Agenda pack
North Lanarkshire Council · 28 February 2023
Back to Education, Children and Families Committee — 28 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Our Ref: Your Ref: Contact: Tel: Fax: E-Mail: Date: Clare Louise McDonald 01698302190 mcdonaldcl@northlan.gov.uk 17 Feb 2023 Members of the Education, Children and Families Committee Chief Executive’s Office Archie Aitken Chief Officer of Legal & Democratic Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street Motherwell ML1 1AB DX 571701, Motherwell 2 www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk Notice is given that a Meeting of the EDUCATION, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES COMMITTEE is to be held within the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Motherwell on Tuesday, 28 February 2023 at 2:00 pm which you are requested to attend. The agenda of business is attached. Chief Officer of Legal and Democratic Members : Councillors: D Ashraf, A Ballinger, C Barclay, B Baudo, M Boyd, H Brannan-McVey, A Bustard, A Campbell, T Carragher, C Costello, M Coyle, S Coyle, G Currie, A Duffy- Lawson, H Dunbar, F Fotheringham, M Hughes, D Johnston, T Johnston, J Jones, P Kelly, J Keltie, A Khan, K Larson, G Lennon, H Loughran, A Magowan, A Masterton, B McCluskey, B McCulloch, F McKay, R McKendrick, C McManus, M McPake, A McVey, L Mitchell, K Stevenson, J Toner, N Wilson and G Woods, G McCormack; M McCrossan; G Paterson and I Scott. Page 1 of 253
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AGENDA (1) Declarations of Interest in terms of the Ethical Standards in Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 OPERATIONAL (2) Appointment of Representative of the Church of Scotland (page 5 - 8) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) advising of the nomination made by the Church of Scotland, for appointment as their statutory representative to the Committee (copy herewith) (3) 1140 Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme Update (page 9 - 28) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) providing an update on the 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare expansion prorgamme within North Lanarkshire (copy herewith) (4) Strathclyde Park Outdoor Education Programme (page 29 - 34) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) providing an update on the increased number of participants and the range of activities now available to young people (copy herewith) (5) Getting it Right for Every Child (page 35 - 62) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) providing an update on the progress of the implementation and development of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) process across the Education and Families Services (copy herewith) (6) Proposals for Statutory Public Consultations on the Proposed New Build for Gartcosh Primary (page 63 - 80) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) seeking approval to undertake statutory public consultations on the proposed new build for Gartcosh Primary School (copy herewith) (7) Proposals for Statutory Public Consultations on the Proposed Relocation of Mavisbank School to the existing Carnbroe Primary (page 81 - 96) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) seeking approval to undertake statutory public consultations on the proposed relocation of Mavisbank School to existing Carnbroe Primary (copy herewith) (8) Proposals for Statutory Public Consutlation on the Proposed Rezoning of the Dunlop Estate (page 97 - 110) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) seeking approval to undertake statutory public consultations on the proposed rezoning of the Dunlop estate within North Lanarkshire (copy herewith) (9) Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2021/22 (page 111 - 174) Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer seeking approval of the annual report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2021/22 (copy herewith) Page 3 of 253
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2 (10) Keeping the Promise - Care Experienced Children and Young People (page 175 - 194) Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer providing an update on the key developments to deliver the Promise: Care Foundation to support care experienced children and young people (copy herewith) (11) Keeping the Promise - Support for Families, Children and Young People (page 195 - 218) Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer outlining that a new approach to youth justice in Scotland is required and outlining the Council's approach (copy herewith) PERFORMANCE (12) Strategic Performance Framework - latest Performance Results for Education (page 219 - 232) Submit joint report by the Chief Officer (Education – North) and the Chief Officer (Education - South) providing an update on the latest performance results for Education under the Strategic Performance Framework (copy herewith) FINANCIAL (13) Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Period 10 - 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 (page 233 - 246) Submit report by the Deputy Chief Executive providing a summary of the financial performance of the Education, Children and Families Service for the period 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023, Period 10 (copy herewith) CONTRACTS (14) Contracts Awarded Below Committee Approval Threshold (page 247 - 253) Submit report by the Chief Officer (Asset and Procurement) providing notification of the contracts awarded between 1 October to 31 December 2022 with a value below the financial threshold requiring Committee approval (copy herewith) Page 4 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref Date 28/02/23 Appointment of Representative of the Church of Scotland From A Aitken, Chief Officer of Legal and Democratic E-mail rosean@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07951 409714 1. Background 1.1 At its meeting held on 22 November 2022, the Committee received verbal notification from the Democratic Services Manager that notification had been received by the Council that Mr. D Hannan, the representative of the Church of Scotland, had tendered his resignation. At that time, no nomination had been received for a new representative. 1.2 In accordance with the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, where the Council constitutes a Committee to deal with education issues, there is a statutory requirement to appoint, as Members of the Committee (a) one representative of the Church of Scotland, nominated in such a manner as may be determined by the General Assembly of the Church; (b) one representative of the Roman Catholic Church, nominated in such Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to notify the Committee of the nomination made by the Church of Scotland for Ms. Margaret Clarkson to be appointed as its statutory representative to the Committee. Recommendations The Committee is recommended to:- (1) Acknowledge the nomination by the Church of Scotland for Ms. M. Clarkson to be its representative on the Committee, and (2) Remit this report to the Council with a recommendation that Ms. M. Clarkson be appointed as the representative of the Church of Scotland on the Education, Children and Families Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them AGENDA ITEM 2 Page 5 of 253
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a manner as may be determined by the Scottish Hierarchy of the Church, and (c) one person in the selection of whom the Council shall have regard, taking account of the representation of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church, to the comparative strength within the Council’s area of the churches and denominational bodies having appointed places of worship. The statutory provision accordingly applies to the Education, Children and Families Committee. 2. Report 2.1 Following the completion of its internal processes for identifying an appropriate person, notification was received from the Church of Scotland by the Council on 2 February 2023 that Ms. M. Clarkson was that Church’s nominated person. 2.2 Ms. Clarkson brings 37 years’ experience as a classroom teacher, both within mainstream secondary and the additional support needs sector, and still has an interest for young people and education. 2.3 The Council is bound to accept the nomination from the Church of Scotland and the Committee is recommended to remit this report to the Council seeking its formal approval for Ms. Clarkson to be appointed to the Committee. Until formal approval is provided by the Council, Ms. Clarkson is unable to take up her position on the Committee. Accordingly, if the Council approves the appointment, the first meeting of the Committee that Ms. Clarkson will be entitled to attend is on 23 May 2023. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Compliance with the statutory obligations set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 4. Supporting documentation None Archie Aitken Chief Officer of Legal and Democratic Page 6 of 253
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? This appointment is undertaken in accordance with the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Page 7 of 253
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 8 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GML/JOH Date 28/02/23 P030.1 – 1140 Early Learning & Childcare Expansion Programme Update From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812269 Executive Summary The 1140 Hours Expansion programme for Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) is a national programme developed in a unique way, in response to specific local circumstances. This report provides Committee with an updated position on the 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) expansion programme within North Lanarkshire. It reinforces previous reports which have already been approved by Committee and is based on significant consultation with stakeholders. In addition, it supports The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The report focuses on the capital programme, workforce and progress in relation to quality. In addition, it provides a financial update as of period 9. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the 1140 project update (2) Endorse the progress of Heathery Park Family Learning Centre (3) Endorse the position regarding the ELC Procurement Framework (4) Endorse the increase in rates for day care providers. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe AGENDA ITEM 3 Page 9 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) achieved full delivery of 1140 hours by 30 September 2020, prior to it being legislative from August 2021. 1.2 The ELC team continues to progress with plans to ensure children and families fully access the benefits of 1140 hours. 2. Report 2.1 Infrastructure Projects 2.1.1 Table 1 provides an update regarding the outstanding infrastructure projects. Table 1 Site Start Date Completion Date Extensions / Adaptations Craigneuk FLC February 2023 March 2023 Heatherypark FLC April 2022 May 2023 2.1.2 The work being carried out at Craigneuk Family Learning Centre has been delayed due to issues with the centres roof. The roof is being replaced and work is scheduled to be completed by the end of January, allowing the nursery adaptions to then start. 2.1.3 Work continues within Heatherypark FLC. Albeit the project is delayed the contractor is making progress. The building / extension is effectively wind and watertight, the carpark is complete and groundworkers have been appointed and work re-commenced on the deck area. Regular meetings continue to take place with the contractors and officers from Asset & Procurement to ensure the continuous progress of the work. At this time, the service believes the completion date will be by the end of May 2023. 2.1.4 The Head of Centre and ELC practitioners have been appointed. Plans are in place to fully resource and set up Heatherypark FLC at the end of May 2023 to enable it to open for June 2023. The service will review eligible 2-year-old applications and the ELC locality panel chair will work closely with other agencies to review applications (requests for assistance) and allocated placements for 2-year-old children most in need. 2.2 Workforce 2.2.1 Committee will recall NLC employed 536 additional employees to support the implementation of 1140 hours ELC. Just over 300 positions were temporary (Support Workers & Keyworkers) and it is now our ambition to secure permanency for these positions. There was recognition that due to the large volume of these positions there 8 FLC completed 7 ELC adaptations completed 103 settings benefitting from minor works Page 10 of 253
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was the potential to impact significantly on the Council’s recruitment team if standard methods were used. As a result, there was discussion with the Human Resource Business Partnership Manager, Human Resource Business Partner Team and Employment Service Centre. It was agreed to implement a modified process to expedite the exercise. 2.2.2 A series of briefing meetings was held to disseminate information via Heads and detailed email instructions were issued along with Process Maps / Frequently Asked Questions Trade Unions were fully involved in agreeing the process and have been updated periodically. The modified process had three stages: • Stage 1 – Professional dialogue for like for like vacancies in current establishment for employees with qualifying service at 4/11/22. • Stage 2 - Professional dialogue for like for like vacancies in current establishment for employees with qualifying service at 28/6/23. • Stage 3 – Residual vacancies recruited by formal internal exercise via standard method. 2.2.3 A further update regarding the outcome of this recruitment process will be provided to the next committee. 2.2.4 It is anticipated that the exercise will be completed by Spring 2023, and this will provide employees with certainty and the service with a stable workforce. 2.2.5 Opportunities for all levels of ELC staff to work towards and achieve certificated qualifications have been offered annually. Table 3 provides a breakdown of the number of staff attending this year with associated costs. Committee are asked to note the BA costs are for the 4-year period. Table 3 Course Number of participants Costs PDA Day Release 15 £9,000 PDA Online 21 £12,030 HNC Day Release 30 £6,000 BA Evening (over 4yrs) 44 £290,138 Total 110 £317,168 2.2.6 Committee should note that the career pathway established to support the professional development of the workforce and the implementation of 1140 hours has provided in total 312 ELC staff with the opportunity to work towards and achieve additional qualifications. This is a significant achievement and recognises the excellent work between the service and partners. 2.3 Quality 2.3.1 Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Training Calendar A full catalogue of training for ELC Practitioners at all levels has been established for August 22 – June 23. The training sessions on offer are in response to need derived from previous training evaluation forms, scrutiny visits carried out by the Quality Team, The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland. Training courses are inclusive of both Local Authority and Partner Providers and sessions are added throughout the year in response to need. Page 11 of 253
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2.3.2 In addition to the training calendar, a revised ten session leadership programme will be delivered to Heads of Centre, Depute Heads of Centre, Principal Lead and Leads (within both partner providers and local authority settings). This programme will develop highly effective lead practitioners through high-quality professional learning opportunities. It will facilitate a collaborative network between colleagues and develop pedagogical skills and practice of leaders at all levels. The programme will run from January - June 2023 and will be delivered. 2.3.3 Taking cognisance of the increasing number of new Heads of Centre within the service, a full and robust Induction programme will be rolled out to new and existing Heads which will include a range of operational issues that are essential for effective service delivery. 2.3.4 All training sessions for session 2022-2023 will be a hybrid model of face-to-face and virtual sessions. 2.3.5 Quality Assurance: The national standard sets out what children and families should expect from their early learning and childcare experience regardless of where they access their child’s funded hours. Scottish Government have outlined that children and families should expect quality services with evaluations that rate good (4) or above. To support continuous improvement the following activities and actions are undertaken to support establishments to meet the national standards: The Quality Team carry out support visits to work alongside settings to evaluate and monitor performance, to highlight good practice and provide support and challenge to make improvements. Formal inspections / scrutiny is also a key aspect of the quality framework within ELC. Education Scotland completes announced inspections using a variety of models. This includes a full model inspection which covers four Quality Indicators (QI), and a short model inspection which covers two QI. Some inspections are undertaken by both the Care Inspectorate and Education. In addition to this, Care Inspectorate carry out unannounced inspections of both nursery settings and childminders. Reference is made to the newly published quality framework “A quality framework for day care of children, childminding and school-aged childcare” (February 2022.). The framework supports settings to evaluate their own performance in addition to providing an independent assurance for care inspectors. 2.3.6 Appendix 01 provides an overview of the standards of quality across ELC as of December 2022. 2.4 Early Learning and Childcare Framework 2.4.1 Committee will recall that, due to the current Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Framework coming to an end – 31 July 2023, a new tender went live on Public Contract Scotland on 4 October 2023, to establish an ELC Framework from 1 August 2023 – 31 July 2027. 2.4.2 The tender closed at 12 noon on 24 October 2022, with 140 applications received from childcare providers. Page 12 of 253
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2.4.3 Due to a legal challenge within the standstill period, and in compliance with The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, tenderers were advised that North Lanarkshire Council are unable to award the Flexible Framework for Early Learning and Childcare Services in North Lanarkshire 2023 was delayed. 2.4.4 Following an evaluation of applications, 138 were assessed as successful – 98 childminders and 40 partner nurseries, and 2 unsuccessful; tenderers were notified of the outcome in writing and the required standstill period has been successfully completed. 2.5 Admissions 2023/2024 2.5.1 Due to the legal challenge, and in accordance with procurement regulations, the council was legally prohibited from concluding the ELC framework and therefore the commencement of the 20234/2024 admissions process was delayed. In previous years the deadline for admissions would be on, or around, 10 February 2023. 2.5.2 Following the successful completion of the framework the admissions process went live on Wednesday, 8 February 2023, with applications being accepted up to, and including 10 March 2023. All providers have been notified that the process has gone live and will be supported by the Ealy Years team. 2.5.3 The website has been updated to reflect the above, with access available to all necessary information – application form, guidance notes, etc. The application process will be advertised on various social media platforms to ensure a high uptake. 2.6 Cross Boundary 2.6.1 Committee will recall that a Cross Boundary Protocol is currently in place for children attending partner provider settings. Cross boundary local authority applications continue to be progressed in line with NLC admission policy. 2.6.2 Following the commencement of the 2023/2024 admissions process, Committee will be updated regarding cross boundary applications received following the commencement of the admissions process. 2.7 Deferred Entry 2.7.1 Committee will recall that due to the forthcoming change in legislation, effective from 1 August 2022, the Deferred Entry Working Group reconvened to review processes and communications. 2.7.2 Legislation states that those children who are 4 years of age, on the date they are eligible to start school (i.e., children with birth dates on or between the day after school commencement date in August and the last day in February), can defer entry to school for a year and access an additional year of funded early learning and childcare. The Board is advised that following consideration it was agreed that the ‘school commencement date’ will be 16 August 2023. It should be noted that this date will change annually, in line with the summer leave period. 2.7.3 Information on the NLC website has now been updated to reflect the changes in legislation. This has also been shared with all providers, ELC colleagues and representatives from the Give Them Time campaign. Page 13 of 253
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2.7.4 This legislative change will align the funded ELC offer more closely with the existing right to defer children commencing Primary 1. This will allow families to make decisions based on what they feel is in the best interests of their child, without the financial barrier of additional ELC costs. 2.7.5 Guidance explaining the change is available online on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/publications/early-learning-childcare-statutory-guidance- july-2021/ 2.7.6 Table 4 below provides an overview of the number of applications received for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic session and the current number received to date for academic session 2023/2024. Committee are asked to note the increase in applications for the academic session 2023/2024, which was anticipated due to the change in legislation. Table 4 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 2023 / 2024 Automatic Discretionary Automatic Discretionary Automatic Discretionary 192 91 181 83 383 18 Total: 283 Total: 264 Total: 401 2.8 Day Care Providers - Rate 2.8.1 Following guidance from Scottish Government, Committee will recall that the rate paid to funded providers, £5.77 for 3-5 years olds and £6.03 for eligible 2-year-olds, was increased from 1 August 2022. 2.8.2 Day care providers who are in the main childminders that provide short term care for families in crisis are paid at the same rate as that for eligible 2-year-olds. This has been the case for several years. Therefore, committee are asked to endorse an increase in the rate paid to day carers. That is, an increase from £5.80 to £6.03 per hour. 2.9 External Partner Provider Commission Payments 2.9.1 Table 5 provides an overview of Partner Provider Commission Payments, from April 2022 to December 2022. Table 5 External Commission Payments April to July September to December 3-5 Payments 1140 hours £4.572m £4.884m Eligible 2 Payments 1140 hours £0.328m £0.348m Meal Payments 2-5-year-olds £0.316m £0.363m Total £5.216 £5.595 2.10 Healthy Milk & Snack Scheme 2.10.1 Committee will recall that there is a requirement for providers to re-register for the Healthy Milk and Snack Scheme on an annual basis. In doing so this allows them to update the figures re children in their care. 2.10.2 Currently 79 partners have registered for session 2022-2023: 31 from Partner Nurseries and 48 from Childminders. Page 14 of 253
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2.10.3 The registration process closed at the end of January 2023 and will re-open on 1 March 2023 to allow new providers to join the scheme. Further updates will be provided to committee. 2.11 Parent Survey 2.11.1 Committee will recall the consultation that took place between 20 September – 14 October 2022, re the delivery of early learning and childcare. 2.11.2 Whilst a summary of findings from the consultation was previously reported, a more comprehensive overview has been provided for the members – Appendix 02. 2.11.3 In total 845 responses were received (approximately 7,500 children within ELC 845 responses equates to approximately 11%). An overview of the outcomes is provided in Table 6 below: Table 6 Question Highest Response Percentage What best describes your situation Child currently accessing ELC 93% Main benefit of 1140 To support wellbeing development 62% Reason for choosing provider Quality / Reputation 42% Preferred choice/future choice of provider Nursery attached to a school 40% Do you use/plan to use the full 1140 hours Yes 92% Preference to using 1140 hours All hours in one setting 35% Where do you access ELC updates Social Media 33% 2.11.4 Overall, the consultation was very positive and highlighted that almost all children are accessing their full entitlement and that that parents/carers are benefiting from the choice of provision and operating models available to them 2.11.5 Based on the low number of overall responses and the low numbers of responses from parents/carers whose child is due to access ELC, the service plans to review and improve communication strategies for future consultations. It is important to ensure we capture the views of both existing and future service users to better inform planning. The consultation will be recirculated in Spring 2023 with a focus on parent/carers due to access ELC from August 2024. 2.12 Communications 2.12.1 The service continues to meet regularly with both Care Inspectorate and Trade Unions regarding delivery of ELC provision. Relations continue to be collaborative and positive. 2.12.2 The Corporate Communications team continue to support ELC with all communications to support the delivery of 1140 hours. Update deferred entry information has been posted on the ELC website and communications has been prepared to support the 2023/2024 admissions process. Page 15 of 253
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2.12.3 A copy of the ELC 1140 newsletter, circulated in November is attached – please refer to Appendix 03. This edition includes examples of excellent practice across local authority nurseries and funded providers, including childminders. 2.13 Financial Update Capital 2.13.1 Since inception, the ELC Expansion (1140 Hours) Capital Programme has spanned several financial years cumulating in new Family Learning Centres and renovations of existing establishments across the authority. 2.13.2 The Enterprise & Communities 2022/23 capital programme of £157.168m was approved at Policy & Strategy Committee on 17 March 2022. The 2022/23 programme has since been increase by £21.479m relating to carry forwards from 2021/22 (£5.796m) and additional external funding (£15.683m). Included in the approved 2022/23 capital programme, for Enterprise & Communities, is £2.192m regarding ELC Expansion (1140 Hours). 2.13.3 As at Period 09, the Service is projecting an underspend of £0.256m in relation to the associated ELC Expansion (1140 Hours) capital workstreams. 2.13.4 t should be noted that there are recruitment fees, that have been paid since 2018, included within capital spend. This year the spend is £0.075m at period 9, and this projects £0.125m by the end of the year. The service will require to review this based on the programme of works outstanding. 2.13.5 Also, for Covid costs for the Phase 1 builds, there was £0.537m of budget set aside for this. The final bill has been agreed as £0.391m. This underspend of £0.146m is included within the current year projection, so if there is any clawback of this budget, then the 1140 capital spend will fall into an overspend position. Revenue 2.13.6 The gross expenditure budget for ELC in 2022/23 is £61.445m which is partly offset by the ELC Expansion Grant of £34.842m. The projected outturn for 2022/23 as of 9 December 2022 (Period 9) is a net underspend of £0.323m. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Children have access to funded entitlement of 1140 hours of ELC. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 01: ELC Standards of Quality 4.2 Appendix 02: Parent/Carer Survey Outcomes 4.3 Appendix 03: ELC Newsletter Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) Page 16 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The strategy of the service, as approved by the Education Corporate Management Team (November 2017), is to positively target families who live in SIMD areas 1 – 4 to address disadvantage and barriers to success. Consideration has also been given to ensure that there is a mix of services within localities to support accessibility and parental demand. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Section 2.13 provides a financial update/impact as of period 9 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Support in place from HR to support the ELC recruitment 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Consultations are ongoing with Legal regarding the the position with the ELC procurement framework. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Page 17 of 253
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The paper contains information regarding the delay of the ELC admissions process, which may impact on the level of enquiries the ELC website will receive. A statement has been produced to keep parents/carers up to date. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Delays to the admissions process 2023/2024 could impact on the timeline to secure placements for all eligible 2-5-year-olds by August 2023. This will impact on the statutory 1140 hours entitlement for children and families. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 18 of 253
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Appendix 01 Early Learning & Childcare Standards of Quality December 2022 __________________________________________________________________________ Standards / Gradings (National Standard / Expectations: 4 – Good) • 1: Unsatisfactory • 2: Weak • 3: Adequate • 4: Good • 5: Very Good • 6: Excellent It should be noted settings are graded on 4 key themes therefore the standards below are based on an average across settings. Page 19 of 253
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Appendix 02 ELC Parent/Carer Consultation Findings The ELC Parent / Carer Consultation went live on Tuesday, 20 September 2022 and closed on Friday, 14 October 2022. In total 845 responses were received. Outlined below is an overview of the responses, to each of the nine questions asked: Q 1 – What Best Describes Your Current Situation? This question was looking to understand, from those completing the consultation, if they currently had a child within an ELC setting or a child due to take up a place soon. A total of 841 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Child currently within an ELC setting 777 93% Child due to take up place within ELC Setting 45 5% Neither of the above 19 2% Q 2 - Do you have a child or children under 5 years of age? This question was looking to gauge, from those responding, if they had a child under 55 years of age. A total of 843 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Yes 838 99% No 5 1% Q 3 - If yes, please provide dates of birth for each child. This allowed us to gauge the number of children, from birth to 5 years of those responding. A total of 838 responses were received. * Response Selected Number of Responses % of Total Responses* Born in 2018 315 38% Born in 2019 342 41% Born in 2020 101 12% Born in 2021 96 11% Born in 2022 61 7% *Please note that many responses had multiple children born in different years, therefore the total result is greater than 100% when collated. Page 21 of 253
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Q 4 - Where do you reside in North Lanarkshire? Responses to this question allow us to see, from those responding, the areas of North Lanarkshire people reside in. A total of 837 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Airdrie (ML6 area) 151 18% Motherwell (ML1 area) 135 16% Cumbernauld (G67/G68 area) 113 13% Wishaw (ML2 area) 97 12% Coatbridge (ML5 area) 89 11% Stepps/Moodiesburn (G33/G66/G69 area) 67 8% Bellshill (ML4 area) 60 7% Shotts (ML7 area) 59 7% Kilsyth (G65 area) 37 4% Uddingston (G71 area) 23 3% No address provided 6 1% Q 5 - What do you see as the main benefit of funded ELC? This question provides us with understanding of people see as being the main benefit of funded early learning and childcare. A total of 843 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Child Wellbeing & Development 530 62% Support to Work/Study 181 22% Reduction in Childcare Costs 104 12% Parental Support 14 2% Other 14 2% Q 6 - When choosing an ELC provider, what do you consider to be most important? Responses to this question allow us to understand what is important when choosing an ELC provider. A total of 844 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Quality / Reputation 355 42% Proximity to Home 169 20% Service Attached to Future School 122 14% Operating Hours 79 9% Continuity – Family Member Attends 58 7% Other 32 4% Option to Purchase Additional Hours 15 2% Page 22 of 253
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Offers Full Time Outdoor Provision 9 1% Offers Gaelic Provision 5 1% Q 7 - What ELC services do you use, or are planning to/considering using in the future? This question provides an insight into the preferred option of type of services being used or are or are considering using. A total of 837 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Nursery Attached to a School 331 40% Local Authority Nursery 274 32% Private / Voluntary Nursery 195 23% Childminder 35 4% Outdoor Provision 2 1% Q 8 - Do you use, or plan to use, all your 1140 funded hours? Responses to this question allow us to gauge the numbers of children utilising their full 1140 hours entitlement. A total of 840 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Yes 771 92% No 69 8% Q 9 - What is your preference to using 1140 Hours? Where possible we look to meet the needs of all parents/carers, including the delivery model of 1140 hours. With these responses we can identify the preferences in regard to how hours are delivered. A total of 838 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses All Hours in One Setting 291 35% Term-Time 285 34% Full-Time 190 23% Other 37 4% Split Between 2 Providers 35 4% Page 23 of 253
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EARLY LEARNING & CHILDCARE 1140 News WELCOME Reflective practice and self-evaluation are at the foundation of the delivery of high quality Early Learning and Childcare. This newsletter will share some of the excellent practice across ELC settings within North Lanarkshire where staff use a range of ways to support continuous improvement. Jennifer O’Hara, Operational Manager – Inclusion and Early Learning and Childcare. Contributions to the newsletter and suggestions are welcome. Please email: corporatecommunications@northlan.gov.uk ‘Without proper self-evaluation, failure is inevitable.’ John Wooden I am delighted to introduce our full team of Quality Officers who will be supporting early learning settings across North Lanarkshire to ensure we provide the very best for our families. Lorraine Smith smithlo@northlan.gov.uk Lynn Walsh Walshlyn@northlan.gov.uk Liz Kerr KerrLiz@northlan.gov.uk Vicky Harris harrisv@northlan.gov.uk Ruth Eglinton eglintonr@nborthlan.gov.uk Cheryl Valentine valentineC@northlan.gov.uk Appendix 03 Page 24 of 253
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The Care Inspectorate published their new Quality Framework in March this year and advised that they would use the framework in their inspections from June 2022. Here is the experience of some of our settings who have recently been inspected. The inspection lasted 21/2hrs and the children in attendance that day, attend my service for the full 1140 funding. The inspector was very focused on the Quality Framework and spoke to me about the children and looked closely at the environment. I had evaluated my own performance using the Quality Framework. To help me evaluate my service I also work closely with families to involve them in their child’s care and development. I do this through personal plans and regular communication. I use best practice guidance to reflect on the quality of the children’s care within my setting helping me to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The views of children and families are sought regularly. I gather information both informally through daily chats and texts, and formally through questionnaires. I am committed to the ongoing improvement of my service, and this is demonstrated in the wide variety of training that myself and my husband have undertaken. When the child starts, I provide a detailed handbook and provide regular updates to policies as practice changes. • Staff were caring, nurturing and responsive and knew children very well. This created a secure, supportive play and learning environment for children. • The environment offered many opportunities for child-led, free flow play, both indoors and outdoors. • The manager and depute provided strong leadership and supported the staff team to provide high quality care and support for children. • There was a focus on self-evaluation, quality assurance and a clear vision in place to ensure ongoing service development and positive outcomes for children and their families. • The overall lunchtime experience for children was relaxed, pleasant and sociable. • The staff team at Calderview were delighted by the feedback provided from the Inspector. She highlighted the strengths of our service and reinforced our commitment and dedication to children and families in the community of Chapelhall. We are so proud of how far we have come and strive to continue to develop our service further. Weans World Calderview Family Learning Centre Please follow our Twitter feed on @EarlyYearsNLC for the most up to date information. northlanarkshire.gov.uk/elc Geraldine Duffy, Childminder On 27 June 2022 between 09:30 and 13:15 we received our first unannounced visit from Care Inspectorate. During the process the inspector spoke with children, parents, staff and visiting professionals. They observed practice and daily life and reviewed documents. The inspection was a very relaxed and pleasant experience for staff and children. The day was no different from a normal day at Calderview. Our Inspector was mindful of the needs of our children and families and asked questions during appropriate times. The key points from our inspection were that: Jayne Donaldson, Depute Page 25 of 253
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The provision within Step by Step is of high quality and the way we support children is embedded in our practice. The expectations of the management team are high and both the head and depute are very visible on the playroom floors to provide support and encourage development. Staff actively participate in their own self-evaluation and are very honest about their own strengths and areas of improvement. Self-evaluation, in a meaningful way, is a regular discussion point and this over time has become a habit to us. These discussions help the team gain a greater insight and confidence to set future goals for improvement. Staff feel confident and valued and ready to learn new skills. Play is always at the centre of what we do, and this was showcased throughout the inspection. Step by Step Nursery Claire Irvine, Manager Berryhill Nursery Class Carrie Nicol, Head Teacher Following our most recent Care Inspection in June this year, we are delighted with the positive validation and feedback we have received. The inspection team highlighted many areas of strength throughout our report. Some high-level messages included our shared approach to self-evaluation which ensures continuous improvement within our setting. A key feature of this is our robust systems that are in place to allow us to evaluate what is working well and what could be done better to improve outcomes for our children and families. To inform ongoing reflections, staff refer to ‘How Good is our Early Learning and Childcare’, and ‘The Quality Framework’. Staff regularly analyse a variety of data to ensure that improvements are specific to the needs of our learners and our context, and we ensure that staff training opportunities are linked closely to identified areas of improvement. Surveys, improvement conversations and professional dialogues allow all stakeholders to contribute to our improvement process on an ongoing basis. Staff are empowered to have ownership of change and our staff development processes allow all staff to take responsibility and lead the development of specific areas, while sharing skills and expertise. Our children are at the heart of everything that we do, and they are crucial in our improvement processes. Our children’s voice is evidenced through observations, mind maps, floor books and our ‘Little Chatter Matters Wall’ which links clearly to the UNCRC. Staff ensure that they create a rich and engaging learning environment for our children allowing them to have fun while being inquisitive and creative. Our children are very much involved in planning their own learning and staff are responsive to this and facilitate their learning through various pathways. The outdoor environment is extremely well utilised with lots of emphasis on sand and water play experiences. Play experiences within the setting incorporate STEM and this practice was highlighted by the Care Inspectorate. Staff all have a very good understanding of child development and are skilled at creating high quality play and learning experiences which meet the needs of all. Interactions between staff and children are warm, welcoming, caring and respectful. Solihull approaches are embedded and there is a very positive and nurturing ethos throughout. Page 26 of 253
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Here at Honeywell Nursery Class, we recognise that it is important to place the children and their families at the heart of everything we do. We consult regularly with children and parents/carers. Their voices and views are listened and responded to. We recently took part in the STV Children’s Appeal – Big Scottish Breakfast. This was a way to bring our families together to enjoy a lovely breakfast together and raise lots of money for a great cause. Our children are all very confident at sharing what types of foods make up a healthy breakfast and were delighted to share their knowledge with their families. Our families enjoyed this experience so much that we are planning to arrange another one soon Families also join us on our visits to our Forest Space. Through continuous self-evaluation and consultations, we have adapted the way we offer these sessions to suit families. We now offer each group of children and their families a 4-week block. Children, parents/carers and staff all agreed that attending over these weeks gave everyone a real flavour of what goes on at these visits. The skills the children have developed have been amazing and the parents/carers told us how they feel more confident spending time outdoors with their children and recognised how important this is for all their families’ health and wellbeing. Family Engagement at Honeywell Nursery Class Maureen O’Hare, Lead Early Learning Practitioner Page 27 of 253
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Abernethyn Family Learning Centre and Balmalloch Nursery Class very kindly shared an honest account of their journey towards achieving the award. “The staff at Abernethyn Family Learning Centre are delighted to have recently gained our Breastfeeding Scotland Friendly accreditation. When we began our journey, we did have some initial concerns about being inclusive and respectful of the different family dynamics of the families accessing our service. These concerns were allayed through discussions with Louise our Health Improvement Practitioner, staff and our families, so we embarked on our journey. All staff have now completed the online course and we as a team feel that we now have a better understanding of how to support our families with breastfeeding within our centre as we begin to fully embed the principals in our practice”. “Here at Balmalloch Nursery Class we are proud to provide an inclusive environment where all families are welcome. We discussed our environment and the changes if any, we would need to make, and to be honest it was a very easy journey for us. When we think of our children, their play spaces, and our resources it made sense to us that we wouldn’t include bottles or dummies in our environment. A breastfeeding friendly approach means inclusivity for everyone. We don’t provide our children with superhero costumes, instead we provide materials and loose parts to allow them to develop their creativity. If our children need a house for the dolls, they make one from construction materials and in the same way, our children can use loose parts and open-ended resources to role play feeding babies with a bottle, if they wanted to do so. We have not alienated anyone by removing these resources, it’s had the opposite effect. Our staff team, children and parents are valued, nurtured and included.” Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Award We are delighted to share that all our Local Authority ELC settings are now working towards the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Award with 38% having achieved the award to date. We are hopeful that all Local Authority ELC settings will be accredited as being “Breastfeeding Friendly” establishments by the end of 2022. Staff comments “We have a breastfeeding policy within our nursery. It’s there for both parents and staff. We didn’t create a specific feeding area as it’s important that our breastfeeding Mum’s feel comfortable to feed anywhere in our establishment, whether that’s in the playroom or in the staff room if they choose somewhere more private.” “Using the correct terminology normalises breastfeeding and takes away that stigma. It means, as our children get older, using language such as breasts and breastfeeding isn’t out of the ordinary.” absolutely encourage them to learn about their bodies, how they grow and develop and how some babies as well as animals are fed. It’s so natural and we need to embrace that and take that stigma away.” Children’s comments “I think milk comes from Mum’s belly button.” “the Mummy’s breasts.” “it comes from here” and pointed to his nipple. “the Mummy drinks milk and it goes into her breast.” “my wee sister gets milk from my Mum’s breast.” Lorraine Smith, Quality Officer Page 28 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GM/HL Date 28/02/23 PO25.1 – Strathclyde Park Outdoor Education Programme From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer of Education (North) E-mail liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973726496 Executive Summary Following on from the pilot of outdoor activities for Primary 7 pupils at Strathclyde Park and creation of a new outdoor shelter for education and events, this report will update on plans to explore the future upscaling of the programme. The report provides an update on the increased number of participants and the range of activities now available to young people. Finally, the report highlights the assistance available to pupils and schools to ensure all young people can participate. Recommendations It is proposed that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Note development of the programme at Strathclyde Country Park and the ongoing increase in schools participating. (2) Endorse the ongoing development of the programme as outlined in paragraph 2.5. (3) otherwise, endorse the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (10) Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential AGENDA ITEM 4 Page 29 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 Following the closure of Kilbowie Outdoor Education Centre in early 2020, an outdoor education programme was launched in August 2020 at Strathclyde Country Park (SCP), offering a 5 day experience for all P7 pupils in North Lanarkshire. Initially, the programme was piloted with 1 school per week from August to December 2020, to comply with COVID guidelines at that time. 29 schools participated in the programme during the first year. 1.2 The programme offered free activity weeks for vulnerable pupils and pupils from ASN schools during the period, January to March 2021, when schools were closed to most pupils. The Primary 7 pilot programme resumed from April to June 2021, with an average of 39 pupils per week. With the programme now back to full operation and the ongoing development of the experience, outlined below, 111 schools, including ASN establishments, are booked to take part in the programme during 2022/23 academic year. 1.3 The costs of Outdoor Education can be met with PEF money, fundraising and parental contributions. Schools ensure no-one cannot attend due to cost. We encourage all schools to bring all pupils, even where the school may have concerns over behaviour. Activities on offer at SCP, offer curricular enrichment which augments school-based activity for outdoor education. 2. Report 2.1 The programme at SCP is led by a team of staff formerly employed within Active Schools, supported by a team of coaches. On average, 70 young people from 2-3 schools attending the programme each week, taking part in a range of activities including: • Bikeability, giving every pupil the chance to reach level where they can cycle safely on the roads. • Orienteering, starting from the new Rainbow shelter co designed with pupils. • Watersports activities on fun boats in the loch, supported by the parks stewarding team. • Bushcraft and environmental education. • Rowing sessions delivered in partnership with Scottish Rowing, giving pupils the unique chance to have experience this sport and receive tuition from high level coaches. • Highland Games • Team building • Archery 2.2 Since the launch of the programme, the council has invested in development at the Watersports Centre to support the ongoing development of the programme, with an area set aside for the for pupils to eat lunch, changing rooms, a drying area, laundrette facilities and office space. 2.3 The activities on offer at the park have also developed significantly since 2020. This has included the introduction of the climbing wall and rowing activities with Scottish Rowing who are based at the park. 2.4 Finally, the opportunities available at the Outdoor Education Programme have also allowed us to continue to support the development of young people in schools and in further/higher education. During 2021/22, this included support to the council’s Page 30 of 253
