Pregnancy and parenthood in young people: second progress report

Strand 1: Leadership and Accountability

Local Leadership

Action 1.4 Assign an accountable person to provide leadership and coordination for the Strategy

The PPYP Team has worked to identify a 'local lead' for all areas. This has enabled us to communicate with colleagues to understand local progress and challenge in relation to supporting young people around pregnancy and parenthood locally.

We are working with our leads to identify when more "hands on" input from the PPYP Team can be helpful and will continue to offer this support.

National Leadership

Action 1.3 A National Lead will be appointed to provide national leadership and to help drive implementation of the Strategy.

The appointment of a 'National Lead' for the Pregnancy and Parenthood in Young People Strategy has provided a resource who can advocate for the rights of young people around pregnancy and parenthood, working with organisations locally and nationally to help drive forward implementation.

In 2018, we set up our twitter account @PpypTeam which we have used to promote activity relevant to pregnancy and parenthood in young people.

We have worked to link with young people whenever possible. We have been speaking to young people about their views on healthy relationships and consent, and engaged with young parents to ensure their experiences continue to inform our work.

The PPYP Strategy Steering Group continues to provide expert advice, guiding implementation and advice on next steps.

Local Planning and Data

Action 1.1 Local needs assessments for young people should be reviewed and updated to reflect the actions in the Strategy.

Action 1.5 Action plans are in place to address the outcomes of the needs assessment and pathways in place that take account of data collecting protocols and data sharing practices.

Ensuring the needs of young people in relation to pregnancy and parenthood are taken account of in local planning is an essential part of ensuring that young people's holistic needs are considered. The team is continuing to support local areas to consider their young people's needs in relation to pregnancy and parenthood.

Working with different areas has meant understanding different approaches, and one which enables the PPYP Team to be part of thinking around pregnancy and parenthood in young people. Not only does this allow us to understand local approaches, but to also start sharing these across the country.

Working with Clackmannanshire

The PPYP Team worked with colleagues at Clackmannanshire Council to help them develop their PPYP Action Plan.

For the first time, the team took a hands on approach to facilitation, working with multi-agency colleagues to identify the great work already in progress, making the links across work streams and thinking about the gaps that the action plan can address.

This half day workshop enabled fantastic, collegiate discussion and produced a draft action plan that will help support improvements for young people around pregnancy and parenthood across Clackmannanshire.

The Team was delighted to work with Clackmannanshire and hope to be able to replicate this approach with other areas over the coming year.

Working with Tayside

Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and Angus local areas are taking a pan-Tayside approach to their local planning around pregnancy and parenthood in young people.

Through setting up a short life working group, multi-agency colleagues from across Tayside have been considering how best to support young people in Tayside around pregnancy and parenthood.

As part of this approach, the National Lead is a member of the Steering Group, facilitating linkages and sharing examples of good practice.

Next Steps: We will continue to support local implementation through the provision of our 'awareness sessions', working to understand local need and delivery, and sharing examples of good practice.