLA. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board will be the next phase of this process. 

Purpose 

The Joint Delivery Board will continue to focus on overseeing reforms to ensure children, young people and their families receive the support they need, when they need it, underpinned by the values, principles and components of Getting it right for every child, and responsive to local needs and systems. The Joint Delivery Board will also consider the short and long term impact of Covid-19 on children and young people and ensure this is reflected in the overall work of the Board. In addition, the Board will ensure that work across the Task and Finish Groups links to The Promise across the breadth of its deliverables. 

In line with the recommendations of the previous Programme Board, there will be a focus on prevention and early support as well as promotion of good mental health and the services children, young people and their families’ access. Importantly, the voices and experiences of children, young people and their families will be at the centre. This will be undertaken by overseeing progress on agreed deliverables.

The Joint Delivery Board will continue to receive reports on the delivery of the 2018/19 Programme for Government commitments including provisions of counselling services in secondary schools.

Timescales

The Joint Delivery Board is expected to run until the end of December 2022.  

Governance

The Joint Delivery Board will report on progress against the deliverables to Scottish Ministers and the COSLA spokespeople for Children and Young People and Health and Social Care. The spokespeople and the Minister will meet at regular intervals corresponding with the board timetable ensuring ongoing joint political leadership. Regular reports will also be provided to the appropriate COSLA boards.  

When required, task and finish groups will be established by the Board. These will include where appropriate, membership from the previous Programme Board to progress specific deliverables, bringing together those best able to implement these actions. Task and finish groups will have appropriate Scottish Government, Local Government and Health representation and are required to engage appropriately to ensure the views of children young people, and their families are reflected. Additional members may be invited to join the task and finish groups to cover specific interests as required. Membership to the task and finish groups will be reviewed as necessary.

The Joint Delivery Board and the Task and Finish groups will ensure that they connect with wider relevant groups where appropriate (e.g. Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board and the Suicide Prevention Action Plan) ensuring coherence to support the best possible outcomes for our children and young people. 

Membership

The Programme Board will be jointly chaired by the Scottish Government Director of Mental Health and the COSLA Head of Policy. 

Membership of the Programme Board will be drawn by seeking representatives of the following groups:

• Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP)
• Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES)
• Social Work Scotland
• SOLACE
• Integration Joint Board (IJB) Network
• INCLUDEM representing Children in Scotland forum 
• Action for Children representing the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) forum
• NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
• Child/young person/s representation 
• National Parent Forum of Scotland 
• Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board
• NHS Chief Executive
• CAMHS Lead Clinician
• Director of Learning, Scottish Government
• Director of Children and Families, Scottish Government

The Joint Delivery Board will also make use of the services of a Participation Officer who will make the appropriate links with children and young people to ensure that co-production takes place and that the voices of children, young people, parents and carers are at the centre of the Board and task and finish groups. A set of principles for engaging with children and young people will be developed and these will be underpinned by Article 12 of the UNCRC to ensure every child has the right to be heard in matters affecting them and to participate in the life of their family, community and society.

Structure

The Board will be supported by designated senior programme leads who will continue to lead on the key agreed work areas to ensure the refreshed deliverables are completed by the task and finish groups within the agreed timescales. Each deliverable will have a board member who acts as a sponsor and their role will include collating feedback at Board meetings, ensuring that views of the Board are taken into account by the task and finish groups. Programme leads will attend Board meetings to provide regular updates on the work they are responsible for. 

A Programme Director will work with the programme leads on a regular basis to ensure the coherent delivery of updates and reports for Programme Board members.

A number of the deliverables already have an evaluation process established. The Delivery Board will consider which of the deliverables will require evaluation to ensure impact, need and appropriate funding levels can be fully understood. 

Accountability – Secretariat

The Delivery Board will also be supported by a Programme Office which will ensure that all deliverables are properly developed, and provide regular programme reports on progress and the management of key risks. The Programme office will also: 

• organise meetings 
• record minutes of meetings and publish these on the Scottish Government website 
• provide a central point of contact for Group members

Scope

The scope of the Delivery Board will include all relevant areas of health and community services, as well as any wider areas which impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. 

Accountability and reporting

The Board is not established on a statutory basis. It is therefore not subject to the formal public appointments process and the requirements of the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland.  Members are appointed by Scottish Ministers and COSLA, taking into account the views of the Co-Chairs.

All members of the Delivery Board will be asked to declare any conflicts of interest at each meeting. Any action to be taken on the basis of these declarations will be at the discretion of the Co-Chairs. If one of the Co-Chair’s has a conflict of interest, the remaining Co-Chair will lead in determining the appropriate course of action.

Transparency and communication 

The Terms of Reference, updates, reports, membership and minutes of meetings will be published on the Scottish Government’s website.

Where possible, the Programme Office will issue papers at least one week in advance of meetings and presentations 48 hours before meetings. 

Through a selection of appropriate media platforms we will ensure that information on the work of the Board and links to access to mental health support reaches stakeholders including but not restricted to local authorities, Health and Social Care partnerships, NHS, charities, third sector organisations, young people, parents and families.

Arrangements for decision making 

Papers will be distributed to all Board members at least week in advance of meetings and where appropriate, recommendations made for a particular course of action. Members will have the opportunity to review, discuss and provide advice to the Chair in their capacity as decision-maker. Decisions will be clearly communicated to members, either during the course of Board meetings, or thereafter. 

Efforts will be made to ensure members are able to discuss issues for decision or clearance at a Delivery Board meeting. If it is not possible to facilitate a discussion at a Board meeting due to timeframes, details will be circulated for clearance via correspondence. 

Mental Health Directorate, Scottish Government 
COSLA
April 2021