Statutory Guidance on Part 3 (Children's Services Planning) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

Review which services were covered in the most recent "Integrated Children's Services Plan".

According to guidance issued by Scottish Ministers in 2004, Integrated Children's Services Plans should have included (at a minimum) details of the services to be provided under:

• Children's Services Plans
  − Services for 'children in need'
  − Child protection services
  − Services for children affected by disability
  − Services for looked after children and care leavers
  − Adoption and fostering services
  − Targeted and universal early years and childcare services (including Sure Start Scotland, pre-school education, childcare and out-of-school care services)
  − Community Learning and Development (including youth work)
  − Support for Children's Hearings system

• Statements of Education Improvement Objectives
• Local Health Plans/Joint Health Improvement Plans/Child Health Strategies
  − Primary care
  − Community nursing
  − Community paediatric
  − Therapy services
  − Out-patient and hospital based services
  − Child and Adolescent Mental Health services

• Youth Justice Strategies

It is likely that all the services covered by an Integrated Children's Services Plan will meet the definition of either a children's service or a related service.

Map out, through a variety of case studies and the use of local service directories, all of the services and community assets which a child or young person would currently have access to, or benefit from, in the course of their lives, from antenatal through to their 18 ^th birthday. ^[15]

With the case studies, a variety of scenarios will be needed in order to reflect the wide range of childhood experiences. Particular attention will need to be paid to children with needs of a particular type (such as looked after children, children with a disability, children with an additional support need in learning or children involved in or at risk of offending), and the wide range of services which have a (potentially) significant effect on their wellbeing.

As the scope of the Children's Services Plan is all local services provided (by the organisations listed in section 7(2)) "wholly or mainly to, or for the benefit of, children generally" as well as those services which have " the capacity to have a significant effect on the wellbeing of children" it will be necessary to look beyond just services provided directly to children and young people (such as nursery, school, etc.). Consideration will need to be given to services provided to adults by virtue of their role as children's parents or carers (such as parenting classes, support groups, etc.), as these services are likely to be provided "for the benefit" of children. In addition, a number of services provided to adults, regardless of their relationship to a child may have significant effects on a child's wellbeing (such as adult drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services).

It is also worth noting that children and young people utilise many community services, such as libraries, public transport and leisure centres. Lack of access to services of this type has the potential to significantly affect their wellbeing. The availability of public transport, for instance, may play a role in determining the accessibility of services or initiatives provided for looked after children. To ensure the case study exercise is as robust as possible, all such interactions should be included.

When populating the case studies with information, it may be helpful to make reference to local directories of services and community support, such as ALISS (A Local Information System for Scotland), a Scottish Government funded platform designed to help people identify local health and wellbeing resources.

When the various case studies are complete, you should have a comprehensive list of the services used by (directly or indirectly) children, young people and families. Using this list, local authorities and their relevant health boards can then determine which of the services fall into either (or neither) of the categories - a children's service or a related service.

Under section 10(1)(a) of Part 3, a local authority and the relevant health board are under a duty to give each of the other service providers and the Scottish Ministers an effective opportunity (consistent with the extent to which the services they provide are to be the subject of the children's services plan) to participate in or contribute to the preparation of the plan and these service providers and the Scottish Ministers are required by section 10(5) to do so.

Under section 10(1)(b), the local authority and the relevant health board are under a duty to consult with:

• such organisations, whether or not formally constituted, which -

(a) represent the interests of persons who use or are likely to use any children's service in the area of the local authority, or

(b) provide a service in the area which, if it were provided by the local authority, relevant health board, "other service provider" or Scottish Ministers, would be a "children's service" or a "related service";

• such social landlords as appear to provide housing in the area of the local authority; and
• such other persons as Scottish Ministers may specify.

Those who are to be consulted (in the list above) are required by section 10(6) to meet any reasonable request which the local authority and relevant health board make of them to participate in the preparation of the children's services plans for the area and to contribute to the preparation of the plan.

Within these groups, local authorities and health boards may wish to give particular attention to obtaining the views of children and young people, across all ages, socio-economic groups and types of need. GIRFEC places the child's views at the centre of planning and decision making and the UNCRC requires national and local governments, as duty bearers, to respect, protect and fulfil children's rights (e.g. under Article 12 every child has a right to express their views and have them given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity). But also, in respect to strategic services planning, consultation with children and young people should provide critical, valuable information about the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in existing service provision.

Reviews of existing plans, scenario mapping and consultation (steps 1 - 3 above) should provide much useful information about which existing services should be included in a Children's Services Plan. However, as the plan should be a forward looking document (outlining the services which will be provided, over the three-year period, to meet the population's needs) it will also need to describe the services which will be developed in the future. To complete that process, a local authority and health board are likely to need detailed information about the local population's wellbeing needs.

Consultation with services users may provide part of the answer to this question, but on its own it cannot represent a thorough assessment of population need. That requires the analysis of a wide range of evidence, including (but not restricted to) service-level data (referrals, demographics of service users, etc.), population wellbeing surveys (such as those carried out under the Realigning Children's Services programme) and existing indicators (immunisation rates, school attendance, etc.).

Taken together, these sources of information will present a detailed picture of how the local population use local services, and where there are wellbeing issues which services are not currently adequately addressing. Such an analysis should help to determine which services need to be included in the plan.