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Pathways programme, provision of work experience placements and supporting higher education placements through New College Lanarkshire and University of Strathclyde. We continue to support and develop our programme for Virtual Schools. This has continued to be a focus in 2022/23 with more placements available for pupils and students. 2.5 Looking to the future, we continue to focus on development of the services on offer at the Park to support our young people in achieving their full potential. Over the last few months, Active & Creative Communities, including Active Schools, have been working closely with sportscotland to support overall development of our services, including our provision of Outdoor Education. We have had excellent feedback from sportscotland who are keen to support the council to continue to develop our facilities at SCP and the opportunities available through our outdoor education programme. We are keen to consider how we may use our programme to enhance the ASN holiday hub offer and will look to pilot this approach during 2023/24. We continue to develop provision at the park with feedback from pupils, parents and teachers. 2.6 Financial Position 2.6.1 As highlighted above, 93% of schools are participating in the programme at SCP during 2022-23, with available slots now offered to secondary schools who have expressed an interest in attending. Schools have an option to access external provision through an approved council framework which allows for access to similar facilities, some of which may include residential options. The cost of such is options is approximately £350-400 per person – significantly more expensive for schools using this option. 2.6.2 The overall cost of the programme at SCP is supported by core council funding of approximately £600,000, supported by a Bikeability grant of £19,390, with total delivery costs of approximately £1,000,020. This shortfall is managed with payments made by pupils for the cost of each activity week. The per head cost is £112. To ensure all pupils can participate and cost is not a barrier for parents, schools are able to use Pupil Equity Funding, Scottish Equity Fund monies, fundraising or parental contributions. No young person has missed out on the experience due to cost and schools use their awareness of circumstances to ensure appropriate support is offered. 3. Measures of success 3.1 A continued growth in the number of young people participating in activities at Strathclyde Country Park. 3.2 A cost effective and inclusive programme which provides young people with the opportunity to experience a range of outdoor activities, supporting physical and mental health and wellbeing. 4. Supporting Documentation Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) Page 31 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Ongoing development of the programme need to be managed within the financial envelope available and in consideration to affordability. Any developments with financial implications are fully considered with Financial Solutions. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 32 of 253
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The ACC Risk Register comprehensively covers all project/programme risks and is managed appropriately. Rising costs, including transport costs, present a potential risk to the future of the programme and the team is working with Finance colleagues to ensure the council is able to offer a financial sustainable and constructive programme for young people. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s? Yes No X If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 33 of 253
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P031.1 Getting it Right for Every Child North Lanarkshire Council Report Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GMcL Date 28/02/23 From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Executive Summary This report is intended to update committee on the progress of the implementation and development of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) process, across the Education and Families Service. The report will update members on new Guidance regarding GIRFEC published by Scottish Government and how it is reflected in developments linked to the Roadmap to Recovery, mental health and wellbeing plan for children in North Lanarkshire. The report strengthens the GIRFEC pathway in North Lanarkshire, moving towards an approach based on planning for children’s wellbeing, linked to national developments. This approach brings us closer to the local and national vision of children getting the help they need, when they need it with their rights respected throughout the process. It will also update members on how a previously reported online tool has been developed to allow front line practitioners easy access to information on policy, processes and resources. The progress around the development of early intervention approaches to school attendance, family support and engagement, and school counselling and staff support will also be discussed. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education Children and Families Committee: (1) endorse the content of this report The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe Education, Children and Families Committee AGENDA ITEM 5 Page 35 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 Members will recall the report to this committee of 13th September 2022 updating Committee on Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), the national policy framework for supporting children and their families in Scotland and related developments in North Lanarkshire. GIRFEC processes have existed in North Lanarkshire for over 10 years, but the formation and development of the Education, Children and Families Service required the redevelopment of existing GIRFEC pathways to fit with revised operating arrangements. As a result, a GIRFEC pathway was approved in May 2020. Since then, there have been significant developments around the use of GIRFEC in North Lanarkshire. 1.2 As GIRFEC is about all children it requires to sit alongside all developments in children’s services. The Promise arose from the Independent Care Review and sets out a range of measures and approaches to improve the experience of children experiencing care or close to requiring a care experience. One of the main elements of the promise is the provision of family support and principles of family support are set out as an integral part of the Promise. Developments around GIRFEC require to align with developments around meeting the promise, underlining the importance of integrative practice within Education and Families. 1.3 The landscape around GIRFEC has often been recognised as complex and diffuse. This recognises the range of needs of children that this policy must meet, the range of services that can be used to meet those needs and the developing nature of understanding of children’s needs and approaches that show evidence of effectiveness in meeting those needs. The Roadmap to Recovery, which was reported to this committee in September 2022, gives a structure around these factors and sets actions to improve approaches to children’s wellbeing with GIRFEC at the heart of these approaches. 1.4 The report of 13th September 2022 informed committee of the development of an electronic tool to be used in clusters and with partners to enhance communication and understanding of policy, systems and services across the cluster model. This report will update on progress around this tool. 1.5 The following report reflects the Wellbeing quality framework, introduced through previous reports approved by the Education and Families Committee. This introduced a framework to structure quality wellbeing services which can be summarised around three questions: • Why are we doing it? - Governance and Policy Drivers • How are we doing it? – Key Systems and Processes • What are we doing? – Our Outputs and Outcome 2. Report 2.1 This report is intended to update committee on developments around GIRFEC in light of new national guidance and the related elements of developments around provision of services regarding health and wellbeing. 2.2 The background information illustrates the broad developments in GIRFEC process within North Lanarkshire and at national level. The following report will highlight where further development has taken place across the levels of the Wellbeing Quality Framework. These developments include: Page 36 of 253
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• Why we do it – Developments in National Policy and its links to the Roadmap to Recovery. • How we do it - The development of approaches to meeting children’s wellbeing and early intervention. • What do we do? - The development of services including family support approaches linked to school clusters and early years services. 2.3 GIRFEC National Policy 2.3.1 The Scottish Government launched an update of the GIRFEC policy in September 2022. This included commitment to the proposed incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC into Scots law, to the maximum extent possible the publication of The Promise and the Plan 21-24 and a continued commitment to eradicate child poverty. The GIRFEC publications included: • Using the National Practice Model, strengthening the use of established models used in practice around assessment and intervention to improve wellbeing. • Guidance around the role of the named person, moving from the previously intended legislative approach to the named person to a policy commitment to offer this service to children and families where they wished to have this as a first point of contact. • The role of the lead professional as the co-coordinator of a multi-agency plan where this is required. • Guidance on information sharing consistent with decisions of the Information Commissioner. • Statutory guidance on Assessment of Wellbeing – Part 18 (section 96) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Which guides professionals on their duties to assess and support the wellbeing of children and young people. 2.3.2 The updated guidance stresses a strengths-based approach seeks to realise children’s rights on a day-to-day basis and is therefore underpinned by key values and principles: • Placing the child or young person and their family at the heart of the process, promoting choice, with full participation in decisions that affect them • Working together with families to enable a rights-respecting, strengths-based, inclusive approach • Understanding wellbeing as being about all areas of life including family, community and society. • Valuing difference and ensuring everyone is treated fairly • Considering and addressing inequalities • Providing support for children, young people and families when they need it, until things get better, to help them to reach their full potential • Everyone working together in local areas and across Scotland to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. 2.3.3 The above developments in the national GIRFEC policy reflect developments in the practice of GIRFEC in North Lanarkshire and therefore do not require major change to the local approach, however the new emphasis on rights respecting approaches and on professionals and services working together, has been particularly helpful in developing local processes around integrative practice with the cluster model. 2.4 Integrative Practice 2.4.1 In late August 2022 the new online tool Empowering Our Clusters - A Guide to Integrative Practice was launched with a partnership event to promote the use of the Page 37 of 253
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tool. This online resource provides a single source of information for practitioners working with children and families around the cluster model. Information is provided around resources process is and relevant policies. This is an important tool in the delivery of work with children and families following the GIRFEC model. 2.4.2 As part of the suite of information provided within this online tool a new pathway and guidance on planning for children’s well-being has been developed to update the previous GIRFEC pathway. This updated key process document is attached to this report in Appendix 1. The new guidance takes forward the emphasis in national policy on rights respecting approaches through an individualised planning process that places children young people and families at the centre. As part of the development of the Integrative Practice and GIRFEC approaches, the Early and Effective Intervention approach to young people in conflict with the law is being aligned with the GIRFEC pathway. This is the subject of another report to this committee. 2.5 The Roadmap to Recovery 2.5.1 The Roadmap to Recovery plan sets out a way forward in developing the health and wellbeing of our learners over the next three years recognising the current context in North Lanarkshire, particularly following the impact of COVID19. The plan recognises the importance of developments in North Lanarkshire in relation to health and wellbeing including the Empowering Clusters model and the GIRFEC pathway. It looks at high level outcomes that can be improved, linking into the Integrated Children Services Plan and the Plan for North Lanarkshire. It also looks at improvements in day-to-day operations and presents a format intended to assist schools, centres and teams to improve health and wellbeing in line with quality indicators currently used in improvement plans. 2.5.2 The GIRFEC approach and pathway is identified in the plan as the key approach to delivering improvements in children’s wellbeing. The three-stage model of intervention used in this plan fits well with the updated national policy development which promote the development of early intervention approaches. The model is based on the following stages: • Universal – reflecting the services available to all children • Additional – where early intervention supports are introduced for targeted children and families • Intensive – where multi-agency planning, and intervention become the basis for support to meet significant need. 2.5.3 Within the Roadmap to Recovery a number of areas for development are identified which sit at the additional level of support, and in terms of the Wellbeing Quality Framework are good examples of what we do to achieve better wellbeing for our children and young people. Some of these are: • School attendance • Family support and engagement • School based counselling 2.6 School Attendance 2.6.1 Members may recall that an update regarding the Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Fund was reported to this committee in November 2022. This report reflected the changing national picture around these areas of investment, with a Page 38 of 253
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move to the Strategic Equity Fund, showing a reduction in funding for North Lanarkshire year on year, up to financial year 2025/26. Stretch aims related to the fund are required as specific local authority targets related to attainment and health and wellbeing of children and young people. 2.6.2 Following the unavoidable disruption to school attendance that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic attendance rates have been a concern. Low school attendance has a well-established relationship with both health and wellbeing needs and lower attainment in children and young people. Improvements in school attendance were set as a stretch aim for North Lanarkshire with targets for increases set at 2% for the primary sector and a 3% at secondary, by June 2023. 2.6.3 In order to monitor this, a tracking process has been developed looking at school attendance across all sectors and the whole authority. This has shown that up until December 2022 attendance rates rose by 2% based on the figures for the full school year 2021/22, however are still down on the 2019 attendance rates (Appendix 2). The monitoring also shows that attendance is lower among children from lower SIMD areas and children from care experienced backgrounds, illustrating an association between deprivation and lower attendance. As indicated in the Roadmap to Recovery, a family support model is being developed alongside work carried out by schools, to improve family engagement and attendance. Attendance will continue to be monitored as part of the work to implement and evaluate this approach. 2.7 Family Support and Engagement 2.7.1 The report to committee in September 2022 highlighted that eighteen posts have been created through the use of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding to work around the school clusters with a view to supporting families to maximise school attendance of their children and minimise exclusion. This follows a key theme in the Roadmap to Recovery around the development of family support approaches as an additional level intervention, particularly aimed at improving school attendance and inclusion. 2.7.2 Ten of the eighteen posts have now been recruited and five have now started. Further interviews are planned to recruit the remainder of the staff. In order to monitor the effectiveness of these posts, an attendance monitoring system has been set up. This will look specifically children being worked with through the family support model and will allow direct comparison of their attendance with the overall attendance monitoring information discussed above 2.8 School Based Counselling 2.8.1 Development of School based counselling was an action identified in the Roadmap to Recovery. School based counselling is currently well used with a spend of 97% achieved in financial year 2021/22 and latest data covering July to December 2022 (Appendix 3) shows 1366 children and young people received the benefit of counselling support. These figures illustrate the demand for counselling services. An issue that has arisen is that some clusters are operating waiting lists due to demand for counselling access due to demand across cluster not being evenly spread. 2.8.2 To further ensure schools are using the funding appropriately and timeously to meet the needs of children and young people in NLC, a new Policy has been developed to highlight best practice to be followed to ensure equitable access to counselling services. This sets school-based counselling as being best implemented when it is part of an integrated pupil support system, and part of a GIRFEC staged intervention approach. This will embed school-based counselling in an integrative practice model. Page 39 of 253
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2.8.3 A counselling in schools check in has been introduced from November 2022 and is planned three times a year to be completed by cluster chairs and the Secondary Head Teacher as part of the Secondary Improvement Plan activities. The purpose is to support planning and provide more robust information to ensure targets from provision reviews can be better achieved. Subsequently, it can also be used as a tool to support improvement. It will allow for targeted support to ensure equitable cluster planning and is also a vehicle for collecting observational evidence of the impact of the service. 2.9 Staff Training, Wellbeing and Support 2.9.1 To ensure that staff are skilled, and have the capacity to deliver on GIRFEC, staff training is an important area to consider. To this end, we now deliver a Pupil Support Leadership Programme, endorsed by Education Scotland. This programme provides training on all the necessary aspects of understanding and delivering effectively through our GIRFEC Pathway. Additionally, two further training programmes – ‘An Introduction to Pupil Support’ and ‘An Introduction to Counselling Skills’ – have recently been developed to underpin this area of work further. 2.9.2 Staff support is an important element of providing support to children and young people. A new Staff Wellbeing Education Support Officer (ESO) took up post in August. This role helps to support the Roadmap to Recovery. The model recognises that to achieve the vision of this plan we must support staff wellbeing as this is essential for the consistent delivery of quality services to children, young people, families and communities. 2.9.3 The ESO has been introduced to Heads of Schools and Centers at meetings and details distributed to workforce in Education. Staff from across all sectors and at all levels have reached out for signposting and support. Signposting has been towards resources, courses, and support services to help meet the range of physical, mental, and emotional challenges they may be experiencing. The signposting takes place via a range of channels including NL Life/ Work Well NL and Health and Wellbeing Champions. 2.10 SDQ Survey 2.10.1 In November 2022, this committee supported the further use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) following it’s initial use in 2020. This would allow the gathering of comparative data from the initial baseline, which would be useful in measuring progress in children’s wellbeing in schools and planning further developments around the use of the GIRFEC pathway. 2.10.2 Since that date a group of officers has been in discussion with Youth in Mind, the company that holds the rights to SDQ, and a timeline for the running of the survey a second time has been developed. This builds in a two-month period required by Youth in Mind, following the uploading of initial data around school cohort numbers, which is required for preparing the electronic systems to allow questionnaires to be issued for each individual pupil and completed online, through a secure process. Key dates and actions are: • Early February 2023 - Uploading initial data for to Youth in Mind for preparation and issue of questionnaires by • Late February 2023 – Updating of guidance materials for issues to schools • March 2023 - Providing briefings to schools regarding the questionnaires, supported by issue of guidance materials Page 40 of 253
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• April – June 2023 – Questionnaires completed in schools by young people (secondary school) and teachers (Primary School) • July and August 2023 - Analysis of data carried out 2.10.3 Following this process, a report will be provided to this committee with full analysis and comparisons with the 2020 data. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The report shows several developments that will require to be monitored over the next year. Overall, these developments reflect the vision, discussed above, that is in place for the GIRFEC approach. 3.2 In terms of monitoring the process of GIRFEC and the strengthening of the pathway through the introduction of the Planning for Children’s Wellbeing model, monitoring will take place through evidence of the use of the model within the clusters. Numbers of children assisted through this model will indicate the outputs of the GIRFEC processes. 3.3 Attendance monitoring will continue as set out in this report and in Appendix 2. This will show outcomes of the approaches used to improve attendance across the authority. Comparison of this and similar data from the families being worked with by the Family Engagement staff will allow monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes of the family support and engagement model. 3.4 School based counselling check ins will show evidence of use and development of School Based Counselling. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Planning for Children’s Wellbeing Guidance 4.2 Appendix 2 – Attendance Analysis 4.3 Appendix 3 – Counselling in Schools. Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) Page 41 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Family Engagement Support Assistant Posts have been funded, initially until the end of March 2024, through the Scottish Attainment Challenge. This has been approved through the Workforce Steering Group. As indicated in 2.11 above this is a reducing financial envelope and the funding and effectiveness of this approach will have to be revisited before March 2024. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 42 of 253
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The use of the new approach to Planning for children’s Wellbeing as the basis for delivery of GIRFEC requires communication across all service that work with children. This has already started with the launch of an online tool covering all required resources. This will be further developed and updated as required. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? As part of the SAC activity, the future of Family Engagement Support Assistant posts and the related family support approach poses a risk going forward, Given the stretch aims around improving attendance, the risk of failing to achieve or sustain these stretch aims must be considered. The risk associated with the implementation of SAC is regularly reviewed in line with Council arrangements. The most recent internal Audit report gave assurance as to the efficacy of SAC planning arrangements. Due to the downward taper of current funding within the Strategic Equity Fund, close scrutiny of outcomes from this initiative will take place to assist decision making around future achievement of the stretch aims. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 43 of 253
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1 Appendix 1 Empowering Clusters Guidance Guidance on planning for children and young people’s Wellbeing August 2022 Key content: 1. Introduction 2. GIRFEC Pathway for Planning and Support 3. Wellbeing Planning Meetings for Children and Young People 4. Requesting additional supports/resources for a child/young person’s unmet wellbeing needs 5. Alignment to other planning process 6. Useful links and information 7. Alignment to other planning process Alig n Page 44 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 2 1. Introduction The model of cluster working allows for the needs of children to be met through a joined-up approach to children’s services. The model, which replaces the HART process and is the same for primary and secondary, is built around the 23 educational clusters which includes secondary school, the feeder primary schools, early years establishments, SEBN and ASN provision within the cluster area. The model centres on integrative practice within and across agencies using staged intervention to plan for individual children and young people and their family at the earliest opportunity. This approach to planning will help to identify what needs to be done to improve the child/young person’s wellbeing and what support is necessary to meet identified outcomes. The principles and values are those underpinned by the UNCRC, ‘Getting it right for Every Child’, All our Children, all their Potential (Morgan Review), The Promise 2020 and the Review of National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 and align to the following themes: • Rights and Participation • Relationships • Wellbeing and Care • Inclusion and Universal Support Here’s a short interactive presentation on ‘Introducing Children’s rights’. You can access this e-learning on Assessment and Planning for Children and Young People. The term children and young people (usually for over-12’s) is used to describe anyone up to the age of 18 years, however the GIRFEC approach is applicable to assessment and planning for the wellbeing of unborn babies and certain groups of young people aged over 18. This includes situations where a young person is still enrolled at school, where they are moving through the transition into Adult Services, and where they have care experience. ‘Parent’ when used in this guidance has the same meaning as in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, to include any person who is liable to maintain or has parental responsibilities in relation to or has the care of a child. Use of the term ‘parent’ therefore means parent or parents, carers, or guardians, and recognises these may be part of any family network. Policy and legislation Policy and legislation around planning for children and young people’s wellbeing is complex and wide reaching. This reflects that it covers those at the universal service end who require no specific intervention to those with the highest levels of need in receipt of very complex packages. It also covers the breadth of service offered. The following are intended to give examples of the legislation and policy requirements that impact on the delivery of services to children covered in this model. It is not intended to be a complete list. This includes: • The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 • The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 • Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 Page 45 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 3 • The Promise 2020 • The National Child Protection Guidance 2021 • The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 enshrines UNCRC in Scottish legislation A Relationship-based Practice Approach All services and agencies involved with children, young people and their families are committed to developing positive relationships built on transparency, trust, inclusion, and respect. Recognition of diversity and appreciation of differing family backgrounds and cultures is key to achieving the best possible outcomes for an individual child or young person. Families know their home situations best and can be key to finding the solutions to challenges children, young people and parents may face. Improved outcomes are achieved by adopting a relationship-based practice approach, which draws on professional skills, knowledge, and expertise and uses innovative and creative ways to engage with families. Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) The trauma-informed practice toolkit has been developed as part of the National Trauma Training Programme and can support all sectors of the workforce in planning and developing trauma informed services. The model is grounded in and directed by a complete understanding of how trauma exposure affects service user’s neurological, biological, psychological, and social development. The key principles of TIP Page 46 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 4 peer support and mutual self- help. Efforts are made by an organisation to ensure the physical and emotional safety of clients and staff. This includes reasonable freedom from threat or harm and attempts to prevent further re-traumatisation. Safety Transparency exists in an organisation’s policies and procedures, with the objective of building trust among staff, families and the wider community. Trustworthiness Families and staff have meaningful choice and a voice in the decision-making process of the organisation and its services. Choice The organisation recognises the value of staff and families’ experience in overcoming challenges and improving the system as a whole. This is often operationalised through the formal or informal use of Collaboration Efforts are made by the organisation to share power and give families and staff a strong voice in decision-making, at both individual and organisational levels. Although there may be differences in terms of their application, it is widely acknowledged. Empowerment Points to remember throughout the planning process 2. GIRFEC pathway for planning and support The GIRFEC Pathway for Planning and Support is attached below to enable you and your staff to familiarise themselves with Education and Families agreed practice to support effective planning for our children and young people. Contextual Safeguarding Child protection Page 47 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 5 In 2021-22, NL partners introduced the contextual safeguarding approach. Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding, and responding to, young people’s experiences of significant harm beyond their families. It recognises that the different relationships that young people form in their neighbourhoods, schools and online can feature violence and abuse. Access this ’What is Contextual Safeguarding’ video for more info. Where a potential Child Protection concern emerges at any stage of involvement with a child, young person or their family, agency protocols must be followed. To seek help or share concerns for a child or young person’s safety please contact the police if there is immediate risk of the child being harmed or the relevant locality social work children and families team. 3. Planning for Children and Young People’s Wellbeing GIRFEC aims to support and promote a child/young person’s wellbeing by making sure they have access to the right support when they need it. For any level of planning and intervention the first step is to undertake an assessment to establish areas of need, risk, resilience, and strength. The Named Person will plan by recording actions against wellbeing outcomes and review this to see if the plan has been effective in reducing need and promoting resilience. If there are continuing wellbeing needs unable to be resolved by single agency led planning then the Named Person may decide, in consultation with parents/carers and the child/young person, that planning needs to take place at a meeting level. The Named Person will then arrange a child/young person wellbeing meeting Planning meeting A Child/young person’s Planning Meeting may be called when one or more of the following apply: Page 48 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 6 Consider wellbeing needs, and potential risks to the child/young person Hear the views of the child/young person and their parents/carers Share and collate assessment information about the child’s/young person’s wellbeing Consider whether a Request for Assistance to a specific service(s) would be helpful Consider whether a child’s plan is required to co-ordinate input from the involved services Consider whether a multi-agency chronology would support ongoing assessment & planning Identify a Lead Professional if a Child/young person’s Plan is agreed Arrange a review meeting date if a Child/young person’s Plan is agreed 1. The assessment of a child’s/young person’s wellbeing suggests that their needs are more significant 2. It is not clear that a request for assistance to a specific service will be sufficient to improve outcomes 3. The involvement of another service following a request for assistance has not adequately addressed the presenting needs of the child/young person 4. There is a need for co-ordinated assessment and planning between 2 or more services. It is a responsibility of the named person to co-ordinate planning; therefore, it is likely that they will initiate a child/young person wellbeing meeting with the agreement of the child/young person, their parents/carers, and any other involved service. If another service considers that there is a need for a Child/young person Wellbeing Meeting to take place they should discuss this with the named person and agree on how to proceed. The main purpose of a child/young person’s planning meeting is to: Page 49 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 7 For further consideration in planning In addition to the above, planning for a child/young person might involve local dialogue about the following: • ensuring partners all are aware of staffing issues and maintaining links and connections • managing the GIRFEC process and emerging issues • managing requests for assistance and thresholds for social work involvement • capacity issues affecting teams • ensuring the effectiveness of family group decision making • the progress of vulnerable children and families • reviewing the data available on the effectiveness of interventions (Outcome Star) and wider data around performance (safeguarding, the balance of care, attendance patterns, outcomes of VSEs and inspections). Staged intervention Key throughout all stages of planning and intervention is the cycle of assess > plan > review. The named person will lead and co-ordinate planning for children/young people until a wellbeing meeting has agreed and identified a lead professional when the level of planning requires someone to take on this role. Page 50 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 8 The first point of contact for any child or young person with wellbeing needs, will be the named person. In keeping with the GIRFEC pathway, supports at universal level will be provided in early years, school, may be independently offered by the NHSL and can be a collaboration of the two universal services. The named person provides a clear point of contact for anyone worried about a child/young person’s wellbeing. They have a responsibility to collaborate and discuss with the child, family, and other agencies to explore support available to address identified wellbeing needs. The named person should make families aware of their rights around information sharing as per this guidance. When it has been identified that early help/support is needed for a child or young person, the named person, in collaboration with the child, young person, parent, will analyse unmet need using the single agency wellbeing assessment and this will inform the development of a single agency led plan (GIRFme plan for education). The named person will review and update the plan to make sure the child’s needs are met and wellbeing improved. The named person can at any time have a professional dialogue with another professional within their own service or another universal service. If necessary, a request for assistance, can be made. Good communication helps provide as full a picture as possible for assessment, can aid decision making, and help clarify whether a request for assistance would benefit a child or young person through accessing extra support. If the current plan has had a positive impact and the child’s wellbeing is improved, then going forward, additional planning may not be necessary as the child’s needs are being met within universal provision, health, early years, school. See the Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Universal) summary guide on the next page. Page 51 of 253
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9 Empowering Clusters Guidance Summary guide Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Universal) Page 52 of 253
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10 Empowering Clusters Guidance Planning Meeting (Additional) When the named person has identified wellbeing concerns cannot be met within universal services and a single agency led plan alone, consideration needs to be given to what additional support is required. The named person can have a discussion with the Cluster Integration and Improvement Lead as required (CIIL-this is an educational post but available for professional dialogue with health colleagues or those from other services who have wellbeing concerns for a child). Wellbeing needs are likely to be met and managed within school but need support from partner services and agencies. The ‘My World Triangle’ assessment may be initiated to analyse unmet need and if required a Planning Meeting will be arranged by the Named Person and the assessment and analysis shared. (See earlier section on wellbeing meeting). Engagement with the child/young person and their family is crucial and tools to seek views should be used. Wellbeing needs may continue to be met and managed within school with support from partner services and agencies but if the assessment informs the need for a Child’s Plan, then the most appropriate Lead Professional should be identified to oversee the plan. • The planning meeting should discuss clearly whether the level of integrated working requires a Lead Professional at this point. Duties of a Lead Professional include co-ordination of the child’s plan; ensuring everyone in the team around the child is clear about roles and responsibilities; ensuring children and families are involved and supported; ensuring everyone involved has a copy of the plan and it is reviewed/monitored regularly. If there is disagreement about the need for a Lead Professional or who should fulfil the role, then the CIIL/Senior Social Worker can be approached to help resolve this. See the Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Additional) summary guide on the next page. Page 53 of 253
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11 Empowering Clusters Guidance Summary guide Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Additional) Page 54 of 253
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12 Empowering Clusters Guidance Planning Meeting (Intensive) A Planning Meeting should take place to prevent further escalation, when the concerns are such that the child, young person is, for example, on the ‘edges of care’. Other examples might be children who have been hospitalised with restricted eating, have returned from out of authority care or have come off the child protection register. This meeting can facilitate further assessment and interventions from additional staff from other agencies. Children and Young People may already have an identified Lead Professional but if not, then a Lead Professional should be identified, and they will: • Co-ordinate the Child’s Plan • Ensure children and their families are involved and supported • Ensure everyone in the team around the child are clear about their role • Appropriate services are provided • Ensure child’s plan is monitored and reviewed • Arrange reviews of the child’s plan See the Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Intensive) summary guide on the next page. Page 55 of 253
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13 Empowering Clusters Guidance Summary guide Planning for Children’s Wellbeing (Intensive) Page 56 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 14 4. Requesting additional supports/resources for a child/young person’s unmet wellbeing needs If a planning meeting (intensive) is being convened to discuss additional resourcing which are unable to be accessed by the team around the child/young person currently then this meeting will be chaired by the Cluster Chair who can have a dialogue and/or seek support from the Education and Families Manager Social Work. The purpose of this discussion is to seek support for problem solving if insufficient progress is being made. The plan may be ‘stuck’ despite support from the team around the child and there are barriers which need further reflection, including the possibility of additional resources which will be proportionate to the needs of the child. This meeting can agree resources to enable the most vulnerable children to have access where possible to community based education, health, and social work support services or when additional or alternative resources are required to maintain the education placement and to enable the child/young person to be supported by their family. The planning meeting can: • Approve additional resources from within the cluster or within authority to support a child/young person’s plan • Act as a problem-solving group where barriers arise in supporting a child’s plan • Agree if progression is necessary to change the level of intervention • Agree a review date if necessary Outwith Term Time Planning issues for children, young people and their families may need to continue out with the school term. If a plan is already in place, it should be reviewed prior to the school term finishing and updated, including additional resources to maintain the child, young person and support the parents during the holiday period. Inclusion Team are available over the school holidays and can be contacted via ef.sfl.northlan.gov.uk if an education input is required to support the child/young person’s plan. Education and Families Managers in Education will also be available Page 57 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 15 5. Alignment to other planning processes Core Group: Further Support • Should further support be felt necessary in discussion with the CIIL, a request for assistance can be made to the Inclusion Core Group at ef.sfl@northlan.gov.uk • The Core Group normally meets on a monthly basis during the academic year. • Requests to Core Group should provide the background to the situation, a clear outline of the support being sought, details of any associated costs and strategies / timescales for reviewing the interventions. • Feedback on such requests will be given as soon as possible in the days following the meeting. Care experience at home Where a child/young person has been experiencing care at home (subject to compulsory supervision) then social work, as the lead agency, has internal processes to review the child on a multi-agency basis. A child, young person who has been experiencing care at home will also be reviewed by a children’s hearing 12 monthly or sooner. When a child or young person is no longer subject to compulsory supervision then their wellbeing needs will continue to be met within the wellbeing planning process. The named person or lead professional (whichever has been agreed) will lead on the assess/plan/review cycle Care experience away from home At the point of a child/ young person returning to the care of their parent (the decision of a looked after review), the social worker as Lead Professional and the team around the child will update the Child/young person’s Plan, with agreed interventions to support wellbeing. The level of intervention- universal, additional, or intensive will be agreed. The CIIL, if necessary, will discuss with the senior social worker to determine the level of staged intervention. Child Protection De-Registration If the child, young person is not subject to a compulsory supervision order and the chair of the review child protection conference (the locality education and families manager) makes a decision to deregister a child/young person then the level of intervention- universal, additional, or intensive, will be agreed at the child protection conference. The named person or lead professional (whichever has been agreed) will lead on the assess/plan/review cycle Page 58 of 253
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Empowering Clusters Guidance 16 6. Useful links and information www.girfecinnl.com Interim Information Sharing Guidance (PDF) NL Chronology Multiagency Practice Guidance (PDF) Care Inspectorate – Practice guide to Chronologies (PDF) SidandShanarri.co.uk Download Wellbeing Web (PDF) What I Think Tool – Early Years (PDF) What I Think Tool – Children (PDF) What I Think Tool – Young People over 16 (PDF) Outcome Star – see note below and signpost to further guidance Education and Families are introducing Outcome Star, with a programme of training being developed, from April 2022. The ‘star’ is an evidence based tool which will help us identify what is impacting on a child, young person’s wellbeing and what we need to do to support change. The use of the ‘star’ over a period of time, identifies what has changed across the child, young person’s wellbeing, if they are safer, healthier, more able to participate etc, a visual record for the child, young person, family, and any professional offering support to make changes. See the HWB guidance section in this Empowering Clusters Guidance resource for more details on the ‘Use of outcome star’. Page 59 of 253
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Appendix 3 Page 61 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GMcL/MD Date 28/02/23 Proposals for statutory public consultation on the proposed new build for Gartcosh Primary. From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812 221 Executive Summary This report outlines proposals for statutory public consultations on the proposed new build for Gartcosh Primary. If approved, a statutory consultation will take place involving all statutory consultees, other stakeholders and interested parties. The key reasons for this proposal are: • The council is progressing its Town and Community Hub programme and this consultation proposal for Gartcosh Primary follows from the Committee Report on Schools and Centres 21 Phase 3 Investment approved at Education Committee on 1st March 2017. • The pupils currently at Garcosh Primary School will benefit educationally by attending a new build school which can offer a wider range of educational opportunities. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the contents of the report; (2) Agree that a formal consultation take place on the proposed new build for Gartcosh Primary; (3) Endorse the attached statutory consultation document appendix 1; (4) Agree the timeline for consultation outlined in appendix 2 of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (22) Facilitate a North Lanarkshire wide approach to asset rationalisation, including with communities and partners AGENDA ITEM 6 Page 63 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 The provisions of the above Act place a statutory duty on education authorities to carry out formal consultations on new build proposals for schools when the proposal is to build the school out with its current curtilage or when a joint campus is proposed involving a non-denominational and a denominational primary school. 1.2 The Act requires education authorities prepare an educational benefits statement, to prepare (and publish) a proposal paper in respect of any proposal which falls within the terms of the Act, give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees (and invite representations) in accordance with the Act, to hold (and give notice of) a public meeting, involve Education Scotland. 1.3 Following the period of consultation, the education authority must review the proposal in accordance with the Act and prepare (and publish) a consultation report in accordance with relevant sections of the Act. 1.4 After publication of the education authority report, HMIE publish a report on the consultation taking account of the previously published education authority report before a final decision is made by the Council. 1.5 The Service will undertake a statutory consultation on the proposed relocation of Gartcosh Primary to a new location. Appendix 3. 1.6 Proposals outlined in this paper have been developed by Education and Families Managers including staff from the Early Learning & Childcare team, the Inclusion team, Assets and Procurement and Corporate Finance. Key considerations derived from these meetings have been incorporated into the models proposed, which include: • Quality and condition of the fabric of school buildings • Possible savings/costs associated with estate re-purposing and school relocation • Impact assessment and improvement planning for the ASN sector. 1.7 The Service has adopted a formal project management governance structure to lead and monitor the delivery of new build schools which will encompass the achievement the programme and the savings. 1.8 The final decision of the education authority is subject to review and possible call in by the Scottish government which must operate to a strict timeline set out in Appendix 2. 1.9 The timeline mentioned above may be subject to review due to unforeseen circumstances. 2. Report 2.1. The council is progressing, through the Town and Community Hub programme budget allocation, a new build Gartcosh Community Hub which will include 434 primary school spaces at a new location and thereafter relocate Gartcosh Primary School to this new Community Hub. As members will be aware, Gartcosh is part of a Community Growth Area and is experiencing increased demand to the school estate as a result. The current location does not have sufficient space on which to expand to create the capacity required, therefore a new school, at a new location is proposed. A statutory education consultation is required to relocate a primary school to the new location. Page 64 of 253
