Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024

Part 6 Governance And Partnership Working

Delivering The Promise requires major systems change. We have been clear that the Scottish Government must and will lead from the front, but success relies on good partnership and collaboration. It is clear that the organisational will to keep The Promise is high across our public and third sectors. In demonstrating this many organisations have developed their structures and their governance to ensure that activities and corporate parenting duties are appropriately delivered.

National Governance

In confirming the ongoing commitment to keep The Promise the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don-Innes MSP was appointed in April 2023. This provides a dedicated Ministerial focus to deliver the change required by the Independent Care Review and reports directly to the First Minister.

In addition, the cross-portfolio commitment has been further strengthened by the establishment of a dedicated Cabinet Sub-Committee on The Promise. Announced as part of the Programme for Government in September 2023 the Cabinet Sub-Committee and aims to meet four times per year.

Its purpose is to explore in greater detail progress on keeping The Promise and decision making on key issues during the life of the programme. It provides the opportunity to direct and support; to provide a route for prioritisation, influence and challenge decision making to introduce the change required to improve the outcomes for children, young people, adults and families with care experience.

Across the Civil Service structure, The Promise is being implemented as a major national change programme. This commitment sits across Ministerial portfolios and across a broad range of teams and Directorates. The oversight of progress is guided through a Promise Programme Board chaired by the Director of Children and Families and draws its membership from Directors across the Scottish Government.

The importance of joint working between National and Local Government is essential and the Verity House Agreement signed in June 2023 provides a strengthened context for this joint working. This relationship has supported the development and agreement of The Promise Progress Framework and strengthens the relationship between the Scottish Government Promise Programme Board and the Local Government Promise Programme Board.

The Scottish Government continues to work with partners across the public sector to identify areas for joint working and to share and learn from the information we hold and the activities we are respectively leading. This work continues through:

• The Promise Collective which will work with a broad range of organisations responsible for delivering The Promise to develop and monitor the Promise Progress Framework;
• the National Leadership Group and the Children Services Planning Strategic Leads Network
• as well as ongoing engagement directly across policy activities and themed partnerships.

National Accountability and Direction

At a national level the Oversight Board reports annually on progress and in so doing holds to account the activities of the Scottish Government, local government and partners across Scotland. This independent overview informed by the lived experience of members is highly valuable in ensuring the actions that we are taking are on track and are delivering the impact required.

In January 2024 there have been changes in the membership of the Oversight Board with new members joining and existing members stepping down as a result of the end of their 3 year tenure in post.

The Promise Scotland is the organisation funded solely by Scottish Government to work across all partners to help drive the change and overcome the barriers to progress. In September 2022, Fraser McKinlay was appointed as Chief Executive of the organisation and shortly after the Governance Board to oversee the running of the organisation was reaffirmed. Directors of The Promise Scotland.

Children’s Services Plans

Children’s Services Planning is Scotland’s legislative approach to collaborative strategic planning and delivery of local services and support, so these are delivered in a way which achieves national priorities and meets local needs, and which results in improved wellbeing outcomes for children, young people and families living in each area. Children’s Services Planning duties are set out in Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and supporting statutory guidance.

Each local authority and health board must work collaboratively with specified service providers (such as integration joint boards) other public bodies, the third sector, and children, young people and families themselves, to develop their Children’s Services Plan (CSP). Each Children’s Services Planning Partnership (CSPP) has a multi-agency strategic governance group of local senior leaders with budgetary decision-making, who are responsible for overseeing local delivery of Children’s Services Planning duties across adult and children’s services. This includes publishing an annual report to demonstrate what progress has been made across partners to improve outcomes for children, young people and families living in that area through the delivery of services, support and improvement activity.

Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPP’s) are responsible for local collective leadership of a whole system approach to safeguard, support and promote wellbeing, so this upholds children’s rights, embeds Getting it right for every child, delivers holistic whole family support, and drives local action to keep The Promise as well as tackling inequality and poverty.

The Children's Services Planning (CSP) Strategic Leads Network promotes collaboration and delivery of improvement activity between and across CSPPs, Scottish Government, and key stakeholders, with an aim of strengthening the development, impact, and accountability of Children’s Services Planning arrangements across Scotland. The CSP Strategic Leads N etwork may, where required, escalate issues for resolution or make recommendations which inform decision-making and consideration by the Children and Families National Leadership Group (C&F NLG), .as well as responding to requests from the C&FNLG and Ministers, to support and deliver action required to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families.

East Lothian CSPP Collaborative Partnership

East Lothian CSPP is one of three collaborative partnerships (East Ayrshire, East Lothian and Glasgow City) which we are working with to accelerate plans and provide local learning that can be shared nationally. These CSPPs are part of the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding National Support for Local Delivery, a package of activity aimed at supporting local transformation.

With the support of the National Team, East Lothian colleagues are working with partners and communities on the ground to start to co-produce the cultures, structures and behaviours needed across the CSPP to support the transformational WFWF work.

This support has enabled East Lothian to build an understanding of what it takes to achieve change across the different levels – from strategic thinking to delivering services.