Scotland's children's services plans 2023-2026 review: improving outcomes for children, young people and families

5. Use of data and evidence

This chapter discusses how data and evidence was incorporated into Children’s Services Plans and used to inform their development. Chapter 6 considers Criterion 5 (Manageable and measurable strategic priorities) and Chapter 8 considers Criterion 13 (Monitoring and evaluating progress).

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (Criterion 3)

The Statutory Guidance states that Children’s Services Plans should incorporate a robust, evidence-based Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which identifies the needs of the current population of the children and young people in its area as well as data on service performance. Findings from the JSNA should inform the CSP’s strategic priorities and actions, as well as services planned over the CSP’s 3-year period.

Fewer CSPs fully met this criterion than at the previous review, with 18 2020-2023 CSPs fully achieving Criterion 3 compared with 13 in 2023-2026 (Figure 5.1).

Children’s Services Plans which fully met this criterion provided a clear description of how the JSNA was conducted (including methodology and data sources), presented a summary of findings from the JSNA, and explicitly linked findings to the agreed strategic priorities. Comprehensive data and evidence on children and young people was also provided in these cases, including information about specific groups of children and young people with specific needs, for example particular age groups, children with care experience, disabled children, children in conflict with the law, those living in poverty, or young carers.

CSPs that partially met this criterion included some, but not all, of the required content; there was often an absence of clear links between the JSNA findings and the priorities of the Children’s Services Plan. Two CSPs did not meet this criterion; in these cases, some population level data was provided, but there was no reference to a JSNA having been undertaken or clear links between the data and the CSP’s priorities.

Most Children’s Services Plans included a dedicated section on the statistical profile of local children and young people, spanning population, health, and socio-economic data. Some CSPs signposted readers to a separate full-length JSNA document, with a short section summarising findings from the JSNA presented in the CSP.

Examples of good practice

Aberdeen City: A detailed social and health profile of the area (with national average data comparators) is provided, with various sources including Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland and Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE) This includes data on birth rates, birth weights, immunisations, food insecurity, dental health, and the number of children in care. The Children’s Services Plan confirms that the priorities identified take full account of the population needs assessment, and there is evidence of this provided throughout. For example, the JSNA notes that the pandemic has impacted on younger children achieving their developmental milestones; this is clearly linked to the following priority aim: “Increase the number of 0-5s who meet developmental milestones by 2026.”

North Lanarkshire: A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment was undertaken to inform the Children’s Services Plan, with a summary of this presented on pp. 14-19, and a link to the full JSNA also provided. The summary presents information about how the JSNA was conducted, high level findings on population, health and poverty, and a clear explanation of how the JSNA findings have shaped the CSP’s priorities.

Highland: The Children’s Services Plan summarises findings from a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), and a link is provided to signpost readers to the full document. The full JSNA provides comprehensive data on the wellbeing of children and young people at different stages (including infancy and early years, primary school and secondary school), as well as extensive information on children with additional or complex needs. Statistics include: percentage of children living in poverty, number of unintentional injuries in under 5s and data on substance use among children and young people. Comparisons against the national average and previous years provide useful context for the data. Sources for the data include: Public Health Scotland, Highland Council Educational Psychology Service and Highland Lifestyle Survey and the End Child Poverty Coalition. The CSP confirms that the priorities and themes in the CSP have been identified using evidence in the JSNA.

Analysis of data (Criterion 4)

In addition to a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), Children’s Services Plans are required to include analysis of quantitative and qualitative data on service performance and child wellbeing. In many cases, this data was considered within the JSNA.

There was an increase in the number of CSPs which fully met this criterion since the last review. Over half (16) of the CSPs fully achieved this criterion in 2023-26 and one did not, compared with 13 and 5 respectively in the previous review (Figure 4.2).

Children’s Services Plans which fully met this criterion included a comprehensive range of quantitative data relating to children and young people’s wellbeing, qualitative data (such as case studies, quotes, and findings from stakeholder consultation) and service-level performance data (for example KPI’s, referrals, waiting lists and findings from inspections, audits or evaluations).

The CSPs that partially met this criterion included some aspects of the required data, but not all. For example, some provided limited data which did not cover all aspects of wellbeing across the SHANARRI indicators or did not include any qualitative data. In addition, service-level performance data was missing in 10 Children’s Services Plans.

The CSP that did not meet this criterion discussed some stakeholder views but did not include any quantitative data on wellbeing or service performance data.

Statistics and indicators commonly provided in Children’s Services Plans included: birth rates; school enrolment numbers; children living in poverty; ethnicity data; children with healthy weight; numbers of young carers; positive post-school destination rates; child protection registrations; information on looked after children; teenage pregnancies; and CAMHS waiting times to receive treatment and rates of referrals. Many Children’s Services Plans utilised graphs, tables and charts to present data in an engaging way.