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2.2. There are various reasons why a new build is prioritised: “Legacy” projects which are carried over from previous school build programmes such as “Schools and Centres 21”; “Capacity” projects which are required due to significant increased pupil populations and subsequent additional spaces required within catchment schools; and “Policy” projects which are brought forward due to alignment with the prioritisation matrix linked to the Town and Community Hub programme. Gartcosh Community Hub is both a legacy, and a capacity related project, and as such is prioritised within the 2021-2026 capital allocation for this programme of work. 2.3. This report establishes the methodology by which the services redesign was envisioned by officers, in response to the Council’s priorities. A core team of officers in Education and Families assessed a range of propositions to establish their viability, using a RAG status approach to highlight most promising options for implementation. 2.4. A number of factors were used to establish an approach to prioritising potential rationalisation activities. These are described in the following section. 2.5. Strategic fit with the priorities of the Plan for North Lanarkshire; 2.5.1 Whilst this project predates the creation of the Town and Community Hub programme, all projects not yet designed will follow the six guiding principles attached to the Town and Community Hub programme. As such, in addition to the requested Statutory Education Consultation, there will be effective engagement with both the school and the wider community throughout the design stage of this project – should it be approved to proceed following Statutory Consultation. It is proposed that the intelligent brief process, which facilitates engagement with the stakeholders, would not wait until the education consultation is concluded but will be ‘delivered at risk’. It is not the case that the outcome is predetermined – hence the ‘at risk’ proposal. The council is looking to deliver a new facility as soon as practically possible, due to pressures at the existing establishment. However, it should be noted that should the outcome of the statutory education consultation conclude that the proposal should not be progressed, the work on the intelligent brief would cease. 2.6. Alignment with the Community Growth Area proposal; 2.6.1 It has been evident for many years that a new build primary school is required to mitigate the impact of new housing on the school estate. The issue to date has been the lack of available land on which to build a new Community Hub. Due to the constraints of the existing site, it would not be possible to create a school of sufficient size to serve the needs of the growing school population. Unfortunately, the council did not own sufficient land in this area, and it has taken years of complex negotiations with landowners to acquire a site suitable to build a new Community Hub. The proposed new location has been determined as the council now owns this land. 2.7. Growth in the wider Northern Corridor area; 2.7.1 Whilst there is extensive growth in Gartcosh, there has also been growth in other areas of the Northern Corridor over the years, including in Stepps, Chryston, and Moodiesburn. This increased population places demand on other sectors within education, in addition to primary provision. 2.7.2 A new build primary school is near completion, and an extension to the high school is expected to follow. However, to serve the needs of both the Additional Support Needs (ASN) community, and the early years community, it is proposed that spaces are included in the Gartcosh Community Hub for both these sectors. Whilst this does not Page 65 of 253
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form the need for a statutory education consultation, which is needed solely due to the proposal to relocate the existing Gartcosh Primary School, it will form part of the consultation with the school and wider community as part of the discussion in relation to the Community Hub proposals. 2.8. Relocation of Existing Establishments within Alternative/Higher Quality Facilities 2.8.1 In line with the policy established in the Plan for North Lanarkshire to ensure that young people are catered for within high-quality facilities, it is also proposed that consultation takes place to strengthen the provision experienced by pupils in Gartcosh Primary School. Each of these propositions is outlined in what follows. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Stakeholder support for the options brought forward. 3.2 Successful implementation of planned proposals. 3.3 Achievement of budget savings target in line with approved budget savings agreed by Council March 2020 3.4 Greater alignment with Plan for North Lanarkshire community hub model. 3.5 Improved quality of service and provision to effectively meet the needs of children, young people and families 3.6 Increased numbers of children and young people remaining within their local community. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Gartcosh Primary 4.2 Appendix 2 Statutory Consultation Timeline 4.3 Appendix 3 Location plan Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) Page 66 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Service is currently assessing the value of this capital investment with support from colleagues in Asset and Procurement Solutions. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Affected staff will be managed in accordance with the appropriate Workforce Change Policies and in with the signatory trades unions. Considerations would include Compulsory Transfer, Premature/Early Retirement, Redundancy/Redeployment. The Service would be required to follow the requirements for consulting as set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Further stakeholder, community and parental consultation would be required in the event that the Service proceeds with any of the recommendations. An indicative timeline for the consultation process is outlined in Appendix 2. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Page 67 of 253
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Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ The carbon footprint will reduce if the numbers of establishments operating was reduced and pupils were catered for in our newer and more energy efficient campuses. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ A Programme Board has been established for the Implementation of the ASN Review. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 68 of 253
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Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Proposal to build a new Gartcosh Primary School and to incorporate a Language & Communication Support Centre (LCSC) and Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) provision EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Page 69 of 253
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NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL: EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Proposal to build a new Gartcosh Primary School and to incorporate a Language & Communication Support Centre (LCSC) and Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) provision 1. INTRODUCTION Gartcosh Primary School is a non-denominational primary school which was built in 1913 and is located in Lochend Road, Gartcosh. Seven miles east of Glasgow City Centre and seven miles west of Cumbernauld. The present school building was opened in 1913; it is a traditional two storey stone construction with pitched and slated roof. Within the building there are seven classrooms off the central hall. The administration block is situated upstairs, and the school dinner hall is outside in the playground in what was the original school building (dated 1875). There is also a modular until within the school grounds which has temporary accommodation for two classrooms. The school capacity of the school is 188 with the current roll of 250, which includes 62 spaces created through the temporary two class modular unit. It is recommended that the proposed new building includes the existing Gartcosh Primary School, a new LCSC and Early Learning & Childcare provision. The current site has no associated LCSC or nursery class within the current campus. 2. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS 2.1 In terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Education Authority is required to publish details of, and consult on any proposal to establish a new school and on any proposal to establish, terminate or otherwise alter the catchment area of a school. 2.2 North Lanarkshire Council will not make any decision, or put any changes into effect, until the consultation period has been concluded in line with statutory requirements. 2.3 The consultation period will be a minimum of 57 days, which include 30 school days. It begins on 1 March 2023 and finishes on 27 April 2023. 2.4 The consultation will involve pupils, parent/carers, Parent Councils and staff of the schools involved, as well as other associated stakeholder and statutory consultees. 2.5 A public meeting will be held on week beginning 6th March 2023. 2.6 Council officers will be present at the public meeting to discuss the proposal. There will be limited time at the meeting to discuss all issues fully. To ensure that all issues are covered and that those who may be uncomfortable with speaking publicly are heard, advance notice of specific questions or issues to be raised will be accepted in writing up to two days in advance of the meeting – see contact details at 2.9. 2.7 At the end of the consultation process, a report will be prepared for North Lanarkshire Council detailing all responses received, summaries of their content and a statement from Education Scotland on the educational aspects of the proposal. Responses to the issues raised through the consultation will also be incorporated in the report. Copies of the report will be available, prior to consideration by the council, in the affected Page 70 of 253
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schools and online. It is envisaged that the report will be published on 29 June 2023. 2.8 An online version of the document and other items related to the consultation can be found online at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/gartcosh-consultation 2.9 Further information on the proposal can be obtained by sending an email to gartcoshconsultation@northlan.gov.uk 2.10 All interested parties are invited to submit their comments on or before 27 April 2023. 3. PROPOSAL 3.1 The proposal in this document is to build a new facility incorporating a new build Gartcosh Primary School in addition to a Language & Communication Support Centre (LCSC) and an Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) provision within the existing catchment area. There are two main reasons for this proposal: • The pupils currently at Gartcosh Primary School and the new LCSC and new Nursery Class will benefit educationally by attending new build schools which can offer a wider range of educational opportunities (see Educational and Community Benefits sections below). • The current Gartcosh Primary School needs replacement due to the levels of housebuilding in the area. The new school will be fully accessible and equipped with modern technology to ensure the best learning opportunities are afforded to every child. 3.2 It is proposed that the school will be sited on an area of land between on the current open space and football pitch located between Woodneuk Avenue and Johnstone Road. 3.3 If, following this statutory consultation, the Council proceeds with the proposed school, then the statutory planning process will be followed as required until completion of the new school. Prior to that, Gartcosh Primary will continue to operate on its current site. 4. EDUCATION BENEFITS STATEMENT 4.1 Through the planned proposals it is expected that several education benefits will be achieved on behalf of children and young people including: • Improved access to high quality facilities • Improved access to a greater variety of different education experience • Access to outdoor learning experiences • Strengthened practice in pedagogy and learning and teaching • Increased opportunities for professional learning and sharing good practice 4.2 Experience in new school buildings has demonstrated that a new and flexible learning environment inspires staff and pupils and has a positive impact on the general health and wellbeing of stakeholders. 4.3 Improved high quality facilities for learning will be designated in such a way as to allow a range of teaching styles and approaches, including active learning, interdisciplinary learning and outdoor learning. Page 71 of 253
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4.4 The curriculum will provide the opportunity for learners to achieve across all curricular areas and to develop skills, attributes and capabilities aligned with the design principles of Curriculum for Excellence: challenge and enjoyment, breadth, progression, depth, personalisation and choice, coherence and relevance. 4.5 Children and young people will be provided with a broad range of opportunities for personal achievement and interdisciplinary learning across all curricular areas by building on best practice in curriculum design in North Lanarkshire Schools. 4.6 The provision of high-quality technology for learning will provide the potential to transform ways of learning and teaching by giving young people and staff flexible and embedded access to a fully digital learning environment. 4.7 The shared flexible learning and teaching spaces in the new joint campus school will enable staff to work together in a collaborative manner and provide more opportunities for co-operative working between pupils. 4.8 The new school will be fully accessible to disabled learners as required by the Equality Act (2010). This will be ensured through the delivery of the Council’s:- • Equality outcomes • Promoting Inclusive Design Protocol and • Partnership with North Lanarkshire Disability Access Panel. 4.9 The new school will be designed in such a way as to promote accessible, inclusive learning which will meet the needs of all learners including those with Additional Support Needs. 4.10 The new school will build on current, and facilitate new, opportunities for effective integrated working with other services and partner agencies and will provide necessary support to children and families in the new school catchment area. 4.11 The new school’s design, construction and operation will be environmentally and energy efficient; contributing directly to delivering the year-on-year reductions in greenhouse gas emissions introduced by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and provide a rich context for learning for children and young people about sustainability now and in the future. 4.12 The inclusion of LCSC and Early years and Childcare provision in the new build proposal will provide a fully up-to-date setting for LCSC and Early Years provision in the Gartcosh area. 5. COMMUNITY BENEFITS STATEMENT 5.1 The current council education estate framework has delivered added value through: • Several apprenticeships have been created on the construction of the new schools. • Local employment opportunities. • Meaningful learning and engagement between the framework partners and the project schools. • Over 70% of the total investment is being procured through local supply chains. Page 72 of 253
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5.2 In order to maximise the level of local community benefit regular meetings take place with framework contractors and the council’s Estate Teams. As we move forward at the pre-qualification stage contractors appointed to the framework and their supply chains will be required to actively participate in the achievement of social, environmental and sustainability policy objectives relating to local regeneration, social and economic growth, recruitment and training along with local supply chain initiatives. In addition, sustainability will be a key objective on the construction of the new schools thereby contributing to the Councils target of reducing our carbon footprint. 5.3 As well as the educational benefits allocated to the specific school projects there will be wider educational benefits to the North Lanarkshire Community in that, with the significant level of savings required to be made over the next few financial years, the best value argument is that we would be utilising resources more efficiently and effectively. This is in line with 2003 Best Value Legislation and also the demands of the Education Scotland Act 1980. 6. IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSALS 6.1 Rolls and Capacities The projected rolls exclude placing requests but include house building estimates. Table 3: Projected rolls and capacities for Gartcosh Primary School 2023 - 2028 School Capacity Roll 2023 Roll 2024 Roll 2025 Roll % Roll % Roll % Permanent 188 235 125 308 164 351 187 Temporary 62 The projected rolls exclude placing requests but include house building estimates. 6.2 Transport to School Council Policy currently provides free transport to those pupils living more than one mile from their zoned Primary School or where an appropriate walking route is not available. Education & Families will arrange for an assessment of the walking routes to the site of a new school and appropriate road crossing patrols will be established if considered necessary. 6.3 Staffing The proposal should not have significant implications for staffing, either teaching or non- teaching. Any matter which arises will be dealt with within the terms of local and national agreements. 6.4 Secondary Education The current zoning arrangement for secondary education is that pupils attending Gartcosh Primary School attend Chryston High School. No change to the primary to secondary transfer arrangements will be required as a result of this proposal. Parents who wish their children to attend an alternative secondary school will require to submit a placing request for their preferred school. Page 73 of 253
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6.5 Class Sizes Class structures are decided by the head teacher in accordance with authority guidelines and take account of a range of factors, including teacher deployment, school policies, the available accommodation and pupil numbers at each stage. 6.6 Future use of the existing school buildings Education & Families will declare the existing school buildings surplus to its requirements should the proposal be approved. Thereafter, the council's Property Services will make recommendations on its future use or disposal in line with council policy. 6.7 Financial implications Based on previous experience of new build projects within North Lanarkshire, it is anticipated this proposal will have a limited impact on school revenue budgets. 6.8 Placing Requests It is anticipated that there will be no impact on pupils attending either school on a placing request. The following options exist for pupils in this position. Firstly, they can transfer to the new school. Secondly, they can enrol in their designated catchment area school or thirdly, submit a placing request to another School. The parents of these pupils will be given the opportunity to discuss their preference with Education & Families staff. Parents remain responsible for transport costs where an existing placing request to the new build school is continued. 7. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. 8. INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS 8.1 There is a statutory requirement for the Council to consider any allegation of an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper and determine whether the allegation has foundation. Where inaccuracies or omissions are notified to, or discovered by, the Council within this proposal document, the Council will determine if relevant information has, in its opinion been omitted or whether there is in fact an inaccuracy. Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will be informed of the Council’s decision and the reasons for that decision. Notifiers will also be informed of any action. The Council will invite the notifiers to make further representations to the Council should they disagree with the Council’s determination or its decision as to whether to take action. 8.2 If the Council has found, either itself or through a concern being raised, that there is an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper, it must decide whether this relates to a material consideration relevant to the proposal. Where the confirmed inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration, there is a duty on the Council to correct it. 8.3 Appropriate action will then be taken by the Council depending on whether the inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration. Page 74 of 253
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Such action may include withdrawing the proposal and issuing a revised proposal paper for the whole consultation period, or issuing a corrected proposal paper with, if, an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and, where applicable, the notifier(s) of any omissions or inaccuracies) and HMIE (Education Scotland) will be advised of the action. Where inaccuracies or omissions are discovered within the proposal document, the Council will determine whether relevant information has been omitted or if there has been an inaccuracy. action will then be taken by the Council, which may include issuing corrections, issuing a corrected proposal document, or an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and where applicable, the notifiers(s) of any action) will be advised. 8.4 Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will also be given the opportunity to make representations if they disagree with the Council’s determination of any action on the matter, which may result in the Council making a further determination/decision on the matter. 9. THE STATUTORY CONSULTATION PROCESS – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 9.1 The current requirements for consulting are set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. This consultation will be carried out in accordance with the Act. 9.2 This consultation has been planned in order to meet the statutory requirements. 9.3 The consultation document sets out the details of the proposal. • The proposal paper details the educational benefits of the proposal and other relevant information. • The proposal paper will be published and widely advertised. • North Lanarkshire Council will seek to determine whether there are inaccuracies or omissions within the proposal paper and take such action as it considers necessary. • The consultation period will be a period of at least 6 weeks including at least 30 school days. 9.4 Prior to the commencement of the consultation period, the authority will give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees. The relevant consultees are defined in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, and are as follows: (a) The parent council or combined parent council of any affected school (b) The parents of the pupils at any affected school (c) The parents of any children expected by the education authority to attend the affected school within two years of the date of publication of the proposed paper (d) The pupils at any affected school (in so far as the education authority considers them to be of suitable age and maturity) (e) The staff (teaching and other) at any of the affected school(s) (f) Any trade union which appears to the education authority to be representative of the persons mentioned above (g) The community council (if any) Page 75 of 253
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(h) The community planning partnership (within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Community Empowerments (Scotland) Act 2015 for the area of the local authority in which any affected school is situated (i) Any other community planning partnership that the education authority considers relevant (j) Any other education authority that the education authority considers relevant (k) Any other users of any affected school that the education authority considers relevant. 9.5 During the consultation period, the authority will hold and be represented at public meetings on the relevant proposal. 9.6 The council will involve Education Scotland in the consultation process. This will culminate in Education Scotland preparing and submitting an independent report on the educational aspects of the proposal. 9.7 Following the consultation period, the council will prepare and publish a consultation report. The report will be published at least three weeks before a final decision is taken on the proposal. 9.8 The consultation timeline provides further information on the timescales for various staged in the statutory process. Please click on the link below to share your views on the proposal (Ctrl + Click to follow link) www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/Gartcosh-consultation Page 76 of 253
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Appendix 2 Indicative Timeline for Reconfiguring Intensive ASN Systems and Services Stages Timeline Date 1. Committee Date Tuesday 28 February 2023 2. Consultation Starts Phase 1 Minimum of 6 weeks To include 30 calendar days Wednesday 1 March 2023 3. Public Meeting Mid way through consultation 4. Consultation Ends 30 Days Tuesday 11 April 2023 5. Report to Education Scotland Phase2 3 weeks Tuesday 2 May 2023 6. Education Scotland produce report 3 weeks Tuesday 23 May 2023 7. Consultation report published Phase 3 No specified timescale 8. Time for further consideration 3 weeks from publication date 9. Final Committee Decision September 2023 10. Implement proposal if approved by Committee 3 weeks Page 77 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GMcL/MD Date 28/02/23 Proposals for statutory public consultation on the proposed relocation of Mavisbank School to the existing Carnbroe Primary From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812 221 Background 1.1 Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 Executive Summary This report outlines proposals for statutory public consultations on the proposed relocation of Mavisbank School to ‘existing’ Carnbroe Primary within North Lanarkshire. If approved, a statutory consultation will take place involving all statutory consultees, other stakeholders and interested parties. The key reason for this proposal is: • To build upon the councils strategic approach regarding the reconfiguration of the intensive ASN systems and services to support children and young people with intensive social and emotional needs. Revision of ASN provision is a key programme of work within the revised Plan for North Lanarkshire (March 2020). Recommendations The Education and Families Committee is recommended to: (1) Endorse the contents of the report; (2) Agree that a formal consultation take place on the proposed change of location for Mavisbank Primary; (3) Agree the timeline for consultation outlined in appendix 2 of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (22) Facilitate a North Lanarkshire wide approach to asset rationalisation, including with communities and partners AGENDA ITEM 7 Page 81 of 253
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The provisions of the above Act place a statutory duty on education authorities to carry out formal consultations on new build proposals for schools when the proposal is to build the school out with its current curtilage or when a joint campus is proposed involving a non- denominational and a denominational primary school. 1.2 The Act requires education authorities prepare an educational benefits statement, to prepare (and publish) a proposal paper in respect of any proposal which falls within the terms of the Act, give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees (and invite representations) in accordance with the Act, to hold (and give notice of) a public meeting, involve Education Scotland. 1.3 Following the period of consultation, the education authority must review the proposal in accordance with the Act and prepare (and publish) a consultation report in accordance with relevant sections of the Act. 1.4 After publication of the education authority report, HMIE publish a report on the consultation taking account of the previously published education authority report before a final decision is made by the Council. 1.5 The Service will undertake a statutory consultation on the proposed relocation of Mavisbank School (Secondary) to the existing Carnbroe Primary site. Appendix 1. 1.6 In September 2019, the Education and Families Committee approved a review of Additional Support Needs services which established twelve key recommendations for action. Two key recommendations are cited here, which underpin the intentions of the strategic recommendations in this paper. Recommendation 8: ‘Partnership working will be strengthened in a revised Support Around the School model, which will enable greater empowerment of staff to meet the needs of young people and enable a greater connection between needs and the partnership response to them. A more holistic approach to supporting families will underpin this.’ Recommendation 11: ‘A clear plan for the future of the ASN estate, which creates Cluster ASN Hubs and specialist provision around the envisaged campus model of the future will be established as part of the Community Investment Fund and developed as part of the ongoing work to prioritise community hub investment proposals.’ 1.7 Proposals outlined in this paper have been developed by Education and Families inclusion team and Procurement and Corporate Finance. Key considerations derived from these meetings have been incorporated into the models proposed, which include: • Quality and condition of the fabric of school buildings • Possible savings/costs associated with estate re-purposing and school relocation • Impact assessment and improvement planning for the ASN sector. 1.8 The Service has adopted a formal project management governance structure to lead and monitor the delivery of the overarching ASN strategy which will encompass the achievement the programme and the savings. 1.9 In addition, the Service is committed to cost reductions relating to the repatriation of children to North Lanarkshire Council, both from educational day placements and joint education and social work residential placements as part of the Closer to Home agenda. The development of more appropriate local ASN educational provision will support the achievement of this ambition. 1.10 The final decision of the education authority is subject to review and possible call in by the Scottish government which must operate to a strict timeline set out in Appendix 2. Page 82 of 253
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1.11 The timeline mentioned above may be subject to review due to unforeseen circumstances. 2. Report 2.1. This report establishes the methodology by which the services redesign was envisaged by officers, in response to the Council’s priorities. A core team of officers in Education and Families assessed a range of propositions to establish their viability, using a RAG status approach to highlight most promising options for implementation. 2.2. A number of factors were used to establish an approach to prioritising potential rationalisation activities. These are described in the following section. 2.3. Alignment with the ASN Review: Achievability of Propositions; 2.3.1 In the ASN Review (2019) there were a number of key recommendations made for officers to implement. These recommendations set a policy direction for North Lanarkshire Council. Indeed, Recommendation 11 of the ASN Review supports this approach (Section 1.2). 2.3.2 A key test of the propositions is related to the extent to which they aided the achievability of the policy intentions of the ASN Review. 2.4 Efficient Use of Resources and Affordability of Proposals 2.4.1 The historic ASN estate provision of North Lanarkshire has meant that there are a number of smaller, more isolated ASN schools which can be more susceptible to staffing shortages and therefore less sustainable as a result. Consideration has been given to allowing these smaller establishments to become incorporated into some of the more modern campus facilities which have been established, and in which there is capacity for them to be relocated. This will release a possible net saving to the council in relation to capital receipts from the vacated facilities. 2.5 Location, Suitability and Condition of Buildings; and Value for Money 2.5.1 In each case the condition and suitability of the buildings was considered. This was particularly true in relation to our ASN estate, which requires significant investment, this may take some years to fully realise through the actions being brought forward through the Community Investment Fund. Risks of community impact, travel and school location status have been identified for all proposals, as well as local knowledge where appropriate. 2.6 Educational Benefits Statement 2.6.1 Through the planned proposals it is expected that a number of educational benefits will be achieved on behalf of children and young people with the requirement for intensive services to meet their additional support needs. These points were clearly established in the findings of the ASN Review and include: • Improved access to an enhanced outdoor environment which will support a range of vocational and outdoor learning opportunities for the secondary pupils at Mavisbank. • Enhanced, innovative, opportunities for vocational and life skills work within the school building. • Greater scope for multi-agency and family engagement work within the school building, including health professionals. • Wider access to sensory and therapeutic spaces within the school building • Carefully planned and designed use of technology will support learners with significant support needs. 2.6.2 This proposal will provide opportunities for children and young people to learn and work within, between and beyond a range of establishments and services. It will facilitate increased collaboration to make more effective use of existing expertise in a new environment. Page 83 of 253
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2.6.3 A key feature of this work will be Inclusion and Equity and officers will work in close partnership with the Virtual School Lead, Digital School Lead and Equity and Improvement Lead Officers. 2.6.4 Education provision within the proposed Carnbroe campus will also continue to be linked with this portfolio, enhancing the ability to provide tailored support to those young people experiencing a range of adversities who may benefit from an alternative setting. 2.6.5 It should be noted that there is already existing work progressing to establish ASN senior phase provision as part of the campus plan for young people in Cumbernauld Theatre and Cinema complex on the Cumbernauld Academy site. This is to involve Redburn and Glencryan jointly in a venture under the working title of Glenburn College. This is separate to the planning for the proposed Carnbroe campus at this stage but will be linked as the projects progress. 2.6.6 It is also expected that there can be a rationalisation of assets in this work, with a focus on building around the existing Carnbroe site to develop outdoor spaces and strengthening vocational provision and bespoke programmes within existing school (and future town and community) campuses. 2.6.7 All of the elements of the relocation will benefit from the integrated approach to service and support planning which underlies the wider new operating model within Education and Families, ensuring support is delivered holistically in partnership with children, young people and their families. To support this, we will also seek to maximise opportunities for involvement in service and support planning (in line with the Voice strand of The Promise). 2.7 Relocation of Existing Establishments within Alternative/Higher Quality Facilities 2.7.1 In line with the policy established in the Plan for North Lanarkshire to ensure that young people are catered for within high-quality facilities, it is also proposed that consultation takes place to strengthen the provision experienced by pupils in Mavisbank School. Each of these propositions is outlined in what follows. 2.8 Project Planning 2.8.1 The work relating to this area will be overseen by a Programme Board, in accordance with North Lanarkshire’s Project Management protocols, for the Reconfiguration of Intensive ASN Systems and Services. This is serviced by a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) and a Responsible Officer (RO) and a project team, which will ensure all aspects of the programme plan, including the statutory consultation, are accomplished successfully and timeously, in relation to the planned critical path for developments. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Stakeholder support for the options brought forward. 3.2 Successful implementation of planned proposals. 3.3 Achievement of budget savings target in line with approved budget savings agreed by Council March 2020 3.4 Improved quality of service and provision to effectively meet the needs of children, young people and families 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Mavisbank School Page 84 of 253
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4.2 Appendix 2 Statutory Consultation Timeline 4.3 Appendix 3 ASN Review – link to report https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att92041.pdf Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) 5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. Page 85 of 253
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If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? At this stage there is no financial impact linked to this consultation. The Service is currently assessing the value of this capital investment with support from colleagues in Asset and Procurement Solutions. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Affected staff will be managed in accordance with the appropriate Workforce Change Policies and in with the signatory trades unions. Considerations would include Compulsory Transfer, Premature/Early Retirement, Redundancy/Redeployment. The Service would be required to follow the requirements for consulting as set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Further stakeholder, community and parental consultation would be required in the event that the Service proceeds with any of the recommendations. An indicative timeline for the consultation process is outlined in Appendix 1. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 86 of 253
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ The carbon footprint will reduce if the numbers of establishments operating was reduced and pupils were catered for in our newer and more energy efficient campuses. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ A Programme Board has been established for the Implementation of the ASN Review. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Proposal to relocate Mavisbank School to the existing Carnbroe Primary School Page 87 of 253
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EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Page 88 of 253
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NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL: EDUCATION & FAMILIES Proposal to relocate Mavisbank School to the existing Carnbroe Primary School 1 INTRODUCTION Mavisbank School is located at Mitchell Street in Airdrie and caters for secondary pupils from across the central area of North Lanarkshire. Pupils have complex additional support and significant medical needs. The school capacity is 24 with a current roll of 22 pupils. It is recommended that Mavisbank School pupils are relocated to the existing Carnbroe Primary School that will facilitate and enhance provision for pupils with complex needs within the Central locality. Carnbroe Primary School is located at Kirkton Crescent in Coatbridge. Within the overarching planning for Education and Families, there is a focus on providing universal, additional and intensive services, with the universal provided by schools, the additional supported by the Integrated Cluster Wellbeing Teams and Bases. Intensive level support is normally delivered through ASN schools with appropriate support from social work or other services as part of an integrated child’s plan. This latter category is also supported by additional services. It is the intensive elements that this paper focuses on. 2 CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS 2.1 In terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Education Authority is required to publish details of, and consult on any proposal to establish a new school and on any proposal to establish, terminate or otherwise alter the catchment area of a school. 2.2 North Lanarkshire Council will not make any decision, or put any changes into effect, until the consultation period has been concluded in line with statutory requirements. 2.3 The consultation period will be a minimum of 57 days, which include 30 school days. It begins on 1 March 2023 and finishes on 27 April 2023. 2.4 The consultation will involve pupils, parent/carers, Parent Councils and staff of the schools involved, as well as other associated stakeholder and statutory consultees. 2.5 A public meeting will be held on week beginning 6th March 2023. 2.6 Council officers will be present at the public meeting to discuss the proposal. There will be limited time at the meeting to discuss all issues fully. To ensure that all issues are covered and that those who may be uncomfortable with speaking publicly are heard, advance notice of specific questions or issues to be raised will be accepted in writing up to two days in advance of the meeting – see contact details at 2.9. 2.7 At the end of the consultation process, a report will be prepared for North Lanarkshire Council detailing all responses received, summaries of their content and a statement from Education Scotland on the educational aspects of the proposal. Responses to the issues raised through the consultation will also be incorporated in the report. Copies of the report will be available, prior to consideration by the council, in the affected schools and online. It is envisaged that the report will be published on 29 June 2023. 2.8 An online version of the document and other items related to the consultation can be found online at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/mavisbank-consultation Page 89 of 253
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2.9 Further information on the proposal can be obtained by sending an email to mavisbankconsultation@northlan.gov.uk 2.10 All interested parties are invited to submit their comments on or before 27 April 2023. 3. PROPOSAL 3.1 The proposal is that Mavisbank pupils relocate to the existing Carnbroe Primary School. The reasons for this proposal are: • To ensure that there is highly appropriate provision for young people with significant additional support needs within this area of North Lanarkshire. • To facilitate a wide range of vocational and outdoor learning activities for young people with significant addition support needs. • To create real-life, work-related opportunities to support young people in their pathway to potential future employment. • To enable the on-going repatriation of North Lanarkshire’s young people who are currently in out of authority placements. 4. EDUCATION BENEFITS STATEMENT 4.1 Through the planned proposals it is expected that several educational benefits will be achieved on behalf of children and young people with the requirement for intensive services to meet their additional support needs: • Improved access to an enhanced outdoor environment which will support a range of vocational and outdoor learning opportunities for the secondary pupils at Mavisbank. • Enhanced, innovative, opportunities for vocational and life skills work within the school building. • Greater scope for multi-agency and family engagement work within the school building, including health professionals. • Wider access to sensory and therapeutic spaces within the school building • Carefully planned and designed use of technology will support learners with significant support needs. 5. COMMUNITY IMPACT 5.1 Mavisbank School is not being considered for closure or service cessation. 5.2 Work will now be done between Education and Families and Enterprise and Communities to: • Assess the impact on community use • Assess the budget implications income streams • Engage effectively/co-producing the approach with communities/users • Sight the CLNL Board on the proposals and impact as required. Page 90 of 253
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6. IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSAL 6.1 Transitions It is recognised that the change of location for some Mavisbank pupils may be challenging, and consideration has been given to how best to support pupils to make the transition as seamless as possible. Staff will work collaboratively with parents and pupils to support pupils in preparing for the transition to the new learning spaces within Carnbroe Primary School. Each pupil will be offered individualised support, as required, to ensure they are completely comfortable to complete the transition. This may involve visits during and after school. 6.2 Transport Pupils will continue to be transported from home to school. Transport contracts will be updated to reflect the different drop off and pick up point. As a result, there is no anticipated negative impact on pupils in relation to transport. 6.3 Financial Implications At this stage there is no financial impact linked to this consultation. 6.4 HR Implications Affected staff will be managed in accordance with the appropriate Workforce Change Policies of the Council, and in consultation with the signatory trades unions. Considerations would include Compulsory Transfer, Premature/Early Retirement, Redundancy/ Redeployment. 7. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. 8. INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS 8.1 There is a statutory requirement for the Council to consider any allegation of an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper and determine whether the allegation has foundation. Where inaccuracies or omissions are notified to, or discovered by, the Council within this proposal document, the Council will determine if relevant information has, in its opinion been omitted or whether there is in fact an inaccuracy. Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will be informed of the Council’s decision and the reasons for that decision. Notifiers will also be informed of any action. The Council will invite the notifiers to make further representations to the Council should they disagree with the Council’s determination or its decision as to whether to take action. 8.2 If the Council has found, either itself or through a concern being raised, that there is an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper, it must decide whether this relates to a material consideration relevant to the proposal. Where the confirmed inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration, there is a duty on the Council to correct it. Page 91 of 253
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8.3 Appropriate action will then be taken by the Council depending on whether the inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration. Such action may include withdrawing the proposal and issuing a revised proposal paper for the whole consultation period, or issuing a corrected proposal paper with, if, an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and, where applicable, the notifier(s) of any omissions or inaccuracies) and HMIE (Education Scotland) will be advised of the action. Where inaccuracies or omissions are discovered within the proposal document, the Council will determine whether relevant information has been omitted or if there has been an inaccuracy. action will then be taken by the Council, which may include issuing corrections, issuing a corrected proposal document, or an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and where applicable, the notifiers(s) of any action) will be advised. 8.4 Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will also be given the opportunity to make representations if they disagree with the Council’s determination of any action on the matter, which may result in the Council making a further determination/decision on the matter. 9. THE STATUTORY CONSULTATION PROCESS – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 9.1 The current requirements for consulting are set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. This consultation will be carried out in accordance with the Act. 9.2 This consultation has been planned in order to meet the following statutory requirements: 9.2.1 The consultation document sets out the details of the proposal. • The proposal paper details the educational benefits of the proposal and other relevant information. • The proposal paper will be published and widely advertised. • North Lanarkshire Council will seek to determine whether there are inaccuracies or omissions within the proposal paper and take such action as it considers necessary. • The consultation period will be a period of at least 6 weeks including at least 30 school days. 9.3 Prior to the commencement of the consultation period, the authority will give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees. The relevant consultees are defined in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, and are as follows: (a) The parent council or combined parent council of any affected school (b) The parents of the pupils at any affected school (c) The parents of any children expected by the education authority to attend the affected school within two years of the date of publication of the proposed paper (d) The pupils at any affected school (in so far as the education authority considers them to be of suitable age and maturity) (e) The staff (teaching and other) at any of the affected school(s) Page 92 of 253
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(f) Any trade union which appears to the education authority to be representative of the persons mentioned above (g) The community council (if any) (h) The community planning partnership (within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Community Empowerments (Scotland) Act 2015 for the area of the local authority in which any affected school is situated (i) Any other community planning partnership that the education authority considers relevant (j) Any other education authority that the education authority considers relevant (k) Any other users of any affected school that the education authority considers relevant. 9.4 During the consultation period, the authority will hold and be represented at public meetings on the relevant proposal. 9.5 The council will involve Education Scotland in the consultation process. This will culminate in Education Scotland preparing and submitting an independent report on the educational aspects of the proposal. 9.6 Following the consultation period, the council will prepare and publish a consultation report. The report will be published at least three weeks before a final decision is taken on the proposal. 9.7 The consultation timeline provides further information on the timescales for various staged in the statutory process. Please click on the link below to share your views on the proposal (Ctrl + Click to follow link) www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/mavisbankschool-consultation Page 93 of 253
