Children's Hearings Redesign Board July 2024

 

 

Attendees and apologies

Tom McNamara, Scottish Government, Chair

Laura Caven, COSLA, Co-Chair 

Neil Hunter, Principal Reporter, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration

Elliot Jackson, National Convener, Children’s Hearings Scotland

Lindsey Byrne, Social Work Scotland - online

Officials

Emma Wilson, Scottish Government

John Urquhart, COSLA

Nick Rougvie, Scottish Government

Susan Downes, Scottish Government (secretariat)

Apologies

Brian Taylor, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

Tom McNamara started the meeting acknowledging apologies from Brian and Ian. Nick Rougvie who is the Childrens Hearings Sponsor Team Leader and is attending today’s meeting as an observer.

Members were asked to comment on the accuracy of the note of previous meeting, a point of accuracy on page 3 section 3.6, views expressed in regard to capacity and resources was highlighted and will be corrected to reflect collective accountability.

A question was raised about the scope of the potential work to increase understanding of systems across children’s services and how these relate and connect to Children’s Hearings identified in section 3.9 of the previous meeting.  It was confirmed there have been a couple of conversations with CELCIS and other policy teams across Directorate for Children and Families (DCAF) and that a scope of the work can be circulate to the board once agreed.

Action

Emma Wilson to circulate the scope of the mapping work with CELCIS, in regard to recommendation 7.5 once it has been agreed and finalised.

All actions complete with the exception of Action RB-16 – Emma Wilson to provide a paper for the next meeting which details current and planned activity that maps to the recommendations and beyond. This action has been delayed due to work on the consultation and will be issued shortly.

Members agreed the production of an estimate timeline for the redesign work would be useful for discussions with colleagues and stakeholders who are slightly further removed from the redesign work. This could provide reassurance that changes will be sequenced and implemented in stages and that this work will have a completion point. The resource issue across the sector is very much accepted and there is recognition that for the purpose of planning, partners need to be aware of where, when and which resources will be required. Once confirmation of the legislative vehicle and associated timelines are received it will be confirmed with the group and a timeline can be published.

Consultation & Engagement

The children’s hearings redesign consultation launched on Friday 26 July; all members should have had a conversation about the contents in advance of publication. It will be interesting to see the depth of conversation the consultation instigates.

A decision was taken not to do a big launch for this consultation, as the aim is to collect views of those with lived and living experience of the children’s hearing system including children, young people, families and professionals within the sector rather than the wider public. There are some proposals within the consultation paper which are a straw man for people to comment on, add views and/or provide alternatives. There may be further movements and changes to the proposals where better ideas and suggestions are brought forward. The redesign team are open to views, new ideas and ways of doing things as the arise.

An easy read version has been commissioned and will be available shortly along with some additional documents to assist in supporting engagement with younger people.

A series of engagement events are being planned and work has been undertaken to reach out to key stakeholders to ensure we can reach as much of the workforce as possible, specific tailored events will also be offered. The Children and Young People Participation (CYPP) Framework will be used to co-ordinate some engagement with young people across the four consultations. This will be supplements by some direct engagement between the redesign team and OHOV, Champs boards and other groups representing young people.

Our Hearings Our Voice (OHOV)

Emma Wilson advised members of her attendance at the Our Hearings Our Voice (OHOV) board meeting. The OHOV board were advised of the consultation and plans for future engagement and were eager to be involved and provide further feedback and help to facilitate discussions with wider groups of children and young people. OHOV members expressed interest how feedback is sought through the hearings system, how this works and is acted upon and improvements made to the hearings system are evaluated.

Priorities Workshop

At the last redesign board members commissioned the planning group to do some work on identifying priorities for the board. The planning group workshop session, held on Wednesday 24 July was very productive and the priorities agreed have been provided in the paper circulated.

During the workshop there was agreement on the importance of identing a continuum of work with short and long projects and tasks. There was considerable discussion about making sure all projects and tasks were well planned with a clear scope, timescales, identified skills and resource requirements and intended outcomes.

Members noted that not all task and projects will be radical, some maybe smaller improvements which will collectively advance the redesign ambition. The work outlined in the paper would be phase one with potential to add additional priorities as areas of work are completed.

It was agreed the Redesign Boards role would be one of commissioning and evaluation of projects, allowing the planning group to develop the scope of work and providing feedback to the board as appropriate. The planning group should regularly update the board on progress of the work being undertaken and seek advice on complexities or barriers which need addressed. The next meeting of the planning group is scheduled for Thursday 5 September.

The board discussed its role in ensuring the appropriate skills and expertise is dedicated to the project and programme management of these priorities. Further consideration should be given to how the board ensure Local Authority Social Work perspective was equally invested in, either through additional funding or alternative resourcing measures.

Public Sector Reform

Neil Hunter explained there have been several requests issued to Non Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) for financial returns, information relating to shared services and resourcing. NDPBs are forming clusters of similar bodies to provide collective responses to some of these requests. The board agreed that there is an opportunity to provide Ministers with a collective update through the lens of children’s hearings redesign.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday 29 October 2024, 11:00 – 12:30, online

Summary of actions

Action RB19 – Emma Wilson to circulate the scope of the mapping work with CELCIS, in regard to recommendation 7.5 once it has been agreed and finalised.