The most common example of service level performance data was findings from internal service monitoring, audits and learning reviews. This included the number of referrals, service users and waiting times for particular services. Some CSPs also included findings from external sources such as Children’s Services Inspections by the Care Inspectorate.

Comparison data with previous years and the national average was provided in some CSPs; this provided useful context for the data. Ten Children’s Services Plans provided a review of progress since their 2020-2023 Plan.

Examples of good practice

East Ayrshire: The Children’s Services Plan provides quantitative data across a range of wellbeing indicators; statistics include percentage of children living in poverty, percentage of P1 children with healthy weight, and percentage of young people who have progressed to positive post-school destinations. Comparisons with previous years provide a useful context for current performance. Qualitative findings from engagement with stakeholders are woven throughout the CSP; for example, p. 27 highlights key themes from discussions with local parents and carers and p. 12 discusses findings from the Programme of Best Value Service Reviews 2020-23. There is also a dedicated section summarising key achievements since the last CSP.

Glasgow City: The Children’s Services Plan contains comprehensive quantitative data about the local area; for example, statistics are provided on child poverty, children in care, mental health, and uptake of support. Comparisons with national data are given, and various graphs and charts are provided to illustrate trends over time. Data is provided on groups of children and families with specific needs, including refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQIA+ communities, low-income families and care-experienced children. Extensive qualitative data is also included; findings from consultation events and quotes from children, families and members of the community are presented throughout. Work to map family support undertaken by Glasgow City Council for the Voluntary Sector is described to show the complexity of support accessed by families. Its findings provide baseline data through which future systems change will occur to simplify service receipt.

South Ayrshire: Findings from an internal Health and Wellbeing Survey are discussed, highlighting local children’s views on issues such as community safety, mental health, and bullying. Service performance data is also provided. Page 29 sets out findings from a learning review which identified gaps in the provision of Whole Family Support in South Ayrshire. Page 25 (What does our data tell us?) clearly maps findings from the CSPP’s analysis of data to the strategic priorities.

Additional Policy and Engagement Context

Embedding a holistic and outcomes-focussed approach to wellbeing of children, young people and families, remains a central focus of national and local improvement activity. This is reflected as a core component in the Transforming Outcomes Route Map, which forms part of Scotland’s Children, Young People and Families Outcomes Framework (further information on this in Appendix C). The Routemap is two high-level driver diagrams which reflect individual and collective activity across Scotland, at strategic, operational service, and frontline practice level. This first diagram shows ‘what’ we need to deliver (services, support, policies) in order to improve outcomes for children and families, and the second diagram shows the ‘how’ - ways of working to achieve positive change, with key themes for collaborative improvement activity.

The Verity House Agreement signed in 2023 also reflects the shared commitment to evidence-based policy making, by national and local government. It supports proportionate reporting and collection of data to underpin transparent and accountable decision-making at local and national level, and includes opportunities to streamline requirements, and improve use of data to better understand and address issues.

In October 2023, the Children and Families National Leadership Group held a deep-dive session focussed on outcomes-based approaches across all areas of work, with a focus on changes needed to better embed a more holistic understanding of wellbeing of children, young people and families. This included better join-up of data across different areas of policy, service delivery and practice, and evidencing impact.

Use of data to understand local needs has remained an area of focus and peer learning for the Children’s Services Planning Strategic Leads Network. A network session was facilitated by Public Health Scotland (PHS) in 2023 which explored how and where PHS can support Children’s Services Planning Partnerships over each three-year planning, delivery and reporting cycle. This considered use of available data/intelligence to develop Children’s Services Plans, inform strategic priority-setting, and plan local service provision based on a robust understanding of local population needs, and the different demographic groups within this. The session also looked at data to monitor implementation and service performance, as well as annual reporting through analysis of trends in child and family wellbeing data.

A joint pop-up workshop was held with the Children’s Services Planning Strategic Leads Network and the WFWF Learning into Action Network in 2023 focused on “Evidencing the Difference.” This enabled partners to come together to look at use of data to demonstrate the impact service delivery and provision of supports is making on outcomes for children and families. This session was contributed to by the Care Inspectorate and Renfrewshire’s Children’s Services Planning Partnership.

The CELCIS concluding research report on Children’s Services Reform was published in December 2023. This highlights the importance of improving the quality of the data landscape in Scotland as key to creating the optimal conditions for implementing effective, sustainable change to improve support and outcomes for children, young people and families. The research emphasises a continued need to improve data-gathering systems, data development (including meaningful measures), and analytical capacity-building in application of data, to support evidence-based decision-making.