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Appendix 2 Indicative Timeline for Reconfiguring Intensive ASN Systems and Services Stages Timeline Date 1. Committee Date Tuesday 28 February 2023 2. Consultation Starts Phase 1 Minimum of 6 weeks To include 30 calendar days Wednesday 1 March 2023 3. Public Meeting Mid way through consultation 4. Consultation Ends 30 Days Tuesday 11 April 2023 5. Report to Education Scotland Phase2 3 weeks Tuesday 2 May 2023 6. Education Scotland produce report 3 weeks Tuesday 23 May 2023 7. Consultation report published Phase 3 No specified timescale 8. Time for further consideration 3 weeks from publication date 9. Final Committee Decision September 2023 10. Implement proposal if approved by Committee 3 weeks Page 94 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GMcL/MD Date 28/02/23 Proposals for statutory public consultation on the proposed rezoning of the Dunlop Estate. From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812 221 Executive Summary This report outlines proposals for statutory public consultations on the proposed rezoning of the Dunlop estate within North Lanarkshire. If approved, a statutory consultation will take place involving all statutory consultees, other stakeholders and interested parties. The key reason for this proposal is: • In November 2018, following a request from residents, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland agreed to conduct a review of the boundary between Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire council areas at Cardowan, Stepps Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the contents of the report; (2) Agree that a formal consultation take place on the re-zoning of Dunlop Estate, Stepps; (3) Agree the timeline for consultation outlined in appendix 1 of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (22) Facilitate a North Lanarkshire wide approach to asset rationalisation, including with communities and partners AGENDA ITEM 8 Page 97 of 253
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1 Background 1.1 In terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Education Authority is required to publish details of, and consult on any proposal to establish a new school and on any proposal to establish, terminate or otherwise alter the catchment area of a school. 1.2 The Act requires education authorities prepare an educational benefits statement, to prepare (and publish) a proposal paper in respect of any proposal which falls within the terms of the Act, give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees (and invite representations) in accordance with the Act, to hold (and give notice of) a public meeting, involve Education Scotland. 1.3 Following the period of consultation, the education authority must review the proposal in accordance with the Act and prepare (and publish) a consultation report in accordance with relevant sections of the Act. 1.4 After publication of the education authority report, HMIE publish a report on the consultation taking account of the previously published education authority report before a final decision is made by the Council. 1.5 The Council will undertake a formal consultation on the Dunlop Estate that lies to the east of Dewar Road and includes properties on Dunlop Close, Dunlop Court, Dunlop Crescent, Dunlop Gate, Dunlop Gardens, Dunlop Grove and Dunlop Wynd. In 2018, Scottish Ministers gave effect to the proposals that this area is transferred from Glasgow City Council area to North Lanarkshire Council area coming into force from 01 April 2019. The local community has since made representation to have this area rezoned to North Lanarkshire. 1.6 The Service has adopted a formal project management governance structure to lead and monitor the delivery of the overarching ASN strategy which will encompass the achievement the programme and the savings. Page 98 of 253
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1.7 As part of the budget setting process the Service anticipates a targeted saving of £0.150m linked to mergers and re-zonings of schools. 1.8 The final decision of the education authority is subject to review and possible call in by the Scottish government which must operate to a strict timeline set out in Appendix 2. 1.9 The timeline mentioned above may be subject to review due to unforeseen circumstances. 2. Report 2.1 In November 2018, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland agreed to conduct a review of the boundary between Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire council areas at Cardowan, Stepps. The area concerned lies to the east of Dewar Road and includes properties on Dunlop Close, Dunlop Court, Dunlop Crescent, Dunlop Gate, Dunlop Gardens, Dunlop Grove, and Dunlop Wynd. In 2018, Scottish Ministers gave effect to the proposals that this area is transferred from Glasgow City Council and North Lanarkshire Council adopted the area from 01 April 2019. 2.2 Furthermore, the local community has since made representation to have this area rezoned to North Lanarkshire to realign the school catchment boundaries to North Lanarkshire. School catchment areas define which nursery, primary and secondary school each residential property in North Lanarkshire is aligned to. 2.3 All geographical areas, including vacant land (where there is no housing) is included within a catchment boundary to ensure the whole authority is included in the zoning of the school estate. 2.4 The proposal will provide opportunities for children and young people to learn and work within their local community by rezoning the adopted area in line within North Lanarkshire catchments. 2.5 The work relating to this area will be overseen by a Programme Board, in accordance with North Lanarkshire’s Project Management protocols. This is serviced by a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) and a Responsible Officer (RO) and a project team, which will ensure all aspects of the programme plan, including the statutory consultation, are accomplished successfully and timeously, in relation to the planned critical path for developments. 2.6 Having taken account of existing capacity to accommodate and meet the needs of pupils transferring from the former Glasgow area and future pupil populations, the intention now is to formally consult on the rezoning of this area into North Lanarkshire Council. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Successful implementation of planned proposals. 3.2 Increased numbers of children and young people remaining within their local community. Page 99 of 253
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Rezoning the Dunlop Estate 4.2 Appendix 2 Statutory Consultation Timeline Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North) Page 100 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? See Appendix 1 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Service would be required to follow the requirements for consulting as set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Further stakeholder, community and parental consultation would be required in the event that the Service proceeds with any of the recommendations. An indicative timeline for the consultation process is outlined in Appendix 2. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 101 of 253
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If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ The carbon footprint will reduce if the numbers of establishments operating was reduced and pupils were catered for in our newer and more energy efficient campuses. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If schools were selected for re-zoning it would have a significant impact on the affected pupils / parents / staff. However, the Service has extensive experience of successfully implementing new school builds, mergers and closures. This includes management of transition arrangements for pupils, updating transport requirements and staff/trade union communication and consultation. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 102 of 253
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Appendix 1 Statutory Consultation Proposal to Rezone the Dunlop Estate Areas that includes properties on Dunlop Close, Dunlop Court, Dunlop Crescent, Dunlop Gate, Dunlop Gardens, Dunlop Grove and Dunlop Wynd into North Lanarkshire Council EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Page 103 of 253
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NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL: EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Proposal to Rezone the Dunlop Estate Areas that includes properties on Dunlop Close, Dunlop Court, Dunlop Crescent, Dunlop Gate, Dunlop Gardens, Dunlop Grove and Dunlop Wynd into North Lanarkshire Council 1. INTRODUCTION In November 2018, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland agreed to conduct a review of the boundary between Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire council areas at Cardowan, Stepps. The area concerned lies to the east of Dewar Road and includes properties on Dunlop Close, Dunlop Court, Dunlop Crescent, Dunlop Gate, Dunlop Gardens, Dunlop Grove, and Dunlop Wynd. In 2018, Scottish Ministers gave effect to the proposals that this area is transferred from Glasgow City Council and North Lanarkshire Council adopted the area from 01 April 2019. Furthermore, the local community has since made representation to have this area rezoned to North Lanarkshire to realign the school catchment boundaries to North Lanarkshire. School catchment areas define which nursery, primary and secondary school each residential property in North Lanarkshire is aligned to. All geographical areas, including vacant land (where there is no housing) is included within a catchment boundary to ensure the whole authority is included in the zoning of the school estate. 2. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS 2.1 In terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Education Authority is required to publish details of, and consult on any proposal to establish a new school and on any proposal to establish, terminate or otherwise alter the catchment area of a school. 2.2 North Lanarkshire Council will not make any decision, or put any changes into effect, until the consultation period has been concluded in line with statutory requirements. 2.3 The consultation period will be a minimum of 57 days, which include 30 school days. It begins on 1 March 2023 and finishes on 27 April 2023. 2.4 The consultation will involve pupils, parent/carers, Parent Councils and staff of the schools involved, as well as other associated stakeholder and statutory consultees. 2.5 A public meeting will be held on week beginning 6th March 2023. 2.6 Council officers will be present at the public meeting to discuss the proposal. There will be limited time at the meeting to discuss all issues fully. To ensure that all issues are covered and that those who may be uncomfortable with speaking publicly are heard, advance notice of specific questions or issues to be raised will be accepted in writing up to two days in advance of the meeting – see contact details at 2.9. 2.7 At the end of the consultation process, a report will be prepared for North Lanarkshire Council detailing all responses received, summaries of their content and a statement from Education Scotland on the educational aspects of the proposal. Responses to the issues raised through the consultation will also be incorporated in the report. Copies of Page 104 of 253
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the report will be available, prior to consideration by the council, in the affected schools and online. It is envisaged that the report will be published on 29 June 2023. 2.8 An online version of the document and other items related to the consultation can be found online at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/dunlopestate-consultation 2.9 Further information on the proposal can be obtained by sending an email to dunlopestateconsultation@northlan.gov.uk 2.10 All interested parties are invited to submit their comments on or before 27 April 2023. 3. PROPOSAL 3.1 The proposal is to rezone the Dunlop Estate area from Glasgow City Council to North Lanarkshire Council. The reasons for this proposal are: • To ensure that pupils in the Dunlop Estate can access school provision in the North Lanarkshire council catchment area. • To promote community integration, as requested by the residents of the estate. 4. BENEFITS STATEMENT 4.1 Pupils who are resident within the delineated zone for a school will be able to attend their zoned school and be taught with peers from their community. It is anticipated that this will help pupils integrate within the local community and experience a wider educational experience through interacting with the local community 4.2 Families who live in the affected area will have clear information on their zoned primary school, thereby providing certainty about future zoning arrangements. 5. EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE PROVISION 5.1 The re-zoning of the Dunlop Estate will provide parents and children with access to an ELC place within North Lanarkshire, alleviating the current requirement for cross boundary approval from Glasgow City Council. 6. IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSAL 6.1 The table below outlines the current details of pupils attending North Lanarkshire Schools within the new catchment areas from the Dunlop Estate. Table 1 - Primary Schools Primary School 2017 -2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-21 2021-22 Chryston 0 0 0 2 2 St Barbara's 2 4 4 4 2 Total No of Pupils 2 4 4 6 4 Page 105 of 253
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Table 2 – Secondary Schools Secondary School 2021-22 2020-21 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017 -2018 Chryston 11 8 8 0 0 Our Lady's 4 4 2 0 0 Total No of Pupils 15 12 10 0 0 6.2 Transport to School Council Policy currently provides free transport to those pupils living more than one mile from their zoned Primary School or where an appropriate walking route is not available. Education & Families will arrange for an assessment of the walking routes to the site of the catchment schools and appropriate road crossing patrols will be established if considered necessary. 6.3 Financial Implication Based on current rates, it is estimated that the provision of free school transport would cost in the region on £922 per entitled pupil, per school year equating to £6454 per pupil during the course of their primary education. This would apply only to eligible pupils attending their catchment school and is subject to efficiency through existing economies of scale. 7. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and will underpin planning for these proposals, since a number of the young people involved are considered as being from a protected group, due to disability. 8. INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS 8.1 There is a statutory requirement for the Council to consider any allegation of an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper and determine whether the allegation has foundation. Where inaccuracies or omissions are notified to, or discovered by, the Council within this proposal document, the Council will determine if relevant information has, in its opinion been omitted or whether there is in fact an inaccuracy. Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will be informed of the Council’s decision and the reasons for that decision. Notifiers will also be informed of any action. The Council will invite the notifiers to make further representations to the Council should they disagree with the Council’s determination or its decision as to whether to take action. 8.2 If the Council has found, either itself or through a concern being raised, that there is an inaccuracy or omission in the proposal paper, it must decide whether this relates to a material consideration relevant to the proposal. Where the confirmed inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration, there is a duty on the Council to correct it. 8.3 Appropriate action will then be taken by the Council depending on whether the inaccuracy or omission relates to a material consideration. Page 106 of 253
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Such action may include withdrawing the proposal and issuing a revised proposal paper for the whole consultation period, or issuing a corrected proposal paper with, if, an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and, where applicable, the notifier(s) of any omissions or inaccuracies) and HMIE (Education Scotland) will be advised of the action. Where inaccuracies or omissions are discovered within the proposal document, the Council will determine whether relevant information has been omitted or if there has been an inaccuracy. action will then be taken by the Council, which may include issuing corrections, issuing a corrected proposal document, or an extension of the consultation period. In any of these eventualities, all relevant consultees (and where applicable, the notifiers(s) of any action) will be advised. 8.4 Notifiers of any omissions or inaccuracies will also be given the opportunity to make representations if they disagree with the Council’s determination of any action on the matter, which may result in the Council making a further determination/decision on the matter. 9. THE STATUTORY CONSULTATION PROCESS – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 9.1 The current requirements for consulting are set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. This consultation will be carried out in accordance with the Act. 9.2 This consultation has been planned in order to meet the following statutory requirements: 9.2.1 The consultation document sets out the details of the proposal. • The proposal paper details the educational benefits of the proposal and other relevant information. • The proposal paper will be published and widely advertised. • North Lanarkshire Council will seek to determine whether there are inaccuracies or omissions within the proposal paper and take such action as it considers necessary. • The consultation period will be a period of at least 6 weeks including at least 30 school days. 9.3 Prior to the commencement of the consultation period, the authority will give notice of the proposal to the relevant consultees. The relevant consultees are defined in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, and are as follows: (a) The parent council or combined parent council of any affected school (b) The parents of the pupils at any affected school (c) The parents of any children expected by the education authority to attend the affected school within two years of the date of publication of the proposed paper (d) The pupils at any affected school (in so far as the education authority considers them to be of suitable age and maturity) (e) The staff (teaching and other) at any of the affected school(s) (f) Any trade union which appears to the education authority to be representative of the persons mentioned above (g) The community council (if any) Page 107 of 253
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(h) The community planning partnership (within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Community Empowerments (Scotland) Act 2015 for the area of the local authority in which any affected school is situated (i) Any other community planning partnership that the education authority considers relevant (j) Any other education authority that the education authority considers relevant (k) Any other users of any affected school that the education authority considers relevant. 9.4 During the consultation period, the authority will hold and be represented at public meetings on the relevant proposal. 9.5 The council will involve Education Scotland in the consultation process. This will culminate in Education Scotland preparing and submitting an independent report on the educational aspects of the proposal. 9.6 Following the consultation period, the council will prepare and publish a consultation report. The report will be published at least three weeks before a final decision is taken on the proposal. 9.7 The consultation timeline provides further information on the timescales for various staged in the statutory process. Please click on the link below to share your views on the proposal (Ctrl + Click to follow link) dunlopestateconsultation@northlan.gov.uk Page 108 of 253
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Appendix 2 Indicative Timeline for Reconfiguring Intensive ASN Systems and Services Stages Timeline Date 1. Committee Date Tuesday 28 February 2023 2. Consultation Starts Phase 1 Minimum of 6 weeks To include 30 calendar days Wednesday 1 March 2023 3. Public Meeting Mid way through consultation 4. Consultation Ends 30 Days Tuesday 11 April 2023 5. Report to Education Scotland Phase2 3 weeks Tuesday 2 May 2023 6. Education Scotland produce report 3 weeks Tuesday 23 May 2023 7. Consultation report published Phase 3 No specified timescale 8. Time for further consideration 3 weeks from publication date 9. Final Committee Decision September 2023 10. Implement proposal if approved by Committee 3 weeks Page 109 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG Date 28/02/23 Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2021/22 From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer E-mail gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary The Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) of each local authority is required to provide an annual report and a standard template for this purpose is issued by the office of the Chief Social Work Advisor to the Scottish Government. The North Lanarkshire CSWO Report 2021/22, which is attached as an appendix to this report, provides information on the delivery of statutory functions, performance and improvement activity across the range of social work services over the last year. In addition, information is provided on the wider governance and planning of social work provision in North Lanarkshire, including its key role in local partnerships, and on both the national and local challenges impacting on the delivery of social work services These challenges include rising demand and complexity of need, reflecting and overlaid by the lasting impact on our communities of the Covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent cost of living crisis The report also reflects social work’s contribution to the Programme of Work underpinning the Plan for North Lanarkshire and Delivering for Communities. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education Children and Families Committee: (1) Approve this report (2) Note that approval of the report will also be sought through the Adult Care and Social Work Committee The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements AGENDA ITEM 9 Page 111 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 The requirement that each local authority appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer is contained in Section 45 of the Local government (Scotland) Act 1994. Statutory Guidance on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer was updated in 2016, in particular to reflect the impact of Health and Social Care integration, extending the responsibilities of the role to provide advice to the Integration Joint Board (IJB). In addition to providing advice both to the Local Authority and IJB in relation to the discharge of statutory social work functions the role continues to carry key responsibilities for professional leadership, values, and standards both for directly provided and commissioned services. 1.2 Within North Lanarkshire social work services are now delivered and governed through both the Health and Social Care Partnership (Adult Social Work Services) and the Education and Families Services (Children, Families and Justice Social Work) with the Chief Social Work Officer’s responsibilities for practice and staff governance covering social work functions across both areas. The Chief Social Work Officer role in North Lanarkshire sits within the Education and Families Service with the operational head of Children, Families and Justice Social Work. However, whilst the CSWO role requires to be undertaken by one designated individual, delegation of responsibilities is permitted where required by the scale of business. In North Lanarkshire this means that the Chief Officer Adult Social Work Services, routinely exercises delegated responsibilities for decision-making and professional standards within adult services as well as providing support and cover with respect to the wider functions of the CSWO role. 1.3 As noted above the Annual Chief Social Work Report is intended to provide a key overview of social work service delivery and uses a core template provided by the Scottish Government. The Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor (OCSWA) also produces a national report each year which draws on key themes and messages from CSWO reports across Scotland. 2. Report 2.1 The report provides an update on the governance and partnership arrangements which provide a framework for the delivery of social work services in North Lanarkshire. There have been limited changes to these within 2021/22 although the incorporation of additional services within Education and Families and within the remit of the Chief Social Work Officer has further strengthened opportunities for joint-working and supported the integration of service delivery and support to individuals and families in key areas such as tackling poverty, employability and community connection. Similarly social work services remain fully engaged with the continued embedding of the communities structures associated with Delivering for Communities including the delivery of local outcome and improvement plans (LOIPs) through the Community Boards. Continued coherence of planning and delivery across all areas of social work is supported both by the core council operating model and specific cross-cutting arrangements within social work such as the social work leadership and workforce meetings. This close alignment has been particularly important to ensuring a responsive and effective approach to some of the challenges experienced during this period where both the direct the impacts of the pandemic and the related changes in the needs of our communities have required adjustments in service delivery and flexibility in deployment of resources. Page 112 of 253
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2.2 A key strength with respect to social work service delivery in North Lanarkshire remains a strong balance of care which has been sustained despite the challenges in service delivery during the pandemic and recovery period. We continue to benchmark well nationally with respect to the proportion of adults and children, including those with complex needs, who continue to receive support, including intensive support, within their own homes and communities. Work across all social work care groups also continues to deliver improvement with respect to effective early support, for example, through the testing of the three conversation model in adult services, enhancements in family support and family group decision making for children and families and a continuing focus on diversion in both adult and youth justice, 2.3 Performance in some areas of the service has however been impacted by the significant demand and workforce pressures outlined within the report and this has at times impacted on responsiveness and our ability to consistently deliver the level of high-quality individualised support which is our aim for all those whom we support. This has meant, for example, some people assessed as having less immediate or critical needs having to wait longer for some aspects of service. Pressures have been particularly acute with respect to the delivery of home support services but are a feature across many areas of the service. In response, and as reflected more fully within the report, a range of actions are ongoing to redesign and enhance services, maximise the benefits of integrated working and to support the recruitment and retention of staff, 2.4 Looking forward the report reflects on the opportunities for improvement in outcomes for people arising both from national policy commitments such as the Promise and the facilitative local context but also notes the risks to delivery of both improvement and key functions arising from key demand, financial and workforce pressures including the level of change capacity required. This is particularly relevant to the uncertainties introduced with respect to proposals for root and branch structural reform through the implementation of a National Care Service (NCS). The recently agreed establishment of a Member Officer Group within the Council will support focus on this issue whilst other issues highlighted within this report will also continue to be reflected through established reporting structures in the year ahead. 3. Measures of success 3.1 N/A – Annual Report to meet reporting requirement. A range of outcome measures, KPIs and specific service standards are applied across social work services. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2021/22 Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer Page 113 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? No direct impact though the report provides key evidence that the effective delivery of social work services supports the Council in their delivery of Fairer Scotland Duty. As this is a retrsopective report no EQIA is required. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Page 114 of 253
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Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Whilst digital developments are a feature of service improvement and delivery within social work all relevant changes reflected within the report have already been considered through relevant governance processes. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Key risks highlighted within the report are incorporated in relevant risk registers. The report itself is part of a wider framework of reporting which supports the scrutiny of social work services and therefore aids the Council in its duties with respect to the delivery of key statutory functions 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Where relevant issues are considered in planning for individual’s support, Where relevant the service will also continue to consider the benefits of enhanced arrangement for groups of service users. An example of this is within our Restorative Justice Service which has both a veteran’s group and has also previously contributed through unpaid work to linked community projects. Page 115 of 253
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1 ANNUAL REPORT BY CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER: NORTH LANARKSHIRE 2021/22 The Chief Social Work Officer Function The requirement that each local authority appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) is contained in Section 46 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994. The CSWO provides professional governance, leadership and accountability in respect of the delivery of social work and social care services, including commissioned Services. A key aspect of the role is to provide the local authority Chief Executive, Elected Members and the Integrated Joint Board with advice on social work service delivery and on cross-cutting issues and in parallel to promote understanding of the complexities involved in delivering the linked statutory responsibilities which require consideration of need and the management of risk and liberties. The then Scottish Office explicitly recognised that the need for the CSWO role was driven by “the particular responsibilities which fall on social services in that they affect personal lives, individual rights and liberties to an extent that other local authority services do not.” (Circular: SWSG2/1995 May 1995). The CSWO also has a direct remit for decisions on a number of statutory matters including in relation to secure accommodation, adoption and welfare guardianship as illustrated below. An additional aspect of the CSWO role is to inform the delivery of wider services which support or impact on social welfare. This is of particular importance in the current period of post-pandemic recovery and the cost of living crisis, both of which have impacted disproportionately on those within our communities who already face a range of adversities. In North Lanarkshire the CSWO role is held by Head of Children, Families and Justice Services closely supported by the Head of Adult Social Work Services who holds delegated responsibilities with respect to adult social work and social care, deputises in other areas as required and works alongside the CSWO in relation to the other functions of the role. Page 116 of 253
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2 Annual Report The CSWO is required to provide an annual report in accordance with Scottish Government guidance. The format of this report was abridged during the pandemic to reflect a smaller number of priority areas and in the light of associated demands and this approach has been maintained for this reporting period. This report therefore seeks to provide an overview of social work service delivery in North Lanarkshire for the period April 2021 to March 2022 and addresses the following areas: • Governance and accountability arrangements, including partnership working • Service Quality and Performance, including key service developments • Resources • Workforce • Future Priorities The continuing impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic and emerging Cost of Living Crisis have clearly been significant to the landscape of social work service delivery over this period and this is reflected across the report. In this context and that of significant demand and staffing pressures, staff across the service have showed remarkable resilience and a continued commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes to those we support. In presenting this report I would like to thank and pay tribute to all staff involved in the delivery of social work services in North Lanarkshire for their vital work over the past year and the persistence and flexibility shown in the face of a particularly challenging environment. I would also like to thank all internal and external partners, carers, families and communities who have supported us in our work. Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) Page 117 of 253
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3 1. GOVERANCE AND ACCOUNTABILTY ARRANGEMETS Social Work Services in North Lanarkshire continue to play a critical role in supporting and safeguarding our communities. Adult Social Work and Social Care Services are delivered though North Lanarkshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCNL) whilst Children, Family and Justice Services are delivered through the Council’s Education and Families Service, both arrangements support integration in service delivery with other key services. A range of mechanisms, as reflected below, also ensures strong alignment is maintained across social work in planning, delivery and professional support arrangements. The Social Work Service in North Lanarkshire directly employs around 2,800 staff and in collaboration with commissioned services and partners are involved in providing support to approximately 30, 000 individuals and families at any one time in addition to contributing to wider partnership and community activity. Following previous structural changes, 2021-22 has been a year of relative stability with respect to governance arrangements for social work therefore the core arrangements described below will largely be familiar from previous CSWO reports. I have however highlighted both changes made corporately to continue to strengthen capacity to deliver the wider Plan for North Lanarkshire as to well as to oversight arrangements as services begin to move beyond initial emergency and resilience arrangements put in place during the early period of the pandemic and referenced in my previous report. Moving forward it is clear that proposals for a National Care Service as reflected in the consultation in autumn 2021 and the Bill published in June 2022 are likely to involve radical change in the future governance of social work services. During 2021-22 the Council and HSCP responded to the NCS consultation whilst retaining a focus on continuous improvement within current arrangements, a balance which will is likely to continue to be necessary over the next period. Partnership working at local level remains fundamental to social work and a key aspect of the role of the CSWO involves developing and sustaining effective partnership working and relationships across a range of organisations and structures. In addition to the specific responsibilities of the CSWO to the Council and HSCNL the CSWO holds a key leadership role within a number of local partnerships as well as contributing to the wider national social work community Page 118 of 253
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4 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council and North Lanarkshire Partnership The Plan for North Lanarkshire continues to set the direction for the council and partners. Its purpose is to communicate the shared priorities and provide a focus for activities and resources around place making with a long-term vision where North Lanarkshire is the place to Live, Learn, Work, Invest, and Visit and of inclusive growth and prosperity. It's a Plan with a shared ambition that aims to ensure the benefits that this brings reach all our communities, and that there is a much fairer distribution of wealth. https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1240 It is centred on: • improving economic opportunities and outcomes • supporting all children and young people to realise their full potential • improving the health and wellbeing of communities • enhancing participation, capacity and empowerment across our communities and • improving North Lanarkshire’s resource base The Plan is supported by 25 high level ambition statements and in turn by a Programme of Work: https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att90076.pdf att95824.pdf (northlanarkshire.gov.uk) The CSWO, Head of Adult Social Work and Head of Planning, Performance and Quality Assurance have lead responsibility for key areas of this programme but also a role in ensuring connections are made across the wider range of corporate programmes of work, which impact on areas which are important to those who use social work services, for example, employability services. Phased changes in the council’s management structure have been implemented to support the delivery of the Plan and from spring 2022, the CSWO/Head of Children, Family and Justice Services has also had operational responsibility for Tackling Poverty and for Community Learning and Development and Resettlement functions, creating further opportunity for integrated working in areas which have close links with social work. The Programme of Work is shaped and overseen by the Corporate Management Team and through the council committee structure with the Adult Health and Social Care Committee and Education and Families Committee having oversight of the delivery of social work. The overarching framework for partnership working in North Lanarkshire continues to be provided by North Lanarkshire Partnership (NLP) which brings together the major public sector agencies in the area along with Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) the third sector interface in the area. The priorities for delivery across the partnership are now included in The Plan for North Lanarkshire. Page 119 of 253
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5 The Children’s Services Partnership (CSP) continues to provide multi-agency governance and strategic planning and direction for children’s services in North Lanarkshire. Children’s Service Partnership Board membership includes Elected Members and HSCP/NHS Board representation to enhance the coherence of children’s services planning across key governance structures. There is also direct representation of young people on the Board though the Youth Council, Promise Development Team and Champion’s Board links. Our most recent Children’s Services Plan https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021- 08/North%20Lanarkshire%20Childrens%20Services%20Plan%202021-2023.pdf was published in spring 2021 and is framed around the foundations of the Promise and UNCRC. Young people themselves were integral to the development of the plan with the Promise Development team leading on the development of the vision and the Youth Council undertaking a survey focussing on awareness of rights and leading on identification of actions within the plan to promote and embed these rights. The task groups supporting the delivery of the plan have been reconfigured in line with the updated priorities with new groups focusing on Voice and Family Support, the Corporate Parenting Task Group evolving into the Promise Partnership Care and a refreshed Mental, Health, Wellbeing and Resilience Task Group co-ordinating work including the establishment of new supports as part of the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework. Social Work places a key role in each of these strands with Senior Social Work Managers co-chairing 3 of the 4 task groups and the Partnership’s Continuous Improvement Group. The CSWO is lead officer for the CSP and chairs the Improving Children’s Services Group which has oversight of the work of task groups together with the ‘Scaffolding’ and ‘People’ elements of the Children’s Services Plan. The North Lanarkshire Community Justice Partnership (NLCJP) currently also chaired by the CSWO has responsibility for the oversight of Community Justice in North Lanarkshire. The partnership has benefited from the strong participation of partners and published the North Lanarkshire Community Justice Outcome and Improvement Plan (NLCJOIP) in March 2017. https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=20573&p=0. Due firstly to the pandemic and subsequently to ongoing work at national level on a new Community Justice Strategy and revised Outcome Performance and Improvement Framework, this plan initially published as a three-year plan, has since been extended and supplemented by annual action plans to March 2023. Interim planning has been informed by an ongoing process of Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessment. The Community Justice Annual Report 2021/22 NLCJP 2021-22 Annual Report_0.pdf (northlanarkshire.gov.uk) provides an overview of key activity during this period. Page 120 of 253
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6 During 2020/21 arrangements for the North Lanarkshire Partnership’s Strategic Leadership Board (NLSLB) were revised and new arrangements were agreed for the Community Justice Partnership and Children’s Services Partnership Board to present on an annual basis to enhance visibility and oversight. This has now been implemented leading also to a wider partnership focus on The Promise and commitment to further work to ‘Build a Promise Community’. A similar arrangement is now in place to present the CSWO Annual Report to the NLSLB, with the intention of supporting increased visibility and ownership across the partnership of public protection work (whose multi -agency governance is through the Chief Officer Public Protection Group) as well as the wider work of social work and social care. A key development in North Lanarkshire over the past two years has been the establishment and embedding of nine Community Boards to support community leadership, involvement and capacity building with each area focussing activity through a local outcome and improvement plan (LOIP). Social work services play a part in these supporting local partnership structures with the CSWO undertaking the role of Community Co-ordinator for one of the local boards and the Head of Adult Social Work and Head of Planning Performance and Quality Assurance providing a link to the Health and Social Care Partnership and its strategic commissioning activity across all Community Boards. Senior Social Work Managers also participate in area-based teams and the sub-groups which support the delivery of the LOIPs. 1.2 Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire The Integrated Joint Board and its Performance, Audit and Finance Sub Committee provide the overarching governance structure for the partnership. Both the Head of Children Families and Justice Social Work Services/CSWO and the Head of Adult Services provide professional social work advice to the Board. The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Addictions Partnership Board (chaired by the Head of Adult Social Work Services) and the Frailty and Long Term Conditions Partnership Board (chaired by the Head of Health) have the role of informing and implementing strategic direction on behalf of HSCNL across their respective areas and maximising the opportunities provided by the integration of Health & Social Care to promote best practice and guide the access for individuals to the right support. The Partnership Boards have been in place for a number of years and are currently under review as part of the refresh of the Integration Joint Board’s new Strategic Commissioning Plan 2023-26. The current Strategic Commissioning Plan for the HSCP was published in March 2020 following an extensive engagement process with a wide range of service users, carers and staff the covers the period to 2023: https://www.hscnorthlan.scot/wp- content/uploads/2020/07/Strategic-Comm-Plan-20-23-FINAL.pdf Page 121 of 253
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7 The Plan identifies three key priorities: 1. People should be in control of the care they receive, and it should meet their needs 2. People are supported to maintain their independence and manage their care needs 3. People are supported and helped to avoid preventable conditions These are also supported by a set of Ambition Statements which guides the work of the partnership going forward: • Do the right thing first time • Provide a range of community support services to live well in connected communities • Focus on what matters to people (outcomes) • Be at the forefront of technical and sustainable solutions • Promote prevention and early intervention • Ensure North Lanarkshire is the best place to work, volunteer and care. The plan is supported by a programme of work which interfaces with the wider Plan for North Lanarkshire and the wider council programme of work Strategic-Comm-Plan-20-23-FINAL.pdf (hscnorthlan.scot) North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership is hosted within HSCNL and has been considerably strengthened over the last two years, co-developing its 2021-2024 strategy around the themes of rights/respect/recovery through engagement with a broad range of stakeholders : https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att99221.pdf Five ADP sub-groups have been established to develop actions covering: Prevention, Early Intervention and Education; Treatment Care and Recovery; Whole Family Approach; Public Health Approach in Justice and Reducing Alcohol Harms. In line with the cross-cutting elements within these key areas the interface between the ADP, CSP and CJP has also been strengthened and whilst the lead senior officer for the ADP is the Head of Planning, Performance and Quality Assurance both the CSWO and Head of Adult Social Work Services have a role in the wider ADP structure. 1.3 Support, care, practice and staff governance arrangements The Health and Social Care Partnership’s Support Care and Clinical Governance Committee (SCCGC) continues to meet on a quarterly basis and is chaired on a rotational basis by the CSWO, Medical Director, AHP Director and Nursing Director. The terms of reference for the SCCGC were updated in 2021 to reflect the organisational changes within the partnership and Adult Social Work Services now report via two sector focussed groups. In view of the need to maintain coherence in practice and staff governance across social work functions and care groups the local framework for professional social is supported both by Social Work Leadership meetings, whose frequency was increased to six-weekly in Page 122 of 253
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8 2022, and by quarterly Social Work Workforce meetings. A brief fortnightly ‘Social Work Solutions’ meeting also provides a forum for social work Heads of Service, Senior Managers and Business Partners to address cross-cutting business issues. As reported in my previous report, a cross care group working group was established in 2021 involving senior and frontline managers, frontline staff and union representatives to address the challenges presented by new ways of working and organisational changes, initiated or escalated during the pandemic, and in particular the impact of more disparate and remote working on social work practice and on practitioner support needs. This group focussed on how to maintain and enhance the delivery of high-quality services and support staff wellbeing within the context of pandemic and in planning for recovery. Notably it took a trauma informed approach focussing on areas of safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment considered what was working well organisationally and in practice and areas for development. An initial action plan to address identified issues was developed in conjunction with the social work leadership team and whilst the group has met less regularly over recent months its work has informed priorities within wider strategic workforce plans and has fed into planning for the new hubs and the linked operating model within North Lanarkshire. A range of other processes are in place to support assurance around practice and service delivery in social work services. The Quality Assurance and Commissioning Team, hosted in Adult Social Work Services, operates across social work and over 2021/22 its capacity has been strengthened, particularly, to support the CSWO and service responsibilities for the monitoring of the delivery of commissioned services. The team which reports to the Head of Planning ,Performance and Quality Assurance also lead on a range of other functions critical to the duties of the Chief Social Work Officer including with respect to regulatory activity, complaints management and overview, risk management and procurement and provider sustainability as reflected in their annual report for 2021/22: https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att99223.pdf Additional arrangements for multi-professional oversight of Care Homes and Care at Home established during the pandemic have also been maintained although the frequency of meetings has been reduced as the year has progressed and pandemic pressures have reduced. In addition, a Home Care Board continues to oversee the wider redesign of the service. In addition to the role of the Quality Assurance Team all Senior Managers within social work undertake regular performance reviews with their teams and support additional audit, development and review activity to support practice standards, agreeing priorities with the CSWO and Head of Adult Social Work Services. With respect to staff governance the CSWO and Head of Adult Social Work also maintain an overview of referrals to, and investigations by, Scottish Social Services Council supported by HR Business Partners. With respect to less formal engagement with staff, whilst there has been a return to more site-based working, and alongside this more direct team interactions over the course of the Page 123 of 253
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9 year, Senior Social Work Leaders have been conscious that their visibility as leaders and the opportunity for less formal but direct face-to-face dialogue with staff has been impacted by pandemic. This has begun to be addressed through visits by the CSWO and other key managers to teams planned over the summer of 2022 and this will remain a priority going forward. 1.4 Public Protection Leadership in the field of Public Protection remains a key responsibility of the CSWO and the Head of Adult Social Work Services who collectively provide support to the Chief Executive of the Council in his role as chair of the Chief Officers’ Public Protection Group (COPPG) to which the MAPPA Strategic Oversight Group (MAPPA SOG), Violence Against Women Strategic Group (VAWSG), Adult Protection Committee (APC) and Child Protection Committee (CPC) report on a quarterly basis. The CSWO chairs the Lead Officers Public Protection Group and is currently vice chair of the CPC and chair of the Violence Against Women Strategic Group whilst the Head of Adult Social Work Services is a key member of the Adult Protection Committee. The MAPPA Strategic Oversight Group operates on a pan Lanarkshire basis with the chair rotating between the Police Scotland Public Protection Superintendent and the CSWOs of North and South Lanarkshire. The prioritisation of public protection remained a key focus both nationally and locally during the pandemic period and recovery period and over the past two years both public awareness raising, and monitoring have given close attention to areas in which the pandemic may have increased vulnerabilities or impeded access to support. Whilst ongoing self-evaluation activity has continued, the pandemic resulted in the temporary suspension of external inspection programmes relating to Adult Protection, Children’s and Justice Services however these were again stood up during 2021/22. Although no external inspection of public protection functions took place during this period notification of a Joint Inspection of Adult Support and Protection has since been announced with related activity scheduled for summer/autumn 2022. By its nature Public Protection is an area of high residual risk and this is reflected on the local authority risk register. It was therefore, as previously reported, included in the Council’s internal audit programme for 2020/21 with a focus on quality assurance mechanisms. The audit report to Audit and Scrutiny Panel in September 2021 concluded that assurance arrangements were generally satisfactory offering ‘reasonable assurance’ to the council and noted the prioritisation of public protection during the pandemic period. Recommendations were made in three areas and included progression of further planned self-evaluation of the Chief Officers Group and the strengthening of multi-agency action plans including through use of SMARTer measures. Action in these areas has been progressed along with a small number of additional actions identified as a result of the subsequent self-evaluation undertaken by the COPPG. In addition, it is proposed to amend the terms of reference for Chief Officers Group to incorporate reporting and oversight responsibilities relating to Drug Deaths and Suicide and associated preventative activity Page 124 of 253
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10 reflecting both the broader focus of public protection taken during the pandemic period and the additional ask of Chief Officer Groups linked to new national action plans for these areas. The COPPG regularly considers the resourcing of multi-agency public protection activity and following recommendations from the Lead Officers Group agreed in early 2022 also to enhance capacity, for a 12-month period in the first instance, to support the enhancement of MARAC arrangements locally as well as to create additional training and development capacity to support the implementation of new national guidance in child and adult protection. 1.5 Engagement with the people who use support services and the Community and Voluntary Sector Ultimate accountability for social work services is to those who use them, their families and the communities of North Lanarkshire and Social Work Services and the CSWO play a key role in ensuring that the voices of people who use and have experience of social work services are heard, not only in individual planning, but that they inform the design and delivery of the service. This approach is in line with the overall vision for the Council expressed in Delivering for Communities and the importance placed on the role of Community Boards as outlined in section 1.1 above. HSCNL also operates within the framework of its Engagement and Participation Strategy 2021-2024 which is designed to ensure the right systems and supports are in place to enable effective engagement with stakeholders: https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att95292.pdf The strategy builds on the strong foundations established to facilitate the involvement and engagement of people who use services, carers, the community and voluntary sector, and the independent sector and its operationalisation is supported by a Stakeholder Engagement and Participation Strategy, Framework and Working Group Care Opinion also continues to be promoted with increased use of the platform to add to the learning possible through complaints analysis. Care Opinion is an independent web- based service where people can share their experience of services which has widened its focus from health to health and social care. Partnership for Change, our local umbrella forum for service user and carer involvement has supported this roll out and monitors and presents on postings to relevant forums to illustrate issues of concern as well as positive stories. Within Children’s Social Work we have continued to develop the use the Mind of My Own App (MOMO) which helps young people communicate their views for meetings, raise concerns or share good news in way that suits them. With Children’s Services partners and colleagues from the Council’s corporate communication team, the service has also supported the innovative Make It Right project, a campaign co-designed with young people Page 125 of 253
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11 and launched in January 2022 to raise awareness of children’s rights and a key stepping- stone to embed these in practice in North Lanarkshire. With respect to Children’s Services the Partnership Agreement between the CSP and Young People was established in 2018: https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=21857&p=0 and continues to form the basis for engagement with young people who are now represented directly on the Board but with partners also making a parallel commitment through a range of other links with the Youth Council and to the Champion’s Board which has over this period been successful in significantly extending engagement and participation with younger children experiencing care. The Promise Development Team, which has at its heart Development Workers and Assistant Support Workers with lived experience of care, was established in early 2021 and has also been key to ensuring children, families and carers are central to service planning and development both within social work and within wider services. While awareness raising remains part of their remit equally important has been their role in promoting the wider engagement of children and families and direct contribution to practice and system change. Building on this model and previous engagement with those with lived experience, Justice Social Work Services have now also progressed the recruitment of two workers with lived experience to support service development and provide peer support. Engagement with carers in North Lanarkshire remains equally critical to service delivery and development and is undertaken through the framework of the Carers Strategy 2019-24 http://www.carerstogether.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/NL-Carers-Strategy.pdf which was developed in partnership with carers with a vision ‘to ensure, in partnership, that North Lanarkshire adult carers and young carers are supported, represented and enabled to build resilience, carry out their caring role and to live healthy independent and fulfilled lives’. North Lanarkshire Carers Together continues to provide an information and advice service but also a network for carers to represent individual and collective issues and to contribute to policy development, service provision and evaluation both locally and nationally, a role which has been particularly valuable and important in ensuring carers voices are heard and challenges understood during the pandemic period. Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) continues to provide the key local interface with the community and voluntary sector in North Lanarkshire and participates as equal partners in the partnership structures described above and in a wide range of linked improvement activity. This has included membership of the Children’s Services Partnership Board and the ongoing involvement and facilitation of endorsed third sector networks linked to the Community Justice Partnership. Within Health and Social Care, VANL have also continued to play a central role in developing voluntary and community sector involvement through community capacity and carers support work as reflected within the Community Solutions Strategy and delivery programme, Softening the Lines 2018-23: http://www.voluntaryactionnorthlanarkshire.org/sites/default/files/cs_strategy_2018- 23_softening_the_lines-converted.pdf Page 126 of 253
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12 Using 9 thematic leads to guide best practice and 6 locality host organisations to ensure a truly community led approach a devolved budget of over 1m is directly invested in organisations and community groups. A supporting commissioning plan and the programme approach have ensured a focus on key outcomes with the budget also supporting the leverage of additional funding and in-kind contributions. The overarching aims of the programme are to prevent isolation and loneliness and to address inequalities using innovative approaches to support people to be more active and to reconnect to their communities. The use of the Community Solutions model has also provided a vehicle within Children’s Services to test out new models of support to address distress and promote positive mental health with a significant portion of new Scottish Government funding targeted at early intervention and community support through the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework allocated to organisations through VANL to develop new supports in partnership with school clusters, children, young people and their families. Of key importance in social work across all care groups however remains the principle that engagement, inclusion and empowerment are not seen as episodic events but also embedded in day-to-day practice with a focus on good conversations and strength-based approaches. 2. SERVICE DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE 2.1 Support to Unpaid Carers As referenced in my previous report the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on unpaid carers have been significant. Many carers had to provide more care than usual during the pandemic, and this has continued for some people with staffing and demand pressures across the social care, social work and health sectors, both locally and nationally, further exacerbating the issues faced by unpaid carers. This has resulted in a detrimental impact on overall well-being of many carers in terms of stress and anxiety levels and the need to continue providing care for longer. Despite this, unpaid carers continue to provide support for those who otherwise may require support from social work and health services and are the main source of support for many people. In order to support an increase understanding of carer experience both nationally and locally including where we are making a positive difference, North Lanarkshire noted an interest in participation as a site for more in-depth activity linked to the the Care Inspectorate’s national ‘Inquiry into carer’s experiences of social work and social care service delivery’, with subsequent confirmation that linked survey and focus group activity would take place over the period March to June 2022. In the interim priority has continued to be given to how support to carers can be enhanced: Page 127 of 253
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13 A range of supports and services are commissioned to provide Carer support, inclusive of the following key strands: • Lanarkshire Carers – Direct Support for Adult Carers • Action for Children Young Carers Service – Young Carers Support Services • North Lanarkshire Carers Together (NLCT) – Campaigning, information and representation services • VANL – Community Solutions Programme There are also a range of funded organisations who play a part in supporting unpaid carers, including the Disability Forum and other condition specific and\or age-related support organisations. We work in partnership with both commissioned services and funded organisations, all of whom offer a range of supports to Adult Carers and Young Carers. Overall, approximately 11,000 carers are known to the carer support organisations in North Lanarkshire and are in receipt of some form of support. During 2021/22 1040 Adult Carer Support Plans have been progressed by Lanarkshire Carers where assessed need was deemed to be low or moderate. In situations where carer need has been identified as being significant or critical and unable to be met through the range of carer support options described above and below, approximately 50 individual Carer budgets have been agreed. In many instances individual budgets to supported people are also scoped to reflect individual carer circumstances, such as complex care related needs, caring responsibility for more than one person, or the carer’s own health related needs. In addition, over 1,000 carers benefited from small grants distributed through Lanarkshire Carers. Young Carers have been supported through Young Carer Statements, a wide range of carer support and activity groups, training opportunities, resilience aid and support, respite breaks, creative short breaks, carer awareness training and legal advice. A pan Lanarkshire Steering Group focussing on the needs of Young Adult Carers was also established last year. A key ambition is to ensure the needs of carers are integral to wider service planning, an example being that following the success of a Community Link Worker initiative which focussed on support, advice, guidance, and signposting to families whose child may have a neuro-developmental condition, there are plans to extend this in 2022/23. This has been funded through Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework budget for children and young people and is now hosted through North Lanarkshire Carers Together and in line with our wider approach focusses on early, whole family support and community connections. There is a well-established short break service, operated by Lanarkshire Carers and this continues to play an important role in supporting unpaid carers in enjoying a break from their caring role. Feedback from carers however has also pointed to the need for more regular, flexible ‘time out’ accessible within their local community. This has informed a range of new initiatives including a ‘Carer Breather’ programme, facilitated through NLCT Page 128 of 253
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14 and delivered by a range of local organisations and the piloting of a ‘Sitter Service’. These initiatives offer unpaid carers regular and flexible breaks from caring. Positive feedback from unpaid carers regarding this approach will result in an expanded programme in the coming year. Work is also ongoing to meet the requirements of the Carers Act to ensure that unpaid carers are as involved as they want to be in hospital discharge arrangements. This includes involvement in decision making, as well as support at the point of discharge and beyond. Whilst this approach has been welcomed, we are aware through feedback from Carer Support Organisations, Advocacy, and individual carers that further work is required in this area, to ensure that no involved unpaid carers are missed from discharge planning as a result of pressures to work at pace in this area. We remain aware also of the diversity and fluidity of the carer population and that despite our efforts some carers remain less visible to services and supports. We continue to innovate and use a range of methods to ensure information and support is accessible, from the more traditional information packs to the launch of a new podcast for carers and support for digital inclusion. 2.2 Justice Social Work Services During this period criminal justice service activity has continued to be delivered as per our legislative responsibilities, and during periods of restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic in accordance with emergency legislation, health and safety, and social distancing measures. In common with all social work disciplines the most significant challenge for Justice Social Work Services throughout the reporting period was the impact of the restrictions and the challenges associated with fulfilling statutory obligations, managing risk, and supporting our most vulnerable service users and their families including those with unstable or chaotic lifestyles. To assist with this a Red/Amber/Green (RAG) risk management system was implemented to ensure that those most in need or at the highest risk were prioritised, and appropriately supported. This was reviewed on a weekly basis by both front line and senior managers ensuring that throughcare licences, drug testing and treatment orders and community payback orders were managed and supervised through a combination of regular home visits and contact via virtual platforms and telephone calls. Community Payback Orders (CPOs) Covid-19 pandemic restrictions necessitated the closure of unpaid work across North Lanarkshire for two periods during 2020/21 and 2021/22. As these restrictions began to ease recovery planning was crucial to support the transition from a partial, to a fully operational service and in the initial stages of recovery service users were able to attend unpaid work in a limited way and in fewer numbers. Part of the approach to recovery has continued to involve increasing the opportunities for unpaid work to be undertaken at home supported by the completion of appropriate risk and Page 129 of 253
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15 health and safety assessments. This approach has permitted some orders to be completed without the need to submit requests for extensions to an already burdened Court Service. The continuation of this hybrid working model, alongside traditional unpaid work, together with successful partnerships with the third sector has supported the delivery of 53,464 unpaid work hours during 2021/22. This figure is close to twice the 27,600 hours completed in 2020/21 but still substantially less than 85,116 hours delivered pre-pandemic in 2018/19. The number of outstanding unpaid work hours, an area of national concern, has also fluctuated, dropping initially from circa 54k in February 2021 to circa 34k in April 2021 due to one-off commutation of some hours on some CPOs facilitated through emergency legislation and new approaches in service delivery but standing at circa 47k as of May 2022 with the impact of an escalation in orders made as court activity increased counter- balancing innovations in practice to enhance capacity. In recognition of the longer- term impacts of the pandemic on the whole justice system, temporary funding was provided to justice social work by Scottish Government to enhance capacity for both core and commissioned services in 2021/22. This will be continued in 2022/23 although the temporary year on year nature of the funding has created a number of challenges in service planning and recruitment. A fuller report on the delivery of Community Payback Orders over this period is available: att99332.pdf (northlanarkshire.gov.uk) The following examples however illustrate the range of unpaid work opportunities that were made available across North Lanarkshire during this reporting period: • Over 203 bicycles were distributed to North Lanarkshire residents though the Restorative Justice bike workshop at no cost. A by-product of this was the assistance and support it gave to individuals in terms of the potential to maximise their health and wellbeing. In addition, the service has given help to local communities by offering bike maintenance and repairs. This project has particularly assisted those children, young people, and families who are unable to afford the cost of bikes or their repair. Bikes have also been given to victims of bike theft. • The Wood Workshop has enabled the creation of useful items for various community groups, such as outdoor classrooms and activity equipment for schools, and planters for sheltered housing complexes. • The Laundry workshop has helped to ensure that donated clothing such as school uniforms could be repaired, cleaned and ironed prior to distribution to families and individuals in need. • Within our craft activity groups items were made and donated to local organisations or sold at fayres with the money raised being donated to local charities. • Squad placements assisted with the completion of projects in local communities such as landscaping. • Several private placements were maintained in various settings including local churches, allotments, sheltered housing complexes and charity shops Page 130 of 253
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16 • As previously noted, unpaid work home working for appropriate service users was employed throughout the pandemic. These arrangements benefitted community partners including the Police Scotland Dog Unit, SSPCA, NHS, Wildlife Trust, Housing and Leisure and Recreation colleagues, and the wider community. This resulted in 5,650 hours of home working being completed during this reporting period. Whilst group work to support the ‘other activity’ element of orders was restricted over this period, the additional funding provided by the Scottish Government for recovery purposes permitted the continuation of the delivery of ‘other activity’ from third sector providers through both digital platforms and more limited face-to-face delivery: 1. The Wise Group delivered a group-based programme designed to provide information and awareness on topics such as managing mental health, dealing with negative thoughts and emotions, dietary and physical health benefits, financial inclusion and budgeting, building positive networks, dealing with conflict, support with employment and training possibilities, and alcohol and drug education. 2. Love Learning worked with service users on an individual basis to address literacy, and social isolation difficulties. 3. Street Cones designed a group work activity to support individuals through the maximisation of their skills and potential by involvement in the creative arts. Participants wrote a script which they subsequently performed. The quality of North Lanarkshire Council’s Community Payback Order delivery is continually assessed, and the perspective of service users and community projects supported is regularly sought as reflected in our annual CPO report (link above) Diversion from Prosecution In line with the Vision for Justice in Scotland the service continues to prioritise the promotion of Diversion from Prosecution. To ensure consistency of practice in this area multi agency briefing events have continued to take place with relevant social work staff, police colleagues and the voluntary sector. Diversion from Prosecution referrals in North Lanarkshire continue to be above the Scottish Average, and the numbers have been consistently high throughout the pandemic. Diversion 2021/22 Male Female Total Number of Referrals 255 98 353 Number of Assessments Undertaken 240 93 333 Number of Cases Commenced 134 61 195 Number of Individuals for whom cases commenced 123 61 184 Number of cases successfully completed 117 57 174 Page 131 of 253
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17 Offence focused interventions People subject to supervision by justice social work are supported to recognise and address wide ranging and often complex personal and family issues as well as undertaking offence related work. Developing a strong professional relationship is a key element of the supervision experience and is fundamental to effective engagement and positive outcomes. Staff utilise Risk Management Authority approved risk assessment tools to assess risk and need and to implement appropriate responses to addressing criminogenic needs. The Justice Outcome Star has been developed over several years to support more meaningful engagement and to contribute to the measurement of both individual outcomes and the impact of interventions at service level within Justice Social Work Services. The aggregated information from this tool is used both to support Strategic Needs Assessment and service planning. Offence focused Interventions take place both on a one-to-one basis and within groupwork settings, although due to pandemic restrictions, the capacity to safely deliver groupwork was severely compromised over this period placing more reliance on 1-1 delivery. The approach is based on “Good Lives” principles and includes general offence focussed work, for example, managing strong feelings, handling conflict, dealing with relationships, anger awareness, managing impulsive behaviour, goal setting and planning. More intensive and targeted interventions encompass MFMC (Moving Forward Making Changes) and our UP2U domestic abuse programme. More detail on these programmes is provided below. UP2U Domestic Abuse Groupwork Programme UP2U ‘Creating Healthy Relationships’ is now fully operational across the Justice service and can be accessed by individuals who are subject to statutory supervision because of their involvement in domestic abuse offences. The programme is delivered by justice social workers in a case management setting on a 1:1 or a 2:1 basis. The service also has a centralised UP2U team to support locality teams with the delivery of the programme to high-risk individuals who are screened using our new UP2U screening panel process. The programme can also be delivered in a group work setting, however, capacity for this has been limited over the pandemic period. Justice Services also utilised a proportion of covid recovery monies during the reporting period to purchase a training programme for 56 staff across children and families. This allowed for the implementation of the ‘UP2U Family Practice’ intervention for non-court mandated individuals. This version of UP2U is designed specifically for child and family practice scenarios where unhealthy domestic abuse relationship behaviours exist. This approach provides a vehicle to respond to the need for domestic abuse behavioural change work across both children, families, and justice services. Moving Forward Making Changes As part of revised and newly implemented Criminal Justice Social Work structure a dedicated Moving Forward Making Changes (MFMC) Team was established in August 2021. Following the easing of Covid-19 health and safety restrictions a steady resumption of face- Page 132 of 253
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18 to-face MFMC programme delivery during the period 01.04.21 to 31.03.22 has been possible. Other Justice Services: The Women’s Community Justice Service has continued to work holistically to address the specific needs and issues of women within the justice system over this period enhancing the provision of practical support where required including the use of technology to facilitate participation. Justice Throughcare provision has also remained a priority to ensure those leaving custody receive appropriate levels of support to address their risk and facilitate their reintegration from prison to the community. The linked Community Bridges Project was maintained throughout the pandemic period and continued to support people who have difficulties with substance use and who are being released following a short-term prison sentence. The Drug Treatment and Testing Order team maintained its focus on intensive support services to 35 individuals in total during the reporting period. The specific challenge in this area of work was associated with the withdrawal of drug testing provision during the period of Covid restrictions, and its limited reintroduction thereafter. It is anticipated that this service will be fully restored during the coming year. Finally, the Prison Social Work Team based at HMP Shotts has maintained site-based provision, continuing to work closely with SPS colleagues to assess and support prisoners and their families. In addition to statutory work the team delivered child protection awareness sessions to SPS staff resulting in an increase in child welfare referrals. Tackling Poverty and Exclusion In addition to a focus on the above work the team have continued to integrate actions to address poverty and exclusion within day-to-day practice recognising the corrosive impact of both on both those involved with the service and our communities. This has included: • Income maximisation, generating £58k in monies for over one hundred adults and families • Working with the Connecting Scotland Scheme to address digital exclusion and secure devices/solutions for a number of service users • Prioritising recovery of access to the Keep Well nursing service to support address the health inequalities and poor mental and physical health often experienced by justice service users, and with respect to community support: • Staff and service users supported foodbanks in Coatbridge and Airdrie by collecting food and distributing food parcels 2 to 3 times per week. • 491 gifts for younger children and 343 gifts for older children were given out over the festive season. Christmas and New Year meals were also provided for vulnerable adults and families by local restaurants, and Restorative Justice staff distributed these. • Working in partnership with local charities the service has laundered donated school uniforms and assisted in their distribution to the families that required them. Page 133 of 253
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19 2.3 Children and Families Social Work Services Keeping The Promise Following publication of The Promise by the Independent Care Review in February 2020, cross-party commitment to support delivery was made by North Lanarkshire Council in August 2020, thereafter with the intent of working across council services and with the Scottish Government, partners and care providers to deliver the necessary changes. Children and Families Social Work has a key leadership role in this and is uniquely placed to drive and connect the key strands of work required to support the ambitions of the Promise and the required transformation of systems, outcomes and experience for children and families. This is due to the key statutory role social work plays in supporting children and young people and their families both for ‘children in need’ and those experiencing or who have experienced care and the underpinning values of inclusion and empowerment alongside a culture of partnership working. Social work therefore has a key role to play in transforming both family support and care. Following a reduction in demand in 2019/20, primarily in the initial stages of the pandemic referrals to children and families social work services have grown over the past two years and in 2021/22 were 15% higher than in 2018/19. This appears to reflect increased need for support from children and families within our community. Although further work is needed to fully understand the picture which sits behind this, the change is perhaps unsurprising given the evidence that the pandemic impacted disproportionately on those who already faced the greatest adversities, including on children’s early development and wider wellbeing, and that families are now also adversely affected by the emerging cost of living crisis. Year Number of Referrals 2021/22 10858 2020/21 10253 2019/20 9077 2018/19 9519 2017/18 9654 Balance of Care Placement Type 31 March 2019 31 March 2020 31 March 2021 31 March 2022 Foster care (NLC) 119 100 112 94 Foster care (Independent) 47 67 61 53 Home Supervision 294 298 227 188 Formal Kinship Care 296 355 321 307 Informal Kinship Care 150 153 170 183 Residential (NLC) 27 28 27 33 Residential (Independent) 12 13 11 11 Secure* 4 0 2 1 Continuing Care 39 45 53 73 Page 134 of 253
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20 Overall, the above table shows that the number of children and young people experiencing formal care has fallen over the past year. A focus on family support, strengths-based practice and integrated working has enabled North Lanarkshire to continue to achieve fewer children looked after per head of population than the national average. We also used residential care proportionality less than the national average. Despite this, there was an increase in young people in our children’s houses for three main reasons: our commitment to providing support to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in a nurturing and safe environment, our openness to taking older young people back into care when they need and ask for it and the growth in continuing care. Following a drop of a third in numbers of children and young people supported in external residential placements over 2018-21 the number has plateauedespite a longer-term commitment to providing support Close to Home. This is due to a number of factors relating both to demand, complexity of need and the long-term nature and supporting relationships associated with some of these placements. Nonetheless it remains a key priority of the education and families service to ensure increased capacity to support young people with complex needs within the North Lanarkshire community. This also drives efforts to recruit more ‘in-house’ foster carers. While there were slightly fewer in children in foster care, our focus on supporting and encouraging young people remain with their carers for as long as they need meant a continued and sustained increase in the use of continuing care with the effect that some of our foster and kinship carers are now ‘continuing carers’. The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a significant decrease in the number of children looked after at home and this trend has continued. The reasons for this continue to be monitored as it is not yet clear if this is the result of preventative support and early help or a continued disruption to processes following the pandemic. Involving Young People A key development led by Today Not Tomorrow (part of our Champions Board Structure) has been the production of an online resource to support managers and practitioners on how to improve record keeping with a focus on the impact of language. Awareness raising sessions by the Promise Development Workers took place with some managers and practitioners, with further role out planned. Several young people were also involved in scoping and framing the key qualities required of mental health support for Care Experienced Young People, work they had the opportunity to showcase at a national event, Tending the Light, which formed part of the festival of care in February 2022. This work led on to young people codesigning and taking part in the council procurement process for a new bespoke service. A helpful by-product of this, is our corporate commissioning and corporate staff asking for specific training on The Promise so they can support meet the ambitions of the council and our children and young people. Our Promise Development Workers were also involved shaping the development of our services in response to young people in conflict with the law and contextual safeguarding. Page 135 of 253
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21 A Good Childhood Achieving a loving and caring home: Children and young people experiencing care The positive role children’s houses play in providing care and love to children and young people continued to develop over the year as the culture changes associated with keeping The Promise became more established. In particular, the service facilitated 3 young people returning to the houses as younger adults, because of trauma and crisis in their lives, in line with the aspirations of young people’s right to ‘return to care’ if necessary. The Promise Plan 21-24 sets out clear expectations in reducing the use the use of the restraint and our children’s houses were and the serviced participated in a pilot project funded via the Promise Partnership Fund, on partnership with Aberlour and Kibble, to help us achieve this ambition. A core group of 8 staff were identified to take the work forward and the first step in the project plan is to remove the use of the Prone hold by the 31st of January 2023. A significant development over the year has been the introduction of the National Transfer Scheme requiring all local authorities to accept transfers of children into their care, providing crucial placements to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. To this end our children’s houses played a critical role in providing care to 14 unaccompanied children to ensure that their individual support needs were more fully assessed, and they received wrap around support whilst they settled in Scotland, starting their recovery from trauma. Another 4 young people went straight into supported care placements with 3 progressing from children’s houses to supported care placements. While this has placed increased demand on our children’s houses and supported care, the service has taken the view that this has been a child centred approach to supporting children who have come to the UK unaccompanied. We also appointed a social worker to specialise in working with and supporting this group of young people. Achieving a loving and caring home: Support to family-based carers The Children’s Carers’ Service provides support to kinship carers, supported carers of young adults, as well as to adopters and foster carers to achieve permanent loving homes for children and young people into adulthood. Over the course of the year the team received 120 initial enquiries about fostering or adopting and of these, 63 progressed to initial interview. 21 enquirers progressed to preparatory groups and of these 14 went on to submit an application to foster or adopt. This represents a 38% decrease on previous years, reflecting national trends. To meet this challenge the team established a new and creative recruitment strategy. This has a particular focus on new and changing needs, including the council’s commitment to find homes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, and young people with complex needs to allow them to remain in North Lanarkshire. The team also worked with North Lanarkshire’s resettlement team to undertake initial assessments and support for Ukrainian host families. Page 136 of 253
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22 The engagement and participation of care experienced young people continued to be highly valued in the delivery of the service and young people supported and actively contributed to the recruitment and preparation groups for prospective adopters and foster carers. Brothers and Sisters Development in this area is not without challenge and over the year 65% of children in care were separated from at least one brother and sister. In response to this analysis, the team developed a new strategy, co-led by the Promise Development workers and involving carers, to support brothers and sisters stay together when they need to be cared for away from home. This comprised specific support to carers as well as a focus on recruiting carers with the capacity to look after brothers and sisters together. In addition, a revised framework for assessing family time was implemented, with the voice of children and parents central to more creative approaches to family time, while keeping children safe. Adoption This service provided a range of support and advice to 60 adoptive families. This comprised individually tailored post adoption support as well as support groups and training specific to adoption. The team experienced an increase in demand for post adoption support services, leading to a planned review of the whole service that has now commenced to ensure it meets all needs and offers timely support to avoid families reaching crises, providing the scaffolding required as outlined in the key messages of The Promise. This review will include consideration of an apparent increase in the small but significant number of adopted teenagers required to move to alternative arrangements over the past year, often residential care. As part of the team’s commitment to learning and development, the service participated in national research including researching the impact of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (therapeutic support to adoptive and permanent fostering families) led by Oxford and Glasgow Universities. Permanence Planning The service continued to play an active role in leading developments in permanence planning for children to avoid drift in care planning. A number of new initiatives were started or refreshed including: • Senior practitioners within the Children’s Carers team supporting locality social workers to increase capacity and progress permanence planning. • New Permanence Planning Training was developed and launched to reflect new legislation and research and as part of North Lanarkshire’s commitment to relational practice in line with The Promise. Kinship Team In response to growing need, the kinship care team continued to expand to comprise 1 senior social worker, 3 social workers, 1 support worker and 1 support work assistant. The Page 137 of 253
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23 team had a busy and successful year with 106 new kinship carers approved, and ongoing dedicated emotional and practical support provided to 170 kinship carers. In addition, the team co-facilitated 7 kinship carer groups across North Lanarkshire in partnership with Nurture Scotland and CLD. Whole Family Support Family Group Decision Making & Lifelong Links Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) is a strength-based way of working which takes a structured approach to involving wider family and support network in decision making and planning for children and families. It is rights-based and aligned with the principles of UNCRC. Research in Scotland has found very good outcomes associated with this approach in reducing the risk of accommodation (Mitchell et al, 2018). As such FGDM is a key component of North Lanarkshire’s commitment to keep The Promise by supporting and nurturing relationships within families and preventing the accommodation of children wherever possible. Over the year April 2021 to end of March 2022, the FGDM service made considerable progress in successfully supporting children remain within, or return to, their families. Over period the service had two full time FGDM Co-ordinators. Family meetings achieved the following outcomes: • Based on referral dates for the year April 2021 to March 2022, 23 meeting were held and family plans were made for 32 young people, involving their family networks of support. • All 32 young people were supported to reduce the risk of them being accommodated, part of a rehabilitation plan, support new babies stay at home with their family or to support kinship placements. • 12 children referred as at risk of coming into residential or foster care, 11 have successfully remained living with parents or family members. One child was supported with family and friends but unfortunately this wasn’t sustainable and is now supported in a children’s house with family support. • 6 babies whose names were placed on the Child Protection Register pre-birth as at potential risk of significant harm, 5 have been supported to remain safely in the care of their parents post birth and one in a kinship placement. Family meetings avoided significant placement costs to the service but most importantly family meetings have enabled children to benefit from loving and safe relationships within their families. In January 2022, the service was successful in securing funds for two additional coordinators from the Promise Partnership fund to implement and approach to family group decision making called ‘Lifelong Links’. Lifelong Links seeks to create life-long social networks for children and young people in care and aftercare, providing them with practical and emotional support. Lifelong Links uses tools and techniques to identify family members and other adults, such as former foster carers or teachers, who care about the child or young person. These individuals can then be brought together in a lifelong links meeting to Page 138 of 253
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24 develop a life-long support plan for the young person. This outcomes of this will be presented in next year’s report. Intensive Services Intensive family support that is available to families when they need it, including out of hours and at weekends, is provided by our intensive service. The primary objective of the service is to ensure that children and young people are able to remain in or move to family where they feel they belong and are safe. During this year work in the team was concluded with 202 children and young people, of which this objective was achieved for 153 children and partially for 20 children and young people. There were 18 children and young people where this outcome was not a focus of intervention and 11 children and young people where this outcome was not achieved. To promote the involvement of the children, young people and their families in the development of the service, some young people coproduced a set of service standards with staff so that families are clear what can expect and have a right to from the service. With the easing of COVID restrictions, intensive services also stood back up group work and other activities to promote the wellbeing and resilience of children and young people. For example, through the provision of intensive support some young people achieved their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and are now able to progress their DofE awards through North Lanarkshire’s universal offer. Some young people were involved in singing coaching and playing instruments and others produced their own DJ set whilst learning the skills to use the associated technology. The service also delivered parenting support delivered on a 1-1 and groupwork basis and learn to cook family participation sessions. During school holiday periods the team has assisted families with access to activities in the local community and further afield to ensure positive experiences for children and young people. This included a sports day, walking group, swimming group and supported family outings. Young People in Conflict with the law Support from custody As part of our Intensive Service, the Youth Bridges team supported 58 young people under the age of 21 who had experienced custody. 21 were new admissions to Polmont within this period. This is consistent with the downward trend in admissions to Polmont from North Lanarkshire although may have also been affected by Court restrictions through Covid. Youth Bridges staff ensured that 72-hour reviews were held within the prison to discuss vulnerabilities and support for these young people. Five (24%) young people were care experienced, a significant reduction from the past two years (56% in 2019/20 and 50% in 2020/21). Youth Bridges uses the Outcome Star to identify areas requiring support and to measure outcomes. Over the year ten domains of the Outcome Star showed improved outcomes of at least 65% for the young people closed to the service, with reduced offending for 88% and reduction in drug / alcohol use for 69%. Page 139 of 253
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25 As part of the commitment to meet the requirements of The Promise Plan 21-24, the service reviewed its approach to young people in conflict with the law. We found that 182 children were referred to the Reporter on offence grounds - a higher rate than the national average. However, SCRA only referred 7 of these children to a Hearing on offence grounds, reflecting the strong partnership commitment to the welfare principles of Kilbrandon. We still have work to do, however, to maximise the use of the Children’s Hearings and diversion rather than the court: In 2021/22 only 4 young people (under the age of 18) were remitted to the Hearing by the Sheriff court for a disposal, 5 young people were remanded or sentenced to custody and 7 were made subject to a Community Payback Order. This resulted in the development of a small team to work in partnership SCRA to use hearings more effectively to support relational working and robust alternatives to custody, remand and court disposals. Moving on: Supporting Care Experienced young people who have left care In response to our recognition of our need to provide more intensive and integrated support to care experience young people, the newly established team of three support workers and two social workers within intensive services has proactively reached out to young people and responded to young people returning for support to provide the care they need. As at March 2022, 141 young people were receiving support representing an increase of more than a third since the start of the pandemic. 66 care experienced young people were supported directly from Intensive Services, many of whom have reconnected with the service over the past year. A key area of improvement has focused on a ‘hub’ approach delivered from the Intensive Services building to ensure awareness of the rights and entitlements of care leavers and promote a ‘no wrong door’ approach across the multi-agency partnership. The building is used by many care leavers to receive support from the service or other agencies. A new protocol with housing was also agreed to ensure housing support was arranged around the needs of young people. Each locality in North Lanarkshire now has a housing champion advocating for care experienced young people. Tackling poverty has been a key priority and the council did not reduce payments to care experienced young people in line with the UK Government’s decision to end the temporary uplift to Universal Credit. A Right to Education: The Virtual School North Lanarkshire has continued to strengthen its commitment to care experienced children and young people to access education and close the attainment gap through the Virtual School. The Virtual School is a small multi-professional team, which supports the improvements in capacity and responses across the education system as well as co- ordinating and providing direct bespoke support for children and young people. The Virtual School maintains an overview of education planning and support for all care experienced learners. The Virtual School works in an integrated way and has formed productive relationships with community learning and development, local businesses and many other relevant partners in addition to strong connections with schools and other education and social work services. Page 140 of 253
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26 During the 2021/2022 school session, the Virtual School received 89 new requests for direct support and worked with 242 learners. The Virtual School supports young people through a wide range of activities including well-being programmes – improving physical and mental health, vocational learning opportunities, outdoor learning, literacy and numeracy programmes including direct support for SQA qualifications, volunteering/mentoring opportunities, individual learning engagement projects, transition supports and access to specialised resources e.g., counselling. Support interventions are delivered in a setting specific to the needs of the young people involved with intensive staffing provided to increase confidence levels and ensure any barriers to engagement are addressed. The Virtual School seeks to accredit young people for their learning undertaken during these activities through wider achievement awards including for example, John Muir, Young STEM Leader and Saltire or additional qualifications such as Forest and Outdoor Learning Award (SCQF 2 and 3), Cosmetology (SCQF Level 4) and City & Guilds Introduction to Automotive Engineering (Level 1). In session 2021-22, 108 such awards were achieved. Through Virtual School, teachers also deliver 1-1 or small group teaching sessions, with a specific focus on S4 pupils at risk of leaving education without any formal qualifications and learners at significant risk of disengagement with education. The direct impact of the former being the achievement of 81 SQA national 3 or 4 qualifications achieved by 32 young people. The Virtual School coordinates an intensive support offer for a number of vulnerable families across school holidays. Over summer 2021, the intensive offer was aimed at care experienced families including kinship groups and other targeted groups. Offers made were wide-ranging and included a variety of activities for young people and their families to enjoy, for example, leisure passes, access to summer activity camps, family days out (including cinema and bowling trips), Cooking Together sessions and bespoke health and wellbeing interventions. In total, 1339 individual offers at the intensive level were accepted by 402 children and young people. In addition, 74 families were supported with a direct payment to facilitate a bespoke package of support in circumstances of particular need. Removing exclusions of care experienced learners from school, aligning with the ambition of the Promise Plan 2021-24 is a target for Virtual School. Staff work in collaboration with schools and wider services to support the development of trauma informed practice and to seek alternatives to exclusion. For care experienced learners over three sessions (August 2019 to June 2022), data gathered demonstrates a 48% reduction in exclusion episodes, a 59% reduction in school days lost due to exclusion, and a 39% reduction in the number of care experienced learners excluded from school. Education within Intensive Services Within the intensive services base in Coatbridge, bespoke education was provided to 18 young people in need of enhanced support. Four were school leavers and achieved various qualifications in National 3 and 4s. The young people in the school were supported by intensive services support assistants to engage in their education programme and with some practical skills and activities. As part of our intensive service offer, we have an operational garage, The 7 Day Centre, that offers experiential learning in automotives and Page 141 of 253
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27 mechanics. Over the year the centre offered 9 young people vocational placements. One young person was supported to access a college course for mechanics, and this commenced in August 22. One young person evidenced the skills and ability to pursue mechanic but was not ready to undertake other available routes to further their training or employment. The young person has been supported to maintain their placement at the 7 Day Centre through NL Roots: Opportunity for Growth programme, which is placement and learning programme for young people who are or have experienced care. The young person is being supported to continue their learning in automotives and mechanic whilst increasing skills, options and readiness to pursue further careers options. To ensure the young people within these settings benefit from more robust pathways and the full range of educational opportunities, the 7 Day Centre and intensive service education base are being integrated into the We Aspire Academy. 2.4 Adult Social Work Services In common with other social work care groups there have been a number of challenges to the delivery of Adult Social Work Services over the year due to the impact of the pandemic and both associated and underlying demand pressures as well as recruitment challenges in key areas. Significant work has been undertaken, both to reinstate support services that had been reduced due to the pandemic and to continue to redesign services. This report therefore reflects the challenges experienced in maintaining high-quality care in line with statutory and regulatory requirements as well as ongoing work to redesign and improve services to support improved outcomes for individuals. Investment in Adult Social Work and Social Care through the Winter Planning and Enhanced Support funding stream from the Scottish Government was introduced during the course of 2021/22 to increase capacity in direct provision as well as to improve assessment capacity, nonetheless the volume and complexity of demand profile alongside workforce challenges have resulted in significant operational and capacity pressures across the whole of health and social care provision and we have seen this in particular with respect to Support at Home, Mental Health Officer activity and also in adult protection where the resourcing of large scale investigations has been required against a background of existing high demand. The narrative below provides further detail on service activity, performance, innovation and improvement as well as areas of challenge. Early and preventative interventions – Right Support, Right Time First Point of Contact A major focus for the Health and Social Care Partnership is to ensure that when people contact health or social work services the response is rapid and appropriate. There should be a focus on assisting people to be independent and getting things right first time. The core of which is a strength-based approach, transferring the balance of care to prevention, early intervention and self-management. Page 142 of 253
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28 In order to explore a whole system change a pilot project was undertaken in Motherwell in 2021 using the Three Conversation Model. Partners 4 Change who led on the delivery of the model have experience of working with 75 council areas in the UK in relation to reform, redesign, financial sustainability, and personalisation. Of the 75 councils, 35 councils were judged to have used this to support whole system change. Here the evaluation of the Motherwell innovation site in 2022 deemed it to be a success with much learning. The aim was to build a whole system, multi-disciplinary team approach embodying coordination, collaboration focusing on communities and person-centred practice. The new way of working was found to have reduced barriers and with simplified recording sufficient to meet legislative needs. It was found that early links with the community and voluntary sector was important for quality outcomes and supporting people with better lives. The quality of engagement with people was strong and there was reduced need to access services for longer term supports. Ongoing development work through the First Point of Contact Group is considering how to scale the learning from the innovation site and addressing how to bridge the gap between the voluntary and statutory services, creating trusted pathways. Making Life Easier Making Life Easier (MLE) is an online resource offering information, professional advice and direct access to support and services for all residents of North Lanarkshire. Making Life Easier gives people the tools to look after their own health and wellbeing. It allows earlier interventions for people and prevents deterioration. The system has reduced waiting lists for Occupational Therapy services with the consequent increase in capacity allowing for services to be directed to the people that need them most. Making Life Easier supports the national policy shift in Scotland to give people the tools to help them to stay well, live independently, promote their social engagement, live active and healthy lives and can, where possible, self-manage. In the year 2021/2022 8,089 people in North Lanarkshire used MLE, a 24.9 % increase on the previous year and an increase of 63% increase on the 2019 usage. Of these users, 86.7% were new visitors and 1,102 people completed a self-assessment. Figures show through the Covid 19 pandemic, Making Life Easier remained a reliable source of information, advice, and support for the people of North Lanarkshire with users increasing year on year. Technology in Health and Social Care We continue to invest in the implementation of technology enable care and have established a dedicated Technology Team within Health and Social Care which provides support and guidance on the implementation of technology, through the development of standards, processes and training. A key focus is on embedding technology into the Page 143 of 253
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29 assessment, planning and implementation of care to provide service users further choice in how care can be provided. The ‘tech flat’ within North Lanarkshire has been set up to demonstrate technology in situ to professionals as well as those who use services and their carers’. Having closed during 2020/21 due to pandemic restrictions it has now reopened and continues to be a well-used resource with around 60 visitors per month. The flat supports consideration of the use of technology within support plans for individuals and continues to be upgraded with new and innovative technology, something that the team will be looking to further evolve. We also continue to be involved in shaping the NHS Lanarkshire Digital Strategy to ensure a person-centred focus is maintained is this fast-developing area of practice. Work has been carried out alongside our NHS partners in developing guidance around the use of technology within rehabilitation. The team has also had involvement in shaping national policy and learning around TEC, telecare and the analogue to digital transition through partnerships with the Digital Office for Local Government, NSS TEC and the Scottish Government. The analogue to digital telecare transition is a major change project with considerable associated challenges for our Community Alarm Service through the transition. This continues to be progressed through the technology team with the aim to conclude with a fully digital community alarm and telecare service by the end of 2025. Locality Support Services The Locality Support Services (LSS), registered with the Care Inspectorate, offer self-directed support to adults with disabilities and /or long-term health conditions. Support is flexible over seven days and evenings connecting people with their local communities and interests. The service takes a human-rights and asset-based approach, promoting independence and personal responsibility, supporting people to consider their natural connections, friendships and paid support where it is required to achieve positive individual outcomes and better lives. The locality support service adapted its delivery model throughout the pandemic and into recovery, offering a blended service of direct support and online/distant support to the people and their families and where required making use of a temp variation to registration to offer support and care in and from people’s homes. Some service users have opted to continue having support on-line and benefit from our broader portfolio of communication methods. Some young people have been particularly enthusiastic about using technology to communicate including a preference for using this for reviews rather than traditional building-based meetings although limits on organisational access to social media platforms can be an issue. The pandemic has also necessitated a more place-based approach changing the needs profile of people being referred into locality support services, with more people requiring support who have mental ill health, self-neglect and addictions as their main issue. This has highlighted new training needs with steps taken to source development opportunities for workers. Page 144 of 253
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30 The service is also very conscious of the wider health inequalities which often impact on those with disabilities and long-term conditions and continue as core practice to support people to identify at least one health outcome and to promote general healthy lives. This is underpinned by an approach which places value on developing a progressive assessment process, communicating well and working with partners will improve access to health and other services. Integrated Day Services Integrated Day Services for Older Adults have continued to work with an aim to support people with complex support needs to continue to live in their own homes safely, often preventing admissions to hospital. During the initial period of the pandemic the service changed its delivery model in line with restrictions to work on an outreach basis however the have now returned to working as a building-based service implementing a recovery plan whilst adapting to the increased pressures across health and social care services. This has temporarily reduced the availability of some on-site interventions from health professionals however operational arrangements will continued be reviewed as full recovery of the service is progressed. Support at Home North Lanarkshire has, for many years, had a positive balance of care, which means that the considerable investment in community-based supports over time has resulted in a high proportion of people with long-term and complex needs being able to continue to live in their own homes. The metric used for benchmarking across Scottish Health & Social Care Partnerships and reported in the Annual Performance Reports (APRs) reflects very positively the long-term efforts in North Lanarkshire to create and sustain the range of supports which minimise long term residential, nursing or hospital care. In Adult Services, support at home is offered through internal home support, independent sector provision and direct payment. Home Assessment Team To complement existing measures around Planned Date of Discharge (PDD), Discharge to Assess (D2A) and Discharge without Delay (DwD) a multi-disciplinary Home Assessment Team has been established with the aim of supporting people to be cared for at home (or as close to home as possible), preventing avoidable admissions to hospital and, where hospital admission is necessary, supporting timely discharge. During 1st April 2021 and 31 March 2022 the referral rates demonstrate the pressure on Home Support with 73.1% of referrals coming from the hospital. The Home Assessment Team (HAT) soft launch took place in Wishaw in late April taking referrals from University Hospital Wishaw/ Monklands and in August the Cumbernauld soft Page 145 of 253
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31 launch was implemented taking referrals from UH Monklands/Wishaw with plans now underway to accelerate full implementation at UHW. HAT work collaboratively with hospital discharge hubs and clinical teams to support timely discharge from hospital to enable an assessment of each person’s immediate and longer- term needs in their own home. This can include anything from signposting to support from a statutory service and community care assessment. The Home Assessment Team has a multi-disciplinary approach to person centred care and consists of Home Support staff, AHP’s, Clinical Responders and Social Work staff facilitating ‘Home First’ principles enabling people to be supported to return home for a period of assessment. This also reduces the pressures associated with having to make life-changing decisions around longer-term care from a hospital setting. The initial implementation stage has demonstrated multiple benefits in supporting early intervention, reducing deconditioning, supporting and maintaining independence though better tailored support, reducing also the ‘over-prescribing’ of support and levels of ongoing care required from the home support service. Home Support Service The Home Support Services supports up to 3,000 people at home in any one day (over 5,500 people over the year), providing over 22.5k hours of support each week. 74% of home support service is provided by in house services, the remainder provided by the independent sector. However, maintaining responsive, high-quality support at home for those who require this has presented as substantial challenge over the past year due to significant workforce and demand pressures within the sector, a pattern which has been common across the country. An underlying increase in the level of need and national and local drive to relieve pressure on acute health services are significant factors and within home support resource has been drawn to the high level of referrals from hospitals impacting also on the responsiveness to emerging need within the community, As reflected above the HSCP have continued to focus on early intervention and prevention and the delivery of person-centred care through self- directed support with the introduction of the HAT team, described above, designed to improve the experience and outcomes for individuals, in particular on their pathway from hospital, as well as improving allocation of home support resource to those who need ongoing support. As noted in previous CSWO reports immediately prior to the pandemic plans were put in place for a redesign of the service with the centralisation management and support functions and new roles to maximise the capacity and quality of the service, to embed reablement and to support a move away from a time and task model to more personalised self-directed support for those with more stable longer-term needs. The pandemic, wider demand and system changes have required these plans to be adapted. There has since been considerable work to implement a new structure within Home Support Service to ensure that assessment and planning through reablement is re-introduced and that the Page 146 of 253
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32 wider options for independent living can be developed. A Home Support Redesign programme has been established to progress the implementation to improve pathways and service user experience, and address workforce challenges to maximise capacity and responsiveness. Additional resource has been invested in the service supported through partnership and new Scottish Government funding, with additional management and administrative support put in place, alongside the additional recruitment of 140 frontline home support workers based in Home Assessment Team and Home Support Service. The service now employs approximately 950 FTE Home Support Workers. A reassessment of the implementation to inform further redesign is taking place to allow the service to reflect and review changes to meet current and new priorities. This includes our Out of Hours Service to address call waiting times for both staff and service users. To ensure the delivery of a safe and high-quality service to support positive outcomes, consultation with staff, service users and their carers and stakeholders will inform the continued redesign of the service. The key areas that will be addressed to include; 1. Recruitment and retention of Home Support Workers, administration and Management 2. Training, to ensure staff are competent and confident across all aspects of Home Support provision 3. Roles: evaluating the hard-to-recruit posts 4. Quality of care and support being providd 5. Efficiency/ scheduling 6. Increased demand needs to be managed through efficient pathways Recruitment and retention to posts at all grades has been challenging and there has been a higher than usual turnover. In addition to Home Support Worker roles, Support Officer and Service Delivery Coordinators are difficult to recruit and retain. These new roles were introduced just prior to the pandemic, and it was not possible to establish them fully due to changes in working arrangements and the difficulties of delivering training during this period, contributing to staff feedback suggesting the posts are too challenging. The tasks and skill sets required for a number of posts, including administration and management roles which are critical to supporting our staff will therefore be reviewed as part of our planned work. In the interim the rolling recruitment of Home Support Workers continues in order to meet demand, with plans now in place to ensure all learning and development requirements are informed by a fully inclusive development plan and robust curriculum to support key priorities. A further key element of the planned redesign of Home Support was the development and implementation of a dynamic scheduling tool both to benefit home support workforce in the field and for those who schedule and plan work. Initial development work has been undertaken but identified a number of design complexities however this will be taken forward as a priority given its criticality to service efficiency and improvement. In response to the challenges outlined the service has been working closely with colleagues from the Care Inspectorate, both strategically in relation to service improvement as well as operationally at local level. Page 147 of 253
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33 Promoting choice through Self-Directed Support Transformational SDS Agenda Our transformational SDS agenda has an emphasis on building greater community capacity to support earlier preventative approaches and proactive planning alongside the continued use of individual budgets for those with substantial and ongoing need. Two new temporary Service Manager posts have been created to further develop and shape our strategy around Self Directed Support across the Partnership supported by two resource worker posts. These posts are part funded through Scottish Government monies to enhance SDS. Key priorities include enhancing partnership working across the spectrum of community solutions, universal services, third and voluntary sectors and statutory sector, linking also with the Tec team on assistive technology so that people can be supported at home as independently as possible, for as long as is appropriate, whilst minimising risk and reducing reliance on statutory services. SDS Budgets The number of people receiving an individual budget within the 21/22 year was 1520. The graph below shows the number of individual budgets per locality. This numbers reflect all people receiving funding via an SDS budget across children, adults, and carers. There are currently 148 individuals who have an individual budget to provide 24-hour support. Part of the transformational work going forward will be around robust reviews of these support arrangements considering the potential use of technology enabled care solutions where these are appropriate to support better lives and increased independence. Page 148 of 253
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34 In the year 21/22 year we had a total of 317 Direct Payments (Option 1) and as with SDS budgets overall these figures include all children, adults and carers. To support the increase in people choosing a Direct Payment arrangement, and the anticipated need going forward a new DP support service was specified and procured. As of October 2021, Take Control North Lanarkshire commenced work in North Lanarkshire replacing SPAEN. Take Control NL are part of the well-established user led organisation Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL). GCIL have a track record of effectively meeting the needs of people wishing to employ their own support staff using a DP. 23 21 18 39 17 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Individuals receiving 24/7 Support per Locality Page 149 of 253
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35 Community Living Change Fund/Coming Home Report In line with Scottish Government recommendations made within the Coming Home Implementation Report, and more recently the allocation to North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership of £1,298,332 from the Community Living Change fund, over a three-year period (2021-2024), a programme of work is being undertaken to support the strategic objectives of: • Reducing delayed discharges of people with complex needs. • Repatriating those people inappropriately placed outside of Scotland. • Redesigning the way services are provided for people with complex needs. This initiative will build on the work already well established in North Lanarkshire and evidenced through our balance of care data. A significant amount of work has been undertaken to ensure people are supported at home in their local community. North Lanarkshire has the highest proportion of people aged 18 and over with long term needs who receive personal care at home in mainland Scotland and has the lowest placement rate for all adults aged over 18 in Scotland, which is over 30% lower than the Scottish average The addition investment will provide an opportunity to review the current situation post- pandemic and compliment the national work being undertaken to develop a dynamic discharge register. A multi-agency team lead by Health and Social Care Partnership was proposed to be established and will identify individuals with Complex Care Needs who are out of area or whose discharge is delayed and review and develop protocols to address this. This will include robust planning arrangements across a widen number of agencies to reduce the length of time people need to wait to be discharged. A key outcome is to establish a new register of individuals affected and the introduction of an appropriate assessment tool which will facilitate review of all cases. From this individual outcome plans will be developed to assist each person back home addressing and resolving the key obstacles faced such as housing, funding, care equipment etc. For those individuals identified as being repatriated and following appropriate assessment including risk assessments, planning will facilitate appropriate interventions to ensure individuals can come home safely. Additional protocols will be developed to support interactions with other authorities which may be involved in such areas. Statutory Interventions Mental Health Officers Service and Adults with Incapacity Act (Scotland) 2000 Mental Health Officers (MHO) are social workers with a minimum of two years post qualifying experience who have gained Mental Health Officer Award (MHO award) which is a postgraduate certificate at SCQF level 11. Statutory duties for MHO’s are set out in the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act, 2000; the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act, 2003 [MHCTA]; the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act, 1995; Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act, 2007. The implications of emergent court judgements emphasising the significance of both the Page 150 of 253
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36 European Convention of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in statutory decision making, combine to place heavy demands on the current resource. Additionally, new duties for mental health officers were introduced in the implementation of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act, 2015. The Chief Social Work Officer holds overall statutory responsibility for the governance and the management of welfare guardianship orders that have been granted to the local authority, and for overseeing the supervision of private guardians in their role and function as welfare guardians. The day-to-day management of these statutory responsibilities are delegated to Mental Health Officers and Social Workers and overseen by managers within adult social work. Adults with Incapacity Act (Scotland) 2000 The above chart shows the monthly running total of private and local authority welfare/financial guardianship orders held for individuals in North Lanarkshire over the period April 2021 until March 2022. The total number of guardianship orders in place in the North Lanarkshire Council area at the end of March 2022 was 986. This is a 1.6 % decrease from the period 2020-21. On 31 March 2022, the number of individuals on a guardianship order in Scotland overall was 17,101. The North Lanarkshire total figure constitutes 5.8 % of the national total. The local authority has a statutory responsibility to provide supervision and support to all Private Guardians and undertake reviews of how the powers are being used on a regular basis, unless it is formally agreed that this is not required. In relation to local authority welfare guardianship powers, these are also reviewed regularly either by a Designated Mental Health Officer or Social Worker. Page 151 of 253
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37 Within North Lanarkshire Council there are several private residential and nursing care homes which offer accommodation for adults with complex care requirements. Local Authorities, from across Scotland, place Adults in these establishments. number of these Adults require the use of Mental Health, Adults with Incapacity and/or Adult Support and Protection legislation to ensure lawful decision making and protection of human rights. The statutory responsibility for undertaking statutory duties as relevant to individual residents is carried out by North Lanarkshire Council staff. During this period, as noted in section 2.5 below two Large Scale Investigations were undertaken under Adult Protection processes with respect to this type of establishment. The co-ordination of these investigations and associated statutory activity, in liaison with home local authorities, to ensure individuals rights were safeguarded and needs appropriately supported placed substantial additional demands on North Lanarkshire MHO and social work resources. Over the period April 2021 to March 2022, 135 requests were received for Mental Health Officer reports to accompany new guardianship applications. In comparison with the previous year this shows a 5.5 Increase. Of these applications 77 were for renewals of welfare guardianship orders, which is a 157 % Increase in renewal applications since the previous year. It should be noted that the ‘stop the clock’ put in force by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 ended on 30th September 2021, therefore the increase in renewals this year would be expected as a direct consequence of demand effectively being held over from the previous year. Page 152 of 253
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38 Younger Adults with intellectual disabilities and/or neurodevelopmental causes and older Adults with cognitive impairment remain the main categories of diagnosis in respect of guardianship applications granted between April 2021 and March 2022. Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2003 and Mental Health (Scotland Act 2015 Statutory interventions to safeguard and support individuals through mental health legislation is noted in the table below. National trends for civil detentions under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 have continued to rise. In North Lanarkshire there has been a reduction in the number of Emergency Detention Certificates (down 10%) and Short-Term Detention Certificates (7.9%), whilst the number of Compulsory Treatment Orders has increased (22%) since the previous year. The total number of supervised Forensic orders continues to increase in North Lanarkshire Council. We continue to maintain a higher than the national average rate of consent to Emergency Detention Certificates. This year, MHO’s have however refused consent to 38 Short Term Detentions, which is 25 more than the previous year. Quality Assurance, Continuous Improvement and involving Lived Experience North Lanarkshire Council recognise that, MHO involvement in the social work and care management role of adults with complex needs in relation to decision making capacity and/or experience severe and enduring mental health difficulties, can offers much better outcomes for individuals as a result of the knowledge and skill base MHOs retain whilst ensuing human rights are central to intervention. Page 153 of 253
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39 Our plan is to promote quality assurance by gathering feedback from people with lived experience who are involved in the service, in addition to continuing to work collaboratively with partnership colleagues and other stakeholders. We are developing our links with Integrated Addiction Services in recognition that many individuals we work with experience mental health and addiction issues which require a whole systems approach. We are also introducing self-evaluation and auditing processes for statutory MHO reports and have undertaken a trauma informed walk through of the service to ensure best practice and continuous improvement. Service Recovery As discussed in last year’s report, the impact of the pandemic, required rapid development of remote working and centralising processes across the MHO service. Whilst there has been a return to face-to-face assessments, meetings and MHO forums we have also continued to benefit from the flexibility remote ways of working can offer service users and staff alike with MS TEAMS and ‘Near Me’ service. The centralisation of key functions has created many benefits to managing pressures across the service in relation to staffing, workload and sharing knowledge and experience. A centralised priority allocation process is now in place as a way of addressing the pressures across the service. Appropriate Adults Services In January 2020, Appropriate Adults (AA) Services across Scotland became a statutory function via part implementation of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. This now means that a statutory duty is placed upon Police Scotland to request an Appropriate Adult, while the Council have a statutory duty to provide Appropriate Adult Services, and the training of AA’s. The Care Inspectorate have the duty to assess the quality of AA Services. During 2021-22, national developments have continued to take place to assist with the ongoing implementation of the national statutory framework e.g. Scottish Government AA Oversight Group, national training group, and the requirement to complete a service-based questionnaire on North Lanarkshire AA Services, for the Care Inspectorate. The Council is currently working in partnership with the Care Inspectorate and other partners to design a self-evaluation model for ongoing quality assurance purposes for AA Services. Appropriate Adult Services in North Lanarkshire are currently fully operated, funded and delivered through Social Work Services with 12 employees trained to perform AA roles during business hours and SWES (Social Work Emergency Services) staff providing support out of hours. In line with statutory guidance produced by Scottish Government, work is underway to develop a local Appropriate Adult Oversight Group. This multi-agency group will have responsibilities for policy and practice development in this area eg. recruitment, training, confidentiality, health and safety and service complaints. Appropriate Adult referrals decreased by 23% (from 92 to 71) from the same time last year, in line with other local authority areas who have also experienced reductions in referral rates. This is being monitored by a National Oversight Group, Scottish Appropriate Adult Page 154 of 253
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40 Network and Police Scotland. While there was a decrease, there were increases in the number of times AA’s are being asked to attend police stations (for the same offence) and are spending an increased amount of time supporting vulnerable adults whilst there. As Council employees perform the AA role in addition to professional social work roles, this continues to contribute to resource pressures however an Appropriate Adult Development Officer post has been agreed and funded through new monies following statutory implementation and it is hoped to recruit to this shortly. 2.5 Public Protection Whilst all public protection activity is undertaken in partnership, the social work service has a lead role and associated statutory responsibilities, particularly with respect to adult and child protection and the management of high-risk offenders. The information below provides an overview and analysis of that activity. Child Protection The number of children whose names were placed on the child protection register decreased by 20% from 2020 to 2021, consistent with an emerging national trend during the initial period of the pandemic. Historically, proportionately fewer children’s names have been placed on the children protection register in North Lanarkshire than the Scottish average and this remains the case, although the gap is narrowing as illustrated below. Despite this decrease, 2021/22 saw a continuing trend of increased child protection activity overall. The table below illustrates an increase of 66% in child protection referrals over the past 5 years but proportionality fewer children (a 33% decrease) being referred to a Child Protection Case Conference. This indicates that more children were referred into the child protection system than was perhaps necessary. The development in North Lanarkshire of planning for the wellbeing of children through our Empowering Clusters, is designed, in part, to address this, with local supports and services in place to respond to need at an early stage. These trends will be monitored. Page 155 of 253
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41 Year Number of Child Protection Referrals Number of referrals that proceeded to Case Conference Percentage of Investigations Proceeding to Case Conference Percentage of Conferences resulting in Registration 2021/22 1714 229 30% 73% 2020/21 1482 261 31% 76% 2019/20 1617 339 42% 74% 2018/19 1150 329 51% 76% 2017/18 1030 340 49% 74% Adult Support and Protection During 2021/22 North Lanarkshire Social Work Services, as part of Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire, received 2434 ASP referrals, an increase of less than 1% compared to 2020/21 (from 2,426 to 2,434). This is the third consecutive year that an annual increase has been measured. Police Scotland remain one of the highest referring agencies, submitting 16% (380) of all ASP referrals received; this is a 39% decrease from last year (from 598 to 380). In addition to the 380 ASP referrals made by Police Scotland, there were a total of 4,004 Police ‘Adult Concern’ Reports received. Since the same reporting period last year there has been a 13% increase in police ‘Adult Concern’ reports (from 3,552 to 4,004). This is the third year running when significant increases have occurred; this work continues to generate significant resource pressures. For the fourth year running, there was an increase in the number of referrals received from NHS L personnel (from 426 to 473, up 11%). Referrals from Social Work Services staff decreased by 10% (from 411 to 371). For this period, ASP referrals from Care Homes demonstrated a 9% increase (from 416 to 455). Information from inquiry and Investigation processes suggest possible causes of this include, the increasing complexity of people placed in care homes, many of whom have significant levels of cognitive impairment and/or dementia, and behaviour which requires intensive support. Monitoring and support in this area is provided by colleagues in Quality Assurance and, in line with the increased focus on Care Homes during the pandemic this area of activity has also been monitored through regular review of ASP referrals for care homes and multi- professional Care Home Oversight arrangements. Adults with mental health issues were represented in 35% (858) of the total ASP referrals received, being the main primary user group referred. Referrals for this group have decreased since the same time last year but remain high in overall percentage terms (from 939 to 858). This only reinforces the importance of key service developments such as Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) and social work investment in delivering ASP training for those organisations who deliver services at home to our most vulnerable service users. Page 156 of 253
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42 ASP Investigations /Case Conferences and Statutory Orders/Functions During 2021-22 there were 434 ASP Investigations carried out, a 18% conversion rate from inquiry to investigation and a 16% increase from the previous year. There were 111 ASP Initial Case Conferences held; this measures a 29% decrease from last year. Anecdotal information from localities suggest that some cases have moved from investigation to case conference sooner in the process. For the period 2021/22, North Lanarkshire Council, as part of Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire also sought and implemented thirteen ASP Protection orders, broken down as; six Removal Orders, three Banning Orders and four temporary Banning Orders, all with power of arrest. During the period from April 2021 to March 2022, two Large Scale Investigations (LSI) under Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 (ASPA) were carried out at care homes. Both investigations highlighted a lack of legal safeguarding for many adults in relation to welfare and financial decision-making with necessary actions progressed to address this in conjunction with the Care Inspectorate, placing authorities, providers, individuals and families. The nature of these investigations required dedicated staff teams to be set up for a period to progress this and whilst this was critical in ensuring the effectiveness of investigations and supporting actions, this did have an impact on staff resource for other activity. MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) In addition to their in public protection though the management of offenders, as described in 2.2 above, justice social work services have a key role in respect to MAPPA arrangements as lead agency for offenders subject to statutory supervision. As such the service works closely with the council’s housing service and other responsible authorities including, Police Scotland, NHS and the Scottish Prison Service to assess and manage the risk posed by sexual, violent and other risk of serious harm offenders. As noted in 1.4 above whilst activity is operationally managed within relevant agencies. multi-agency oversight and co-ordination is supported by a small pan-Lanarkshire team and Strategic Oversight Group (SOG). An annual MAPPA report provides information on the ongoing local implementation of MAPPA arrangements, key priorities and activity statistics: MAPPA Annual Report 2022 | North Lanarkshire Council Of the 699 individuals in custody or in the community in Lanarkshire subject to MAPPA as of 31/3/22, 56% (394) were the responsibility of North Lanarkshire authorities. Overall, the number of individuals managed under MAPPA have grown significantly since arrangements were established 15 years ago however this increase has slowed in recent years. In both North Lanarkshire and pan-Lanarkshire there was again a small increase between 20/21 and 21/22 however as in other areas of the justice system it difficult to clearly separate underlying trends from the impact of the pandemic on the justice system. MAPPA related activity is however a key aspect of justice social work workloads. Whilst the statutory activity above is categorised in distinct strands there is a clear interface across the different areas of public protection requiring joint-working across both social work Page 157 of 253
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43 care groups and partnership arrangements. There is for example an increasing number of older individuals and those with substantial care needs who are managed under MAPPA requiring close working between adult and justice services and there is also a strong interface with child protection whilst domestic abuse and violence against women may also link strongly to wider public protection processes. All social work staff are therefore expected and trained to have core knowledge of of the range protection procedures and responsibilities. Statutory public protection interventions and processes are also part of a wider continuum of safeguarding and community safety activity in which social workers are involved, some of which are reflected in earlier sections of this report. Additional examples of key priority areas for social work and partners where practice is evolving and innovating to strengthen the protection and wellbeing of our communities are set out below: Contextual Safeguarding and Missing Young People Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to protecting young people who are at risk of extra familial abuse (harm outside of the home), such as criminal or sexual abuse or violence within peer groups. North Lanarkshire is one of the first local authorities in Scotland to adopt this approach and a multiagency steering group was established in 2021 and an audit of practice comprising a review of processes and consultation with staff was completed. In addition, the Promise Development Team with the support of Who Cares Scotland provision in North Lanarkshire, held consultations and engagement with young people in relation to their experience of service responses to risk of harm outside the family. To ensure interventions and resources are put in place to reduce risks in contexts, a Young Person’s Safeguarding Panel was established in November 2021. It has representation from across council services (CLD, education, community safety, housing) as well as from partners to ensure a holistic response. The panel considers young people at significant risk of harm outside the home and is co-chaired by Police Scotland and Social Work and with each panel there has been a complex mix of risks. Risks are discussed alongside strengths, and there is a clear focus on the young person/people’s wellbeing. The panel adds value to case planning with young people by agreeing actions to address risks in locations or contexts for young people. There continued to be a weekly Missing Persons’ meeting that discussed all young people who were reported to the Police as being missing from the community or a residential home. The missing person meeting notes any risks to the child or young person when they were missing for further action and support and monitors the outcome of this. A comparison of those young people reported as missing in 2021/22 with the previous year shows a decrease in the number of total missing episodes (603 as opposed to 663) but an increase in the number of individual young people reported as missing (287 as opposed to 185). As a result of ongoing work with children’s house staff in their approach to nurturing and supporting young people, there was a significant reduction in young people reported missing from North Lanarkshire’s children’s houses as illustrated below. In 2020/21 nearly half the missing episodes related to care experienced young people missing from children’s houses whereas this reduced to a quarter in 2021/22. However, it also reflects an increase in young people missing from their own families, 65% of whom were not known to the social work service at the point of being reported missing. Page 158 of 253
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44 20/21 21/22 All young people reported as missing continued to be offered a Return Discussion from a contracted service through Barnardo’s Scotland. This enabled young people to raise any issue that may be affecting them with an independent person rather than a parent, police officer, teacher or social worker. This led to a number of young people being referred onto additional supports and the disclosure of harm that would not necessarily have occurred if this independent service had not been available. All young people reported as missing continued to be offered a Return Discussion from a contracted service through Barnardo’s Scotland. This enabled young people to raise any issue that may be affecting them with an independent person rather than a parent, police officer, teacher or social worker. This led to a number of young people being referred onto additional supports and the disclosure of harm that would not necessarily have occurred if this independent service had not been available. Suicide Prevention The Suicide Prevention Partnership Group is a collective of multi-agency staff which aims to collaborate in the promotion of the national and local suicide prevention strategies. This takes place via a range of activities including awareness raising and training across services and local communities. The process of gathering data on suicide locally has developed since the winter of 2019. More comprehensive information is now available from Police Scotland; which includes more contextual information about the deceased person’s life, employment and relationships. This information support the targeting of prevention activity. As noted in the table below from 2018 until 31st December 2021, North Lanarkshire has lost 171 people to completed suicides. There continues to be an increase in deaths of younger people under the age of 39: these have mostly been young males. Suicide rates did not significantly vary throughout the lockdown period (2020/2021) however as we continue to recover from the emotional and fiscal effects of the pandemic there is a Page 159 of 253
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45 concern that the cost-of-living crisis may impact an increasing number of individuals mental health and wellbeing with an associated risk of a rise in suicide rates. In this context continuing to review and enhance the local action plan is clearly essential (taken from National Records of Scotland suicide data for North Lanarkshire on an annual basis from 2018 until 2021) YEAR Completed number of suicides in NLC 2018 58 2019 57 2020 62 2021 52 Up to 31 March 2022 13 The local action plan delivered by the Suicide Prevention Partnership Group is framed around the following aims: 1. Reducing the risk of suicide in high-risk groups. 2. Tailoring approaches to improve mental and physical health in specific groups. 3. Reducing access to means of suicide, including identified Locations of Concern 4. Learning from investigations and reviews into unexpected deaths. 5. Providing better information and support to those bereaved or affected by suicide. 6. Supporting research, data collection and monitoring. 7. Building community capacity to help reduce the stigma and taboo associated with suicide. There is extensive peer support available across the authority with suicide awareness and prevention training being delivered across health, education, third sector and voluntary organisations. The partnership now embedded participation, initially as a pilot area in rolling out Distress Brief Intervention is also supportive of this work. A Senior Officer Adult Service Leads on the Suicide Prevention work. A proposal is being progressed to recruit a Suicide review Officer pan Lanarkshire, initially on a temporary basis, to continue to take forward this important work. Drug Related Deaths North Lanarkshire has some of highest levels of alcohol and drug related deaths in Scotland with 94 people dying from drug-related causes in 2020. Of these, 68% were male and 32% Female. Further analysis of the data shows 62% of all deaths in North Lanarkshire occurred in the 35 – 54 age group with 25- 34 olds and 45 and over age range falling not far behind. Overall, 98% of DRDs were poly-drug deaths with 71% of deaths from drugs in 2020 having more than 5 substances named in the toxicology reports*1. This represents a significant challenge in understanding and responding to the needs of people who use drugs in North Lanarkshire. Page 160 of 253
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46 Measures associated with targeting drug related deaths locally and nationally have been implemented via MAT Standards, Drug related Death task force workstreams and ADP funded projects. Actions will be centred on improving quality, offering choice and creating more of the connections to keep people safe, well and thriving. Realising a North Lanarkshire where: 1. Fewer people develop problem drug and alcohol use 2. People access and benefit from effective, integrated person-centred support to achieve their own type of recovery 3. Children and families affected by alcohol and drug use will be safe, healthy, included and supported. 4. Vulnerable people are diverted from the justice system wherever possible, and those in the system are fully supported. 5. Less harm is caused by alcohol. 3. RESOURCES For financial year 2021/22 North Lanarkshire Council had gross annual social work budget, inclusive of Covid & winter planning funding, in excess of £266m. This was allocated as £220m for Adult Social Care and £46m for Children, Families & Justice. The equivalent funding for the previous financial year was £252m. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 resulted in spend in excess of £8M which included the costs of PPE, the provision of additional home support hours and partner sustainability payments. This expenditure was fully funded by the Scottish Government. New recurring investment of £300m was announced by the Scottish Government at the end of 2021 to protect health and social care services over the winter period and to provide longer term improvement in service capacity across health and social care systems. North Lanarkshire’s share of this funding was £6.4m and a full business case was approved on how Page 161 of 253
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47 this would be utilised over the forthcoming 12-month period: https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att97950.pdf There are however ongoing difficulties across the sector in recruiting for the required posts delaying spend against these funds. In aggregate Social Work had a savings target of £1.768M, 78% of which was achieved during the year. Plans are in place to fully achieve the savings in future years. Whilst the totality of Social Work activity during 2021/22 was undertaken within the overall budget resource and resulted in an underspend position this outturn underspend is projected to be on a non-recurring basis and therefore financial pressures are expected in specific areas as follows: - a. Home Support b. Independent Care Homes c. Self-Directed Services d. Integrated Equipment and Adaptation Service e. Family Placements f. Children’s Houses The underspend in Children’s Services Social Work was mainly due to savings in employee costs, which were largely as a result of recruitment issues and savings in external payments both to individuals and external agencies. There remain however significant ongoing cost pressures particularly in relation to placements costs which were alleviated by temporary additional funding allocated by the council which ended in 2021/22. Pressures relate primarily to growth in placements and costs within kinship care and external fostering. There are also ongoing cost pressures in relation to the management of internal Children’s Houses and the rise in costs for external residential placements, although as noted previously there has been a reduction in the use of external residential resource over recent years. Previous pressures with respect to continuing care costs have been mitigated by the additional recurring local investment in this area of service. Within the Justice budget the Scottish Government allocated additional funds to all 32 authorities to support the Justice recovery from the pandemic. North Lanarkshire received £0.943m of which £0.164m was earmarked specifically for the Third Sector. NLC were able to utilise £0.632 in year which included the full utilisation of the Third Sector monies. The main obstacle to fully spending the additional funds was in relation to recruiting to temporary posts. This was exacerbated by the relatively late confirmation of this funding which meant an automatic lag in recruitment as a direct consequence. In view of demand pressures and the criticality of frontline social work provision to both the delivery of statutory responsibilities and wider national and local policy ambitions the council and HSCP have taken no savings from main grade social worker posts over this period or recent years however wider savings have impacted within the service and the overall financial climate clearly remains challenging. Page 162 of 253
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48 Additional national funding for adult health and social care, of which local spend is reflected in the business case link above, has supported address some pressure points in Adult Services, however as noted elsewhere in this report recruitment challenges remain. Further recurring national investment in Adult Social Work from 2022/23, equating to 1.278m for North Lanarkshire announced in early 2022 is also welcome. Additional funding for Justice Social Work Services to support address the pandemic related backlog in demand will also continue into 2022/23 however the position beyond this is unclear. In contrast there has been no earmarked national investment in Children’s Social Work Services beyond the short- term winter support plan monies allocated at the end of 2020 with the impact that a number of the developments reflected in section 2.3 above have been supported by a range of short-term or non-recurring partnership funding and are therefore vulnerable to any changes within this. Financial Modelling for Service Delivery Financial Planning and monitoring continue to be a key responsibility for the management team. The Council’s financial strategy includes Service input to four key processes. These are: a. Preparation of detailed single year budget b. In–year budget monitoring and projections c. Preparation of rolling 3-year budgets d. Preparation of a Medium-Term Financial Plan Alongside these the Council Finance Team work closely with the IJB Chief Finance Officer to prepare a medium-term financial plan for the Health and Social Care Partnership. In terms of financial modelling the Management Team increasingly take a whole systems approach to delivering new and more efficient operating models which often requires joint working with other Council services and key external partners. The Management Team have also had to undertake significant work to prepare projections, plans and models which estimate the operational and cost impact of Covid on service delivery. This information is shared with officers in the Council, IJB key external partners and with the Scottish Government. In addition to the wider financial modelling described above work has also been undertaken to support the business plan for Adult Health and Social Care. With respect to Children’s Services the council and local partnership is one of three areas who have committed to working with the Promise team nationally on ‘Human and Economic Cost Modelling’, work which is intended to support longer term change both nationally and locally by identifying how money is currently spent and the system changes required to move the balance of spend toward early intervention and family support in line with the aspirations of Christie. Page 163 of 253
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49 4. WORKFORCE 4.1 Workforce Planning Workforce planning within social work is integrated thought the social workforce group but informed by the Council’s corporate ‘Workforce for the Future Strategy’, https://mars.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/egenda/images/att96241.pdf which was updated and approved in June 2021 and interfaces also with the wider HSCP workplan. As reflected in other parts of this report the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic and cost of living crisis along with underlying demand pressures have significantly impacted on the ask of the social work workforce over this period. Changes in the labour market as the country moves into the recovery phase have also impacted on recruitment and retention of staff and have together exposed some of the underlying vulnerabilities with respect to the capacity, valuing and development of the social work and social care workforce. North Lanarkshire is not immune to these challenges and whilst many of these also require action at national level, there is substantial work ongoing locally to address key issues and support workforce resilience. Social Worker Recruitment and Retention The service has previously adopted a mixed model with respect to social worker recruitment bur in response to financial constraints the services’ internal social worker trainee programme was paused in 2018/19 and since this time social worker recruitment has been predominantly external. Whilst staff turnover in many areas was supressed during the initial stages of the pandemic this has increased over the last 18 months. This is in part due to more internal movement to promoted, developmental and specialist posts within all care groups, including those created through service redesign and temporary funding streams, with such opportunities also supporting positive career pathways and staff retention. There has also been movement across care groups due to the creation of additional posts in justice and adult services with some ‘churn’ emerging particularly in children and families alongside an emerging increase in movement to other local authorities, in particular Glasgow where pay rates for main grade social work staff are higher. This is in a context of national recruitment challenges for social work with no overarching-system of bursaries/employment whilst training as well as increased demand for staff and the disruptive impact of the pandemic on social worker qualifying training. Whilst North Lanarkshire continues to successfully recruit including attracting students who have has positive placement experiences with the authority, this has also impacted on experience levels and stability at the frontline, for example in Children, Families and Justice alone 36 external appointments were made to the role of social worker over this period, 29 of whom were newly qualified. Whilst these staff bring skills, creativity and commitment to the service, the impact of the pandemic on pre-qualifying opportunities has impacted on learning needs and the changing balance between newly qualified and more experienced workers, alongside an increasing complexity in the demand profile, has created clear pressures with respect to the allocation of work within localities with a requirement to provide more support across teams. Page 164 of 253
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50 Frontline managers continue to monitor caseloads and assist their workers in the prioritisation of their statutory responsibilities. In Justice Social Work a revised structure has allowed for a more flexible approach to the deployment of staff across the authority to support the teams who are dealing with the most urgent and pressing demands and authority wide teams continue to support localities across all care groups. Whilst not favoured as a core element of our ongoing workforce strategy, where necessary limited use of agency social workers has also been employed under the auspices of Covid-19 recovery monies in Adult and Justice services. There is a productive partnership approach between the service and our HR colleagues in terms of ongoing recruitment strategies. Advertising frequency and dates have been reviewed to streamline the process and quicken the employee onboarding experience to and the service also maximises opportunities to recruit on a permanent basis (temp location) against temporary vacancies on the basis that normal levels of turnover mitigate any associated. financial risk. As outlined in 4.2 below, a commitment to capacity to support Practice Learning, the new Supported Year in Practice and to both Continuous Professional Development and Health and Wellbeing Support are all critical to longer-term recruitment and retention strategies but in the current context and it is likely that supporting actions will need to continue to be updated and reviewed. Our Senior Practitioner Scheme continues to contribute to retention and the building of a skilled workforce. It allows social workers and occupational therapists to progress to an enhanced salary scale on completion of relevant post qualifying training and commitment to undertake additional responsibilities and remains a key component of our model, with over 60 practitioners within the service carrying the status alongside tailored work plans identifying their additional contribution to the service. The Senior Practitioner qualification has been extended to include the Diploma in Autism and the National Joint Investigative Programme Training and new social workers who meet the criteria have immediate access to temporary Senior Practitioner status, pending a process to confirm status. Our strong commitment to the provision of Practice Learning as part of Learning Network West has been maintained and despite some of the challenges involved in providing quality learning experiences in the context of hybrid working, we have by the end of 2021/22 been able to restore placement provision to pre-pandemic levels. The service has benefitted significantly from the input of the students and as noted above this also supports recruitment. Following a ‘test of change’ in autumn 2021 provision of opportunities through traditional dispersed placements has been supplemented by the development of two student hubs base in the north and south of the authority. Each hub has the capacity to support around 9 students with a co-located practice teacher and with all placement opportunities overseen by a dedicated Senior Officer in our Training and Organisational Development team. Our experience to date suggests this model is highly valued by students whilst also providing flexibility of deployment to support service needs. Page 165 of 253
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51 Recruitment and retention of Mental Health Officers North Lanarkshire Council remain committed to training social workers to become MHO’s and since 2018 have successfully supported nine individuals through their MHO award. An MHO Traineeship Scheme was introduced during the pandemic, ensuring the MHO Trainees are located within the MHO Service during the course. We received positive feedback from the Trainees that being based within the service, provided quality learning and practice opportunities, despite a significant reduction in face-to-face contact with colleagues and service users. The scheme will continue, and a self-evaluation process is currently being undertaken. Colleagues across Education and Families and Social Work Emergency Services have shown an interest in being considered for the Award. Mental Health Officer forums continue every 6 weeks, offering discussion on practice issues, case studies, national reports/guidance and providing feedback to Scottish Mental Health Law Review. North Lanarkshire continue to offer MHO’s the opportunity to obtain, and maintain, Senior Practitioner status and to share their knowledge and experience with MHO and social work colleagues in relation to various aspects of AWI and MH legislation as well as Self Directed Support. We recognise the breadth of knowledge, experience, and skill across the MHO service and plan to restart consultation sessions regarding human rights, AWI and MH Act as well as establishing MHO champions who have areas of practice interest, in relation to neurodiversity, forensic work, and complex trauma. Remote external training and development opportunities continue to be available to MHO’s, for example via the Scottish Forensic Network, Mental Welfare Commission and MHO community of practice (SASW). Despite these measures in common with other local authorities, North Lanarkshire continues to be under-resourced in this area and this poses a considerable challenge for responding to statutory duties and timelines. Recruitment, retention and succession planning for MHOs are high level priorities and are under constant review. The service has recently been augmented by three newly qualified Mental Health Officers and an experienced MHO from another social work team. We also continue to have a core group of sessional MHOs who are involved in supporting AWI processes to support adults assessed as lacking capacity for making decisions with respect to hospital discharge processes this is proven to be beneficial and will continue to be funded. Grant aided funding from the Scottish Government to support Mental Health Officer training, is supporting the recruitment of a stand-alone Practice Assessor with we anticipate the post be filled by September 2022. We are also in the process of recruiting social worker posts to be based in the Mental Health Officer Service and an additional Mental Health Officer post for complex discharge planning is also currently under development. Page 166 of 253
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52 Social Care As reflected in Section 2.4 above there remain significant recruitment, retention and capacity challenges with respect to the home support workforce and whilst recruitment planning for the in-house service has always had to be balanced to avoid a simple transfer of capacity from the local independent sector the need to retain critical service delivery has necessitated an upscaling of recruitment to our in-house service over the last year. Challenges in recruitment and retention in this sector are not confined to the roles of home support workers providing direct care but also to management and support functions, as reflected earlier in this report, requiring further review of roles, the creation of additional posts and ongoing consideration of support arrangements to aid retention. Other areas in which there are recruitment challenges include locality support services and some roles within residential childcare, significant factors being wider labour market changes and comparative pay. In addition to wider strategic actions, service areas are themselves active in seeking solutions, for example, locality support services have continued to build links with education, encourage apprenticeship schemes and promote the idea to young people that a career in social care is rewarding and full of possibilities for promotion, further education and development. A group has been set up with a focus on promoting succession planning and preparedness of workers interested in promotion, staff development and the introduction of the principles of creating a working environment that is trauma informed Administration/Business Support Administrative and support staff within social work play an invaluable role in supporting service delivery and increasing challenges with respect to recruitment and retention in respect of key administrative and support roles have over the past year also impacted significantly on the service with high vacancy and turnover rates particularly in main grade roles with loss of staff to other services in the local authority, the health service and private sector an issue, again with comparative pay issues a significant factor. A wider review of administrative support across the wider education and families and social work service is planned with an ambition that a redesigned business support model will support efficiency and offer roles which both reflect the specific needs of the current service and which are more attractive and offer improved career pathways for staff. Care Academy A important vehicle to support workforce planning in social work and a key element of Workforce for the Future is the Health & Social Care Academy a much long-standing piece of work, with mature partnership model and based on a key joint venture with NHS Lanarkshire. Recently, existing work has been deepened by establishing 3 priority sub- groups focused on 1) the young workforce, with further development of the in school vocational offering for Health and Social Care; 2) adult recruitment and employability, with a focus on both short- and longer-term workforce demands in the sector, 3) building capacity and resilience by supporting wellbeing, training, and development across the existing workforce. A clear plan of action has been developed for each of the subgroups who will take forward this work in the next 6 to 12 months with regular reporting to the Workforce for the Future Steering Group. Work will also be taken forward in the next Page 167 of 253
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53 phase to develop a framework of outcome measures which can be used to track the overall progress of the programme and its impact. 4.2 Workforce Development and Staff Support There are a wide range of learning and development opportunities open to staff supported and planned both corporately and at service, team and individual levels with a focus on alignment to service and corporate ambitions and redesign but also on more specific team and individual development needs the latter through our PRD processes. Prior to the pandemic the council invested in LearnNL a cloud-based learning management system designed to support a more inclusive and accessible approach to learning whilst improving digital literacy, and this was a key support in sustaining training and development during the pandemic period during which more training was adapted for online delivery however as the year has progressed there have been some opportunities to re-stablish face- to-face team development, with the hope that wider opportunities will be available over the coming year. A summary of key activity over the period with respect to Learn NL, Assessment Centre and training activity to supporting registration and the social care workforce and Post-qualifying Awards is noted below: LearnNL Total number of activities undertaken on LearnNL including mandatory learning – 10,718 Leadership Development – 87 activities Fundamental Leadership – 2 Influential Leadership – 9 Assessment Centre and Registration The Assessment Centre continues to support SVQ, and PDA qualifications required to meet registration, role and CPD requirements. This is achieved through both in house assessment and access to SVQs through external providers. The North Lanarkshire Assessment Centre was subject to an external verification visit in August 2022. A number of activities were undertaken in this visit to ensure we continue to meet the requirements set out by SQA. All areas sampled in the visit were rated green (High Confidence) by the external verifier, an excellent achievement, sustaining high standards of delivery throughout challenging times. Awards completed (2021 – present) SCQF Level 6 (SVQ2) – 8 SCQF Level 7 (SVQ3) – 5 SCQF Level 9 (SVQ4) – 2 PDA Level 9 – 4 Page 168 of 253
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54 Active Candidates – External Programmes (2021 – present) New College Lanarkshire – 17 West Lothian College – 4 A tender has recently been issued for the provision of SVQ Level 2 in Social Services in Health Care which will provide up to 30 places over the next two years Active Candidates – Internal Programmes (2021 – present) SCQF Level 7 (SVQ3) – 4 SCQF Level 9 (SVQ4) – 5 PDA Leadership and Care (SCQF Level 9) – 3 Post Graduate Opportunities Advanced Practice skills – 1 completed 2022 Postgraduate in Child Welfare and Protection @ Stirling University – 4 started in 2021 and completed June 2022. A further 5 will commence September 2022 due to finish June 2023. Postgraduate in Adult Support and Protection – 2 Postgraduate in Contemporary Drug and Alcohol Studies – 2 Part funding of final year of PHD qualification – 1 Postgraduate in Management and Leadership – 1 Exploring the Theory and Practice of Psychological Trauma – 1 MSc In Leading People Centred Care – 1 Children in Conflict with the law – 2 places funded for 2022 with a further 4 places funded for 2023 Professional development award in practice learning (PDA PL) Four social workers qualified as practice teachers this year with a further two due to finish by December 2022. This is supported by a practice learning pathway for social workers to become link workers and practice teachers. Over the past 4 years we have promoted practice learning and successfully built a strong cohort of competent and confident link workers and currently have waiting list to become a practice teacher. Social Worker Training Whilst our secondee scheme is currently suspended as noted above we continue to have staff studying on their own time with the Open University which they self-fund. We have 6 support workers who are all at a stage they now only require to be sponsored by NLC for their 2 practice placements to qualify as social workers. We have committed to this funding and all 6 will start their first assessed placement February 2023 and will qualify September 2024. Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs), Supported Year in Practice In view of the workforce profile describe in 4.1 above, the service has been delighted to receive funding support for a Practice Learning Officer as and early implementer of a supported year for NQSW’s. Knowing that North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) is a part of the Page 169 of 253
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55 early implementation has also been a key factor for NQSW applying for posts in the local authority. There are currently 21 NQSW who are registered with SSSC as part of the supported year with others sue to join this group shortly whilst 4 NQSW who were employed by NLC prior to the supported year starting are receiving support through Early Professional Development Programme, training and development opportunities being shared and 1:1 support as required. An initial face-to-face inductions day for NQSWs has taken place with others to be scheduled as further staff join backed with a 12-session programme to runover the year and engagement with line managers. The CSWO and Head of Adult Social Work met with NQSWs as part of their initial induction programme, and it is planned that further ‘touch in’ contact will take place in future induction days and later in the programme. Other key training and development: A broad range of other core training and development activity has continued including with respect to Public Protection using online and blended models. For example, ASP Council Officer Training (Day2) and investigative Interview Training (Day3) were reviewed and redesigned to support remote delivery and were delivered to 30 staff during April and May 2021. The Getting it Right in Child Protection blended course has run throughout the pandemic ensuring that multi-agency staff are knowledgeable and confident within child protection practice. A range of service specific and partnership training has supported key areas of organisational, service and practice development described elsewhere in this report in a number of instances using a ‘train the trainer’ model which is supporting the expansion in the use of the Outcome Star as a tool from justice services across education and families and plans to embed Safe and Together within Children’s Services Team based learning is also common across the service. One example being locality support services who developed an on-line platform using Yammer to share good practise and develop a quality assurance space insuring services across the six localities were learning from one another and providing quality services. Six weekly ‘best practice’ meetings have been established locally to recognise and celebrate good stories, meeting one of the needs expressed by workers in one of our feedback exercises. Trauma Informed Practice A key priority across the social work service is the embedding of trauma informed approaches across both organisational systems and service delivery and to ensure an appropriately skilled workforce in line with the National Trauma Training Plan. Trauma Informed Practice is already embedded in areas of training and service delivery, for example, as integral to the Scottish Child Interview Model which forms the basis for the pan- lanarkshire Joint Investigative Interviewing Team. One of our childcare teams was involved in the national piloting of social work specific training and trauma informed systems and practice are also integral to our work on contextual safeguarding and the subject of a research partnership with the Innovate national research project as well as to the work of Page 170 of 253
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56 the services’ health and wellbeing group. Senior Social Work Managers are Trauma Champions for the Council and HSCP respectively along with our Principal Educational Psychologist, developing the local steering group and associated plan. Lived Experience As reflected elsewhere in this report the service has benefited significantly from the increased involvement of those with lived experience in training and development activity and from the opportunities created for targeted employment of those with lived experience. Further work is planned to ensure appropriate pathways are available both to this type of role and others within the service and to ensure appropriate support is available for staff with respect to these roles and future career development. a number of Reflective Learning: The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry/Historical Abuse Reflective learning remains central to continuous professional development and service quality within social work and social care whether through 1-1 supervision or sharing learning from case audits and reviews. One area of focus over the past year has been local learning from work undertaken with respect to the Scottish Abuse Inquiry which has also dovetailed with work around the Promise. Lead officers involved in supporting the inquiry have prepared presentations around key learning which have been delivered to the social work management team and to a range of children and families staff with further inputs planned to adult services and the child protection committee. This is also influencing service improvement in areas as diverse as the planned review of our foster care handbook and management of access to records requests. Support for Staff Wellbeing As reflected across this report demands on staff remain significant and whilst there has been huge resilience within the workforce the level of demand alongside a significant change agenda and the residual impacts of the pandemic are still impacting on the wellbeing of many staff. A range of specific supports have been made available but there is also increasingly within the service a clear need to focus on the support staff need within day-to-day practice and working arrangements to manage and thrive and this clearly links with work around a trauma informed organisation. 5.1 Looking Forward - Priorities for 2022/23 and beyond It is clear from the reflection on delivery of social work and social care contained in this report that the context is likely to remain both complex and challenging over the coming year as both the service and the communities we support continue to be impacted by the legacy of the pandemic and the increasingly significant cost of living crisis. There are clear indications in the demand on all areas of the social work service during 2021/22 of a significant increase in both the volume and complexity of need, which will not be simply transitional, but will carry forward into 2022/23 and beyond, and that challenges in other parts of the public sector, particularly with respect to acute health services, will also continue to impact hugely. Page 171 of 253
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57 In this context it is sometimes difficult to focus on the strong starting position within North Lanarkshire with respect to our balance of care and the embedding of integrated working across Health and Social Care, the Education and Families Service and the wider Council and Partnership. Whilst this position is likely to be tested by immediate demand pressures it is important that these do not draw focus from a whole system approach and the opportunities to further strengthen this, for example, through the embedding of the Empowering Cluster’s model within Education and Families and of the 3 Conversations Model in Adult Services. Equally, whilst income maximisation and tackling poverty actions have always been a feature of the delivery of social work and social care in North Lanarkshire, it will be more important than ever that these are both broader and fully integrated into day-to-day practice and service delivery given the challenges faced by those we support and the close association between poverty, health inequalities and statutory interventions across all social work care groups and the disproportionate experience of poverty also impacting on unpaid carers. Workforce pressures and issues in social work and social care will require serious and continued attention at both national and local level, both to reduce the risk to the delivery of key statutory responsibilities and the quality of care and support, and to ensure capacity for the continuous improvement and service redesign necessary to improve outcomes. Whilst digital developments will continue to be essential, and create opportunities for wider engagement, as reflected at the start of this report, the visibility of senior managers and opportunities for more informal engagement with staff have been compromised over the last two years and a range of visits and events are planned for early 22/23 which will also provide an important vehicle for staff to come together. A continued focus on working to build trauma informed systems and organisation as well as to strengthen practice in this area will also be fundamental to creating a healthy service which supports staff to deliver well for our communities In addition to the continued opportunities presented by digital and tech solutions within service redesign and improvement, it is anticipated that the conclusion of a tender for a new social work case management system will be completed early in 2022/23. Whilst the transition to this will be complex, take some time and require the support of a robust implementation plan, a new system will be a key support to staff as well as improving service user experience and the measurement of performance/impact. Equally important, for the home support service in particular, will be work to finally secure a strong dynamic scheduling system. External scrutiny, specifically with respect to public protection is likely to feature for the service in the coming year with some inspection programmes previously paused during the pandemic. An adult support and protection inspection is scheduled during the first part of the year and there is the possibility also of an inspection of services to children and young people at risk of harm in the relatively near future. Whilst welcome this will require to be factored into planning given the associated stretch on organisational resource requirements. Similarly, 2022/23 will be a year when significant work will be required around strategic needs assessment and other preparatory work to support the the renewal of key statutory plans due in 2023 including the HSCP’s Strategic Commissioning Plan and Page 172 of 253
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58 the Children’s Services and Community Justice Plan whilst the Council will also refresh its Programme of Work. Undoubtedly the financial context for service delivery, as for the wider public sector, will also remain challenging and its impact is exacerbated by the growth in demand across all social work care groups. Whilst, as reflected in the resources section of this report, there is considerable focus on financial planning, there remain specific challenges around the short- term nature of additional funding specifically in justice and children’s services and in realising a route to support the aspiration to move a higher proportion of resource upstream. We will however continue to engage in work on this. The context for the delivery of social work services will also clearly continue to be impacted by key national policy drivers including the Promise, the yet to be finalised incorporation of UNRC into Scots Law, the Vision and Strategic Priorities for Justice, and perhaps most significantly by the planning and legislative process for the proposed National Care Service alongside a raft of additional national policy drivers and planned changes in guidance and legislation. Additionally wider and emerging demands on social work services include the now mandatory National Transfer Scheme for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and, with the resettlement support needs arising from the tragic war in Ukraine. The overall the scale of change, some of it potentially significantly disruptive, alongside the demand and workforce pressures likely for social work will undoubtedly continue to challenge capacity and in moving forward there will be a need to maintain the benefits of local best practice and partnership working whilst progressing the system transformation required to address longstanding problems and to support better outcomes. Continued strong leadership will be required to avoid staff being overwhelmed and to balance immediate pressures with respect to core service delivery, and the associated risk to those we support, with the change and improvement capacity required for the scale of envisaged over the coming years. As noted in my report last year, and equally true a year on, ‘Social work has the potential to play a key role in shaping system transformation nationally and locally and in ensuring a focus on rights, inclusion and social justice however it is also important that the complexities inherent in the social work task are recognised and that context supports best practice’ Page 173 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref Date 28/02/23 Keeping the Promise: Care Experienced Children and Young People From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) E-mail GordonAl@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the key developments to deliver the Promise: Care Foundation to support care experienced children and young people. The council’s commitment to improving outcomes for our care experienced children and young people has been explicitly reflected in its endorsement of Keeping the Promise and is integral to the Plan for North Lanarkshire’s aspiration to support all children and young people to realise their full potential. Several reports to the previous Education and Families Committee, the most recent a report on developments presented in September 2022, have updated members on the range of work being progressed to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people experiencing, or who have experienced care in North Lanarkshire. This report updates further on number of key areas including on how our Children’s Champions Board and Promise Development Team are ensuring lived experience is central to the change process. The critical role of support offered within our Children’s Houses is highlighted as is planned activity to further enhance our Children’s Carer Service and the wide-ranging work of the virtual school in improving educational opportunities, attainment, and wider outcomes. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Note the content of this report and the challenges and ambition of The Promise and the Promise Plan 21- 24 within the context of North Lanarkshire (2) Endorse the actions highlighted as next steps in section 2 of the report The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe AGENDA ITEM 10 Page 175 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 The Council has a longstanding commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people who are experiencing care or who are care experienced. This is reflected in the current Children’s Services Plan (2021-23) and the programme of work supporting the Plan for North Lanarkshire. The Council is also a signatory to the Scottish Care Leaver’s Covenant with sets out a range of commitments to improving support for care leavers. Since 2018, an elected member has been appointed as a Care Experience Champion 1.2 Following the publication of the Promise in February 2020 which set out the findings of the Independent Care Review and a path for a 10-year transformation programme for the delivery of care and family support, full council also passed a motion in August 2020 confirming a commitment to Keeping the Promise to Scotland’s children, young people and their families. The Promise Plan 21-24, published on 31st March 2021 provides a national framework for the first phase of this transformation programme and a benchmark for local improvement activity. 1.3 Our Children’s Services Plan 2021-23 is currently being updated. It is anticipated that the format will continue to be built around the framework of the Promise and UNCRC. Whilst the delivery of the Promise in North Lanarkshire requires whole system change and a wider focus on holistic support for families, a commitment to support the best possible outcomes for the 668 children who currently experience care across a range of settings, including those supported at home, remains fundamental. 2. Report – Progress Update The Champions Board and Promise Partnership 2.1 The North Lanarkshire Champions Board provides a platform for senior leaders across services and partner organisations to engage with, listen to, and work alongside care experienced young people to develop policy and inform local service development. The Today not Tomorrow (TNT) Group is an established group of older care experienced young people who work with the Champions Board. The Promise Development Team provides support to TNT, assisting them to take forward developments and providing a link to the Council and its partners. In addition, two more activity-based groups for younger children and those aged 12-16 also support participation. A Development Worker in Who Cares Scotland supports the groups and work of the Champions Board. This post is financed by the council and its partners. An example of joint work by TNT and the Promise Development Team continue to support the implementation of Promise is the promotion of the online resource to support managers and practitioners on how to improve record keeping and make this more child-centred with a focus on the impact of language – attached as Appendix 1. 2.2 TNT have also produced a helpful quick guide to good corporate parenting, attached as Appendix 2, and in collaboration with the Promise Development Team, facilitated a development session with the NL Promise Partnership: Care Foundation, the corporate parenting task group of the Children’s Services Partnership. Actions, including the possibility of re-naming the group to better reflect the group’s purpose and its collaboration with children and young people, will now be taken forward. 2.3 Following the successful scoping and framing of the key qualities required of mental health support for care experienced young people and presenting this at a national event last year, some of the groups have been involved in the procurement process for Page 176 of 253
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a counselling service, with its focus and delivery shaped to meet the particular needs and preferences of care experienced young people. This has been a great example of co-production in North Lanarkshire using lived experience to ensure services are targeted effectively and are accessible. 2.4 The Champions Board also support a range of wider activity to engage care experienced children and young people throughout the years, most recently a successful Christmas ‘movie night’ in the Cumbernauld Theatre complex. A number of care experienced children and young people and corporate parents from across the partnership, including elected members, enjoyed a screening of film, Elf and gifts for the children and young people were distributed. 2.5 Celebrating Care Care week was held in October and all of the children’s houses along with TNT ensured this was a great celebration of the achievements of our care experienced population. Each children’s house took a foundation of The Promise as their theme and arranged events celebrating this aspect of care. Who Cares and TNT arranged a showcase event highlighting the talents of our young people. 2.6 Promoting the Promise In collaboration with TNT and the Promise Development Team, the council and its partners have organised a Promise Conference: Building a Promise Community, which will take place on the 03/02/23. The conference was agreed by the Council’s Policy and Strategy Committee in September 2022 as a vehicle to continue to build ownership of the Promise across North Lanarkshire and in line with this aspiration planning for the event has been taken forward by a partnership group and the Promise Team. The conference will provide the opportunity for partners to consider developments to date, to identify future priorities and to engage our communities and partners beyond children’s services in future actions to support delivery. 2.7 Next Steps • Recording practice steering group to take a stock take of achievements and progress to date and develop a revised action plan for 2023/24. • Delivery of the Promise Conference: Building a Promise Community is delivered, actions and legacy identified and incorporated in action planning for the implementation of the Promise. • Further development of the Corporate Parenting Task Group/NL Promise Partnership – Care to allow for a more collaborative approach. This will provide greater opportunity for hearing children and young people’s voices and allow them to shape service design. Page 177 of 253
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Children’s Houses 2.8 Outreach work continues to be maintained and further developed by those working in the houses to support young people moving to more independent living. The houses have facilitated a ‘return to care’ for a small but significant number of younger adults who needed support at a times of crisis and instability in their lives. To date this has been successful in helping to achieve stability and keeping them safe. The learning will inform how we provide this care for other care experienced young people who are living independently but who are experiencing trauma and crisis. This is in line with the aspirations of the Promise, children, and young people’s right to ‘Return to care’ if necessary but is not without challenge including the impact on the availability of space in the children house and how we manage children and young people 18+ living in a regulated care provision. 2.9 Over the past 12 months our Children’s Houses have also been critical to supporting the increase in the number of our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people who have been placed through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). The managers and practitioners have been responsive to the needs of the children and young people, who have experienced considerable trauma and disruption. 2.10 Over the past 12 months we have worked continuously with the Housing Service including local housing champions in each locality with further focus on identification of satellite accommodation as a vehicle to support young people who are ready to make their first steps to independent living whilst continuing to be support by their children’s house. 2.11 All of the houses have been inspected in the last 8 months; this was following on from there having been no inspections for the duration of the pandemic. The inspections were positive, and the care inspectorate highlighted the strength of staff relationships with young people and commented on the excellent support offered to our unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. 2.12 In October during care week the First Minister visited Buchanan Street Children’s house and spent time talking to staff and young people. A display of work by care experienced young people across the authority was showcased, with the First Minister expressing her admiration for the work of the young people 2.13 Next Steps • Continued development of best practice in supporting unaccompanied asylum- seeking children and young people, to assist them to reach their potential as young citizens in our communities. • Prioritisation of practice development to promote lifelong relationships, including increasing the capacity for and the consistency of ‘outreach’ work when young people move on including support to parents and children when children return to their families. This will also include the further development of satellite accommodation linked to our houses as well as further supporting the ‘right to return’ wherever possible. Page 178 of 253
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Review and Development of Corporate Parenting Services 2.14 The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 defines corporate parenting as "the formal and local partnerships between all services responsible for working together to meet the needs of looked after children, young people and care leavers". 2.15 The 2014 Act introduced new duties and responsibilities for Scottish public bodies defined as corporate parents, effective from April 2015. Statutory guidance on Part 9 (Corporate Parenting) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 was published to provide corporate parents with information and advice. 2.16 Corporate parenting includes children and young people in residential, foster, kinship, continuing, and supported care and those experiencing care at home because they are subject to a compulsory supervision order, as well as the provision of pre and post adoption support. We reported to Committee in September on developing a proposal to review our children’s carers team. We have since extended the proposal to include all aspects of corporate parenting, building on the work already undertaken including residential provision. The anticipated timescale is completion of the review by July 2023. 2.17 Next Steps • Agree representation for the oversight group, identify relevant task groups and focus groups, including engagement across the partnership and with children, young people and families. • Proposed actions arising from the review will be considered and agreed through service management structures and an update provided as necessary to future Education and Families Committee. Virtual School 2.18 The virtual school continues to be key to delivering the Promise Plan 21-24 in offering support to care experienced children to improve educational outcomes including reducing exclusions and a challenge and scrutiny role as well as providing direct support to children, young people and their carers. The increase in staffing and resource, reported to the Committee in September 2022, has strengthened the capacity in particular to offer early support to younger children. 2.19 Two staff members of the Virtual School team have now gained the Forest School Leader qualification which has allowed the further development and extended delivery of this programme, utilising several local green spaces and wider resources. 2.20 A summer project involving a small number of young people resulted in the creation of a welcoming outdoor seating space for families to meet, and the creation of a tranquil forest space with a sensory area for use by young people, families or staff at Virtual School base at The Carers Centre. 2.21 During the current 2022-23 session, the Virtual School has continued to explore new opportunities to support learners. New groups offered over the first term have included a sports-based Health and Wellbeing group for girls of high school age in partnership Page 179 of 253
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with Active NL and the delivery of the Fire Reach programme in partnership with Fire Service. The Letterbox Club, a reading improvement programme for disengaged or reluctant readers in partnership with BookTrust, is currently being piloted within one cluster. Groups include learners from primary and secondary stages with positive feedback from young people involved, their schools and families. 2.22 Support for young people and their families over Christmas saw the delivery of 94 selection boxes, 49 personalised gifts for young people working with Virtual School and 20 families received a “family fun giftbag” which included a selection of items for use over the festive period to encourage families to spend quality time together. 2.23 One further cluster is currently engaged in the ongoing implementation of the Keeping the Promise award, as part of their Cluster Improvement Plan. 2.24 The Virtual School Lead and Officers have recently visited each high school to meet with Designated Managers and Cluster Innovation and Improvement Leads (CIIL). The focus of the meetings was to provide an update on the service, further enhance partnership working and to discuss expectations around planning for care experienced learners. CIILs will support these discussions with primary designated managers in the coming term. Visits to Social Work localities are also in progress to support and develop staff understanding of the role of the Virtual School, supports available and how this is accessed within the GIRFEC framework. 2.25 Next Steps • Continue to build on visits with relevant partners to provide service update and strengthen joint planning and support for care experienced learners. • Expand the delivery and wider reach of Keeping the Promise Award. • Continue to build capacity within the Virtual School team and with partners, to explore and expand new opportunities for supporting care experienced learners • Continue to monitor outcomes and to support and challenge schools on engagement, attendance and attainment. The Promise Development Team 2.26 The Promise Development team was established in 2021 with 3 FTE development workers and an Assistant Support Worker was subsequently created, the latter funded by NHSL, All the team members are care experienced young people, a model which has since been replicated in other areas. 2.27 The team have focussed on several areas since their inception contributing to culture, system and practice improvement around family time, brothers and sisters, health and wellbeing, record keeping and language. 2.28 The team have spent time with other local authorities including South Lanarkshire, Glasgow and East Renfrewshire sharing ideas, experience, and work plans and they continue to engage with national groups to support the implementation of the Promise. 2.29 Recently it was agreed to create an additional 0.5 support worker and the young person will join the team soon. Office space within the Dalziel Building has been secured and Page 180 of 253
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the team are looking forward to having a base where they can meet as a team and plan and co-ordinate the work plan for the coming year. 2.30 Next Steps • A team development day to revise our priorities for 2023/24 and to produce a current continuous improvement plan. National Transfer Scheme 2.31 Since the introduction of the National Transfer Scheme in October 2021, North Lanarkshire have supported 19 newly arrived young people all of whom arrived under the age of 18, ten of these young people arriving in the last 6 months. We have continued where possible to ensure young people’s first destination is our children’s houses, to ensure wrap around support and robust assessments can take place prior to moving on to another arrangement suitable to the young person, such as independent living or supported care. There are currently 8 young people residing in children’s houses while 1 is in foster care; 3 of these young people are under the age of 16. For those over 16, they are being supported with future planning towards their next steps. 2.32 It is anticipated that the numbers of young people requiring accommodation and support will continue at least at the same pace. To support the increasing demand, there will be a focus on targeting recruitment of supported carers, as well as upskilling of current carers. Work remains ongoing in respect of other options for supported accommodation to ensure an appropriate and sustainable model can be achieved in the longer term. Our Housing Services are supporting this initiative and are working in collaboration with the Resettlement Team to increase options available for those young people who are ready to move on. 2.33 Next Steps • Recruitment drive for supported carers. • Further develop resource for supported accommodation. Lifelong Links 2.34 Lifelong Links is a project, currently supported by funding from the national promise partnership fund administered by Cora. Temporary funding is supporting two staff based alongside our aftercare hub and family group decision-making teams within intensive services, work with young people in the transition into adulthood and who are preparing to leave care or are care leavers. The broad aim of this work is to support connection and reconnection with those important to them to identify and strengthen support networks. Some young people have a clear objective regarding who and what they want to achieve through Lifelong Links, for some this requires to be established through the work undertaken. 2.35 The progress of Lifelong Links for each young person is at different stages. It is apparent from the initial engagement with the 11 young people that Lifelong Links is a hugely emotional and challenging experience. There is a clear need for this work to Page 181 of 253
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progress at the young person’s pace with appropriate support to ensure their wellbeing throughout. In all cases the early preparation and initial research has been undertaken to clarify the background information held in formal records. All young people are in the process or have completed ‘mobility mapping’ to establish their understanding of their life story, the people and places they recall. 2.36 Staff are required to support young people with gaps in their life narrative to progress lifelong links. Following this, a number of young people have identified and prioritised the people they wish support to establish or re-establish a relationship with. Staff are preparing and supporting the young people for this, including the potential of a negative response, whilst making connections with the identified individuals. To date, in work with young people this has included an ex foster carer, placement staff, a support worker and family members however for all this is taken forward at both the young person’s pace and carefully and individually planned. 2.37 To support staff, undertake Lifelong Links access to Ancestry, Trace Genie, Geno Pro and specific social media was required to facilitate this work. The staff have access to these applications and the support to utilise these as required. The aims and objectives of lifelong links has been promoted across social work localities, through the carers team, children’s houses and aftercare hub to seek referrals from young people who would benefit from this service. 2.38 Next Steps • It is planned to continue to develop the service and to explore future funding options to extend this beyond the current 12-month period given the early positive feedback but the need, given the nature of the work, for a longer period on which to evaluate its value. 3. Measures of success 3.1 A range of measures relation to specific strands of work described above have been detailed in previous reports to committee and are also reflected in the current Corporate Parenting Strategy and the strategies Improvement Plan the NL Promise Delivery Plan 21-24. These are aligned to the NL Children’s Services Plan, 21-23. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - The Promise Plan 21-24 https://thepromise.scot/plan-21-24/ 4.2 Appendix 2 – TNT Top Tips for Corporate Parents presentation. Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice Page 182 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The commitment to the Champions Board for the ongoing support to TNT is being delivered though reconfiguration of existing service budgets and contributions from partners. Virtual school funding is primarily though the Care Experience Children and Young People element of SAC funding but as noted above has been supplemented for 2022-23 from recovery funds. Tariff funding is received from the Home Office for each UASC transferred under NTS to North Lanarkshire. Funding for the lifelong links project is currently via 12 month external funding from Cora/Promise Partnership – further options to sustain this service within existing resource or through alternative partnership resource are being explored. . 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The developments described within this report support the Council to fulfil its corporate parenting duties as set out in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Promise, published in 2020 and Promise Plan (21-24) remain the main national drivers for the activity outlined in this report. Specific legislative changes have been made through the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 strengthening duties Page 183 of 253
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with respect to brothers and sisters and it is anticipated further changes including to the Children’s Hearing system will follow. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed. Mirroring the national picture and work undertaken by the Independent Care Review there are significant human costs as well as financial costs on services locally should work to improve outcomes and support for care experienced young people to succeed and participate fully in community life fail. In the medium term however, there is uncertainty about any additional investment available to support and sustain some of the change required to deliver the Promise in North Lanarkshire. The continued support for our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children although funded through the Home Office as previously reported to Committee is also impacting on capacity in our children’s houses which can impact on ability to meet other demands Page 184 of 253
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5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 185 of 253
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Appendix 1 In August 2021, a working group was set up to explore how we could meet the commitment of The Promise to improve the language that we use. Together, with the help of people with lived experience of care of all ages from “Crafty Foxes” “Mad Middles” and “TNT-Today Not Tomorrow” we have prepared a language guide. This guide includes language that needs to be eradicated, and suggestions of alternative more appropriate language. In completing this work, we were guided by participation principles. These principles are: • Adopt a rights-based approach • Create and support opportunities for engagement, participation, and involvement. • Ensure views and opinions are valued and respected • Enable staff to support engagement, participation, and involvement. We are pleased to note that these principles were fully utilised in creating this language guide. Here is a sample of the language that needs to change. This is not a one size fits all approach and language must be tailored to the needs of the people we serve. “Scotland must understand that ‘language creates realities.’ Those with care experience must hold and own the narrative of their stories and lives; simple, caring language must be used in the writing of care files.” (The Promise, Page 69) Page 186 of 253
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Word and phrases we do not like: Alternative Suggestions Residents Young People Education School or College Contact Family time Unit House Abscond/Missing Ran Away Siblings Brothers and Sisters Placement Home Sanctions Consequences LAC/LAAC Young People, Care Experienced Young People, use their name! Challenging behaviour In distress, reacting to a situation, unmet need, upset Defiant Strong willed Confident in their choices/opinions Aggressive Reactive (reacting to a situation) Attention seeker Looking for help/support Unmet need Vulnerable Cherished It’s their fault they are in care Through no fault of their own Manipulative Assertive, intelligent Putting themselves in danger Seeking reassurance elsewhere Non engaging Not ready – look at organisation & family approach here Non-compliant Social work wean No alternative – just don’t use it! Placing themselves at risk Seeking reassurance elsewhere Promiscuous Seeking reassurance/comfort elsewhere Page 187 of 253
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Making choices (drug/alcohol related) Poor coping mechanisms, seeking something, survival mode Hard to reach Not approached enough Difficult Struggling to cope This list is not exhaustive – if you have any other ideas, please email Promise@northlan.gov.uk Page 188 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG Date 28/02/23 P080.1 Keeping the Promise: Support for Families, Children and Young People. Review of Youth Justice Services From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice) E-mail GordonA@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary A recent report by the former director of the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice found children in conflict with the law in Scotland experience stigmatisation, trauma and poor outcomes (Lightowler, 2020). A new approach to youth justice in Scotland is required, which proceeds from a rights-respecting approach, supports all children under the age of 18 to participate in decisions about them, directs positive support to families, and offers that support through safe and caring relationships. In this context a youth justice steering group was established in 2021 to review the approach to supporting young people in conflict with the law in North Lanarkshire and ensure services meet the outcomes and priorities outlined in Justice for children and young people – a rights respecting approach (Scottish Government, 2021). A further aim is to deliver the specific call to action in The Promise Plan 21-24 to end the disproportionate criminalisation of care experienced young people. This report summarises the principal findings from this review and the plans to take forward a rights’ respecting approach. In particular, it outlines the plans to integrate Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) with our approach to Getting It Right for Every Child and Empowering Clusters and for a partnership with the Scottish Children’s Reporter’s Administration to improve the experiences and outcomes of children referred to children’s hearings on offence grounds with a view to diverting as many children as possible from the courts to the hearing system. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: 1. endorse the piloting of Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) through the GIRFEC pathway as part of the Empowering Clusters approach; 2. agree not to retender or recommission an externally provided EEI service, in line with the options appraisal, subject to completion of due diligence and production of a business plan to include consideration of, financial, legal and HR implications; and 3. agree to develop an in-house youth work response to EEI aligned with the support and services being developed through the Empowering Clusters approach. AGENDA ITEM 11 Page 195 of 253
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1. Background National Context 1.1 The primary role of youth justice in Scotland is to improve the life chances of children and young people, and to work with children, their families, and communities to prevent harmful acts. The recognition that children in conflict with the law are also children in need has been a key tenet of the Children’s Hearing system since its inception. At a national level a welfare approach to young people in conflict with law has been driven by Preventing Offending: Getting It Right for Every Child, which placed an emphasis on advancing the Whole Systems Approach to supporting young people. In June 2021, Scottish Government published a revised framework, Justice for children and young people – a rights respecting approach – vision and priorities, in recognition that a greater emphasis on upholding the rights of children and young people in conflict with the law is required in order that children participate in decisions about them, and that support is rooted in safe and caring relationships. The priorities emphasise the need to continue to advance a whole system approach, improve collation of data, and a need to address mental health issues, and the speech and language needs of children in conflict with the law. 1.2 The Promise’s key findings and calls to action for youth justice are centred on avoiding and stopping the criminalisation of care experienced children. The Promise Plan 21-24 makes the following demands on government and partners: • The disproportionate criminalisation of care experienced children and young people will end. • 16- and 17-year-olds will no longer be placed in Young Offenders Institutes for sentence or on remand. There will be sufficient community-based alternatives so that detention is a last resort. • Children who do need to have their liberty restricted will be cared for in small, secure, safe, trauma-informed environments that uphold their rights. 1.3 In addition, new Scottish Sentencing Guidelines came into force on 26 January 2022 which require courts to have regard to rehabilitation as a primary consideration. The guidelines take cognisance of research on brain development that has found that young people are not cognitively or emotionally mature until approximately age 25. 1.4 In December 2022, the Scottish Government published a Children (Care and Justice) Bill. The Bill proposes a number of measures to improve experiences and promote and advance outcomes for children in contact with care and justice services. In particular it will enable all children under the age of 18 to be referred to the Principal Reporter, removing existing restrictions on eligibility for 16 and 17 year olds. This will enable the removal of nearly all children from the court system and end the placing of children in young offenders institutions. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (10) Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential Page 196 of 253
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Local Context 1.5 Our approach and supports for young people in conflict with the law was last reviewed more than five years ago. As a result of a reduction in youth offending and a shift in national policy away from disrupting anti-social behaviour to a much more explicit welfare response, youth justice work was moved from dedicated workers to social workers in localities and in intensive services. A specific service to support young people reintegrate to the community from custody, Youth Bridges, was also established funded by the Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP). 1.6 Since this time the Plan for North Lanarkshire has set a clear strategic direction to ensure support to children and families is available at an early stage for them to fulfil their potential. In support of this ambition, the integration of children’s social work with education and wider services such as CLD and employability has created new opportunities to deliver an integrated approach to deliver a whole system approach to young people in conflict with the law. 1.7 In the context of this and the national developments outlined above, a review of the approach to youth justice was established in 2021 to evaluate how effectively the service was supporting young people in conflict with the law. 2. Report 2.1 The review was multiagency and started from a focus on practice as well as the experiences and outcomes for young people rather than organisational arrangements. The review was informed by a file audit, feedback gathered from children, young people and their families, staff focus groups conducted by the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and a staff questionnaire. The evaluation work was undertaken with reference to the standards set out within the new Youth Justice Standards (Scottish Government, 2021). A further aim of the review was to establish a clear baseline of data to support planning and the measurement of impact of quality improvement initiatives. Service developments have been made as the review has progressed. Rights and Participation 2.2 Staff reported having a good awareness of the rights of children. Current research being undertaken by the Universities of Sussex and Durham on trauma-informed practice within the service has observed social work staff ensuring the rights of young people are proactively promoted in meetings and interventions. However, the review has highlighted that practice is inconsistent for young people in conflict with the law. While young people and their parents were invited to meetings, the majority of young people in conflict with the law did not feel fully informed about the process and most did not have advocacy. 2.3 As part of the review a number of themes have come from feedback from young people: • Young people in conflict with the law had a fear of the police which often triggered their behaviour: “I’m not being bad, I’m hurting and I don’t know how to tell them that”. Some young people also did not understand the role of ‘campus cops’ and did not see them as a support. Page 197 of 253
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• Young people were very positive about the impact and support of CLD. They spoke about how CLD staff made them feel safe, important, cared for and provided spaces and opportunities they might not otherwise receive. • Some young people spoke of nights they had spent in police custody and how it could be an unknown professional who comes to collect them. • Young people were unsure about what formal processes they were involved in, particularly what Early and Effective Intervention is. • Court processes were difficult for young people to understand and they did not always feel there was someone supporting them. Actions and next steps 2.4 A group of young people to participate in the design of youth justice services has been formed and is facilitated by the Promise Development workers. As a result of their input to date, a number of initiatives are planned, or are underway, including: • work with Police Scotland, through Contextual Safeguarding, to take a trauma- informed approach in response to young people when they come to the attention of the police. • action to ensure young people are accessing advocacy from Who Care’s? Scotland • a new partnership with the NHSL speech and language team to promote the ability of individual young people exercise their rights in children’s hearings (or court) to express their views more effectively through assessment of communication needs (see 2.20). • Young people’s views being made central to planning through the alignment of Early and Effective Intervention with planning for children’s wellbeing in schools and Empowering Clusters as set out in 2.10-2.12. Prevention and Early and Effective Intervention 2.5 Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) is a national initiative and was developed as a mechanism to support children who come to the attention of the police for offending behaviour at an early stage. Its oversight sits within Children's Services Planning as specified in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. It is a voluntary process where concerns regarding a child's wellbeing have arisen in response to their alleged involvement in an incident which has brought them into conflict with the law. 2.6 In North Lanarkshire, EEI has been managed by a coordinator based in Police Scotland (funded by the council) and a dedicated social worker. When the police refer a child into the EEI process, the child’s needs are considered by a multiagency group comprising police, social work, education and housing but none of the group members know, or have a relationship, with the child under discussion. The group sits apart from the GIRFEC pathway. Therefore, related issues facing children such as attendance and family difficulties are not connected to alleged offending and considered as part of a holistic plan. In 20/21, 186 children were discussed and the group made the following decisions as detailed in the chart below: Page 198 of 253
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• ‘Current measures’ refers to children who already have an allocated social worker and are referred back to the social worker for ongoing work 2.7 In terms of current measures an analysis of social work files indicates that an EEI referral did not consistently trigger anything significantly different in the plan to reduce the risk of criminalisation. 2.8 Within the current process young people have limited voice in the decision making, or on what might help them, and their views are only sought through contact between the EEI coordinator and their social worker, if they have one. 2.9 Also of note is the fact that almost as many children in conflict with the law are referred to SCRA as to EEI. In the period 21/22 169 children and young people were referred to SCRA on offence grounds. In total 36% of referrals to SCRA in 21/22 were on offence grounds compared to a national average of 20%. This suggests the need to better use EEI to prevent escalation to the Reporter and reduce the potential for criminalisation. Proposals for change and next steps 2.10 In order to provide more robust and relationship-based support to children who become involved in alleged offending behaviour, the service is integrating the EEI process with the GIRFEC pathway. In practice this means that when a child is referred by Police Scotland into the EEI process, it will be directed to the named person and/or lead professional for the requirement to consider a wellbeing meeting as with all other wellbeing concerns. This will ensure that the views of the child and Page 199 of 253
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their parents/carers are part of the process and that the child’s needs as a whole are considered. This is crucial given research is clear that focusing on behaviour is usually ineffective by itself (Case and Haines, 2015) and that it is more important for the adults who know the child to take responsibility for supporting the child or young person. Using the GIRFEC pathway will support a more strengths-based approach that leverages and builds on existing strengths within the child, and the systems surrounding them, to shift away from a deficit-based/offence focused model. A draft outline of the process is attached at Appendix 1. The approach will be piloted in seven clusters across the authority. 2.11 Outcomes for the child will be tracked through the child’s plan and the implementation of the Outcome Star and through tracking any involvement in alleged reoffending. 2.12 Research finds that when children come into conflict with the law the responses most likely to prevent any further offending will focus on children’s strengths and capacities as a means of facilitating desistance, restoration and inclusion (Case and Haines, 2015). Such supports are already available to children within schools and through Empowering Clusters to achieve this. A minority of children require some more specific support around their behaviour and this is currently provided by a service commissioned from YMCA Bellshill and Mossend. An options appraisal has been undertaken to inform a recommendation about next steps in providing this service, including whether this contract should be continued (see appendix 2 for a more detailed explanation of this process). The recommendation of this appraisal is to bring the service in-house and take a youth work approach that is fully aligned and integrated with local supports and services at universal and additional levels through the Empowering Cluster approach. The process of bringing the EEI support service in-house would follow the council’s project management approach, including a full business plan and register identifying and mitigating any risks. Statutory Intervention: Children’s Hearings and Court 2.13 North Lanarkshire has a higher than average rate of referrals to the Scottish Children’s Reporter’s Administration on offence grounds when compared to other local authority areas in Scotland. In the year 2021/22, 477 referrals for 182 children were submitted to the Reporter on offence grounds. However, SCRA take a welfare approach to decision making in respect of these referrals to avoid, where possible, the criminalisation of children. Consequently, despite this high number of referrals only 7 new referrals were made to children’s hearings on offence grounds and a further 62 referrals dealt with under measures already in place for children on a compulsory supervision order. 2.14 While nearly all assessments within the file audit were assessed as good or better, not all children and young people had a robust multi-agency plan. Overall, the review found that plans were mainly focused on the offence and social work intervention, rather than reflecting a more holistic, or family support, based approach. 2.15 The Procurator Fiscal and Courts have a number of options available for young people aged 16-18 who are in conflict with the law. The Procurator Fiscal is able to divert young people from prosecution and refer them to social work for support. The number of young people diverted from prosecution has been increasing over the past 4 years and the file audit found that in these circumstances the support subsequently provided was good, with nearly all the young people subject to diversion completing the intervention successfully without re-offending. Page 200 of 253
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2.16 When young people under the age of 18 are convicted in court, three principal community based disposals are available: a Community Payback Order (CPO), Structured Deferred Sentence (SDS), or remittal to a Children’s Hearing for disposal (providing the young person is not over 17½ years). In the file audit nearly all the court reports where young people were made subject to a CPO were found to be good with most young people successfully completing their order. 2.17 The aim of the SDS Court order is to prevent further offending through intensive support underpinned by a holistic plan of intervention, and regular court reviews with a consistent Sheriff who gets to know the young person. The key ethos behind the implementation of SDS is a strong focus on the young person’s needs, rather than focusing solely on their offence. The outcomes for young people subject to a Structured Deferred Sentence are very good, with the high level of contact with social work and a consistent Sheriff key factors. However, prior to the review SDS was only operating in Hamilton Sheriff Court resulting in a relatively low number of young people benefitting from this disposal. Following engagement with the Sheriff Principal, as part of the review, an SDS court has been established at Airdrie Sheriff Court and has been in operation since July 2022. 2.18 The Sheriff is also able to remit young people aged 16 to17½ to a Children’s Hearing for disposal. However, in 2021/22 only four young people were remitted to a Hearing. While this reflects low numbers nationally, it may indicate a need for clearer recommendations in social work reports to assist Sheriffs in their decision making. 2.19 Locally the number of young people either remanded or sentenced to custody has been decreasing in line with national trends and sentencing guidance. Nevertheless, there were 21 new admissions to Polmont YOI of young people aged 16 to 21 years from North Lanarkshire in 2021/22. Since April 2022, 8 more young people have been admitted to custody, all on remand, 2 of whom are under 18. Recent research has highlighted that detention in Scotland is not being used as a last resort or for the shortest time possible, with many children reporting being subject to prolonged periods on remand with no option for community-based alternatives (McEwan et al., 2020). To support this group of young people, support staff from Youth Bridges (part of our intensive service) meet with all young people within 3 days of receiving custody and work with prison, health and other staff to support the young people and arrange family contact. Youth Bridges workers prioritise building relationships with young people so they have a trusted worker to support them through the transition back to the community. With the support of Youth Bridges, nearly 90% of the young people who returned to the community were not involved in further offending and 69% reported a reduction in alcohol and drug use. Proposals for change and next steps 2.20 While improving the support to young people appearing in court will continue, the overall aim of the review is to continue to reduce the numbers of young people in conflict with the law being dealt with by the court system. To meet the requirements of The Promise Plan and increase community-based alternatives to secure and remand, ending the use of YOIs for 16 and 17 year olds, a pilot has started, in partnership with SCRA and South Lanarkshire Council, to make better use of the Hearing System to support young people in the community. The pilot has engaged with the Procurator Fiscal service and the Sheriff Principal to promote young people being maintained in, or remitted to, the hearing system. 2.21 The aim of the pilot is to divert more young people into the Hearing system and to provide a tailored approach to those young people in conflict with the law at an earlier Page 201 of 253
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stage, reducing the likelihood of interaction with the adult criminal justice system by altering the young person’s offending trajectory at an earlier opportunity. An innovative part of the programme is to draw on the success of Structured Deferred Sentencing in the court system by piloting a similar approach in hearings with the aim of young people spending less time on a Compulsory Supervision Order with a comprehensive care plan underpinned by intensive service provision, the measures in the Compulsory Supervision Order and using, where possible, panel member continuity, to meet need holistically. The pilot comprises a dedicated Reporter and senior social worker to oversee the work. Specific social workers in locality teams are being trained in the approach which includes a focus on trauma-informed practice and addressing communication and mental health needs. 2.22 The review group is also taking forward a number of actions to ensure that holistic plans for young people in conflict with the law are in place as part of the pilot and more generally. The service has secured additional support work staff (funded via the ADP) to provide holistic support including at evenings and weekends within intensive services. Funding has also been secured for a post to specifically support young people secure and sustain employment or training, which is being implemented in partnership with Employability Support & Skills Development. To address unmet speech, language and communication needs, as part of the pilot, we have reallocated resources in partnership with NHS Lanarkshire to ensure that all young people referred to a Hearing on offence grounds, will have a speech and language assessment and that tailored support will be given to support young people communicate their views in the Hearing to ensure their rights are upheld. In addition, we are working with NHS Lanarkshire to create a specific ‘youth justice pathway’ for young people to access health care and advice from school nurses. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Children and young people in conflict have their rights respected and are able to express their views in meetings and hearings. 3.2 Outcomes for children and young people improve holistically – measured via the Outcome Star. 3.3 Reduction in numbers of children and young people re-referred into EEI processes. 3.4 Continued reduction in number of 16 and 17 year olds placed remanded or convicted to secure care or YOI with an aim of reducing this to zero by 2024. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Policy for use of Family Engagement Support Assistant – December 2022. 4.2 Appendix 2 Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) – Youth Justice, Education and Families. 4.3 Appendix 3 Justice for Children and Young People: A Rights Respecting Approach – Vision and Priorities. Page 202 of 253
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Justice for children and young people - a rights-respecting approach: vision and priorities - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice) Page 203 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? No adverse impacts are anticipated. Whilst a change in EEI service provider may affect continuity of service, effective contract management will ensure that there is a smooth transition and a seamless handover. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Additional support worker posts are funded through the Alcohol and Drug Partnership and Employability Support & Skills Development. These monies are temporary as part of the piloting of the new approaches outlined in the Report. The current contract with YMCA Bellshill and Mossend costs £106,387. It is estimated that costs could be brought down to between £80-90K if brought in house. There may be some termination costs. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Bringing the commissioned EEI service in-house may give rise to a relevant transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). If so, all statutory and good practice requirements in terms of TUPE will be adhered to. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 204 of 253
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In the event of the commissioned EEI service currently being provided by the YMCA Bellshill and Mosshead being retendered or brought-in house (as recommended), the application or otherwise of TUPE will be fully considered or addressed. The current contract does not provide the council with a right to terminate the contract at its own discretion so there is a risk that YMCA may object to this. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? A DPIA is being undertaken to assess the impacts of bringing the commissioned EEI service in-house means from a data protection compliance perspective and if there is anything we require to do in order to facilitate this change. Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? An aim of the review of youth justice is to reduce the current risks that young people’s rights are not upheld and their needs are not met when in contact with the law. As well as risk to good outcomes for young people, there are compliance and Page 205 of 253
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reputational risks for the council if it does not ensure compliance with the new national standards for youth justice. There may be a reputational risk to the council in bringing the commissioned EEI service in-house and not going out to tender or continuing the current arrangement, however, this decision has been supported by the council’s option appraisal process (see Appendix 2). A project management approach is being taken to the proposal to bring the commissioned EEI service in house and a risk register has been established detailing the risks and appropriate mitigations. The youth justice steering group will continue post review to monitor the implementation of improvement work and manage risks. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 206 of 253
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Appendix 1 Early and Effective Intervention: Guidance December 2022 Key content: 1. Introduction and Background 2. Early and Effective Intervention 3. The Process 4. Central Point of Contact 5. Routes to Help 6. Staged Intervention and EEI 7. The EEI Process 8. Monitoring Page 207 of 253
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1. Introduction and Background This paper is intended to set out the process for early and effective intervention (EEI) coming from police Scotland to education families, and how these will be dealt with through the GIRFEC pathway. The paper will set out briefly the aim of EEI and will go on to describe the process with a chart illustrating how this will operate. 2. Early and Effective Intervention The EEI process is based on research messages about effective intervention with children who get into conflict with the law. The evidence shows that the majority of young people who come into conflict with the law will not come into conflict with the law again, provided the conflict is recognised by a figure that is significant in their lives, as soon as possible after the event. Based on this evidence the early and effective intervention process was set up by Scottish Government to operate between police Scotland and local authorities with the following aims: • To as much as possible remove young people from the children’s reporter’s system where the grounds for involvement are based solely on offences • To give early help to those children and young people who require it, particularly where they get into conflict with the law and have previous issues with school attendance or care and protection in their family. • To look at young people who come into conflict with the law as young people with well- being needs. 3. The Process The following process is intended to set out a streamlined process for recognising where young people come into conflict with the law and providing early help to those who need it. It sits firmly within North Lanarkshire's empowering cluster approach and users EEI as a route to the GIRFEC pathway for those who need early help. 4. Central Point of Contact All EEI referrals start with Police Scotland and be forwarded on to the youth justice team. This team will record all referrals and pass them to the CIILs in the clusters to raise with the Named Person in the school. The youth justice team will monitor the process and collect information as to whether decisions are being made within the 20 working days required by national standards. 5. Routes to Help Essentially the process gives three routes to help: 1. No help is needed, and the process ends (often the best outcome for most) 2. He Named Person in the school will call a wellbeing meeting and planning will proceed from there 3. The young person is already being worked with by Social Work and the worker will call a wellbeing meeting to consider any amendment of the plan. 6. Staged intervention and EEI The model of cluster working allows for the needs of children to be met through a joined-up approach to children’s services. The EEI approach will sit within the planning for Children’s Page 208 of 253
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Wellbeing approach in the clusters. The service sits at the universal and additional levels in the staged intervention model. For those children and young people that are seen as requiring to be diverted out over the system the EEI process will operate at to the universal level. Young people will continue to have supports as needed through their school. For those children and young people that require additional services the GIRFEC pathway will be used. The model is depicted in the following chart. 7. The EEI Process Referral received by a single point of contact within Social Work Services from Police Referral sent to allocated social worker and also CIIL Is Young Person Working with Social Work? Referral is sent to the CILL Yes No Page 209 of 253
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8. Monitoring National standards are in place for EEI processes to be measured against. These apply to the process of involving young people and families and the timescales that referrals take to reach conclusion. Monitoring will be carried out from the central point within social work services. Each referral will be followed up with the CIIL or allocated Social Worker to gather data on process followed and time taken to exit the EEI process. SW arranges Wellbeing Meeting to review child’s plan End of EEI process CILL Laisses with Named Person Professional Dialogue Is wellbeing planning required ? (5 GIRFEC Questions) No needs requiring intensive or additional planning - EEI referral is discussed with child and family and then ended. If the YP has needs that require Wellbeing planning a meeting is convened Move to planning through GIRFEC process, Assess, Plan, Review. Page 210 of 253
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APPENDIX 2 Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) – Youth Justice, Education and Families Senior Responsible Officer Alison Gordon Project Manager Andrew Gillies Contact details GilliesA@northlan.gov.uk 1. Background 1.1 EEI has been a feature of Scotland’s approach to young people in conflict with the law since 2015. It is a multiagency process for deploying support in a timely and proportionate way to children who come to the attention of the police for offending behaviour. It is a voluntary process where concerns regarding a child's wellbeing have arisen in response to their alleged involvement in an incident which has brought them into conflict with the law. 1.2 In June of this year the Scottish Government published revised Core Elements for EEI, emphasising alignment of EEI with the principles of GIRFEC and ensuring that the rights of children are central to the process. 2. Objectives 2.1 To ensure the EEI service meets the revised Core Elements 2.2 Achieve best value and better outcomes for children. 2.3 Ensure the EEI service aligns with the key priorities and process of GIRFEC and the Empowering Clusters approach 3. Strategic alignment 4. Options 1. Recommission Bellshill and Mossend YMCA to create an outcome-based and sustainable service contract 2. Invite tenders for the service 3. Bring the service in-house and deliver a youth work response via CLD. Support to be provided by CLD staff to mentor and involve young people. 4. Cease a specific EEI service and support children and young people through other services and interventions that are not specific to conflict with the law. 5. Options Appraisal plan The plan to review the options included the following activities: Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (9) Invest in early interventions, positive transitions, and preventative approaches to improve outcomes for children and young people Page 211 of 253
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1. Reviewed current service provision (see section 9 below) 2. Secured legal and HR advice 3. Engaged with YMCA Bellshill and Mossend 4. Engaged with CLD regarding potential 5. Completed a SWOT analysis and the scoring of options 6. Options Appraisal governance arrangements The options appraisal has been undertaken by members of the youth justice steering group. This group reports to SMT (Education and Families) as the final decision making body. The options appraisal was undertaken using the council’s revised optoins appraisal framework. 7. Roles Individuals who will contribute to the Options Appraisal exercise. Role Name Senior Responsible Officer Alison Gordon Project Manager Andrew Gillies Facilitator (if different from Project Manager) Appraisal team members Sharon Coats – Education and Families Manager Marion Doran – Education and Families Manager Iain Macauley – Health and Wellbing Lead Xanthe Lennon – Senior Social Worker Other stakeholders 8. Impacts checklist 1. Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the Options Appraisal contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. No adverse impacts are anticipated. Whilst a change in EEI service provider may affect continuity of service, effective contract management will ensure that there is a smooth transition and a seamless handover If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☒ 2. Financial impact Does the Options Appraisal have a financial impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. Page 212 of 253
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The current cost of the contract is £106,387. It is estimated that costs could be brought down to between £80-90K if brought in house. There may be some termination costs. 3. HR policy impact Does the Options Appraisal contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. Following any retendering process or bringing EEI in-house, there is potential for this to give rise to a relevant transfer in terms of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (‘TUPE’). Any procurement in terms of re- tendering will make reference to this and any transfer of staff to North Lanarkshire Council will be done in accordance with statutory requirements and good practice guidance. 4. Legal impact Does the Options Appraisal contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. In the event of the commissioned EEI service currently being provided by the YMCA Bellshill and Mosshead being retendered or brought-in house (as recommended), the application or otherwise of TUPE will be fully considered or addressed. The current contract does not provide the council with a right to terminate the contract at its own discretion so there is a risk that YMCA may object to this. 5. Data protection impact Does the Options Appraisal contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☒ No ☐ A DPIA is being undertaken to assess the impacts of bringing the commissioned EEI service in-house means from a data protection compliance perspective and if there is anything we require to do in order to facilitate this change. If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☒ No ☐ 6. Technology / Digital impact Does the Options Appraisal contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Page 213 of 253
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 7. Environmental / Carbon impact Does the Options Appraisal contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. 8. Communications impact Does the Options Appraisal contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. 9. Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed. There are some potential risks related to this options appraisal including but not limited to: 1. risks in ceasing the service that young people’s behaviour may escalate in seriousness. 2. There are potential reputational risks in bringing the service in house due to a cut in funding to the local provider, YMCA. All risk and mitigations are noted on a register in line with the council’s project management approach. 10. Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the Options Appraisal require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in- Service or ex-Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 9. Findings of the Review 9.1 The number of children referred to EEI in 20/21 was 186. There was a slight reduction in 2021/22 to 175. Over 90% of the children referred for EEI are aged 13 to 15. 9.2 The review found that the most common disposals through the EEI process in North Lanarkshire were either a ‘warning letter’ or continuation of current support, Page 214 of 253
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particularly when the child or young person already had a social worker. In consulting with young people as part of the review, most had no idea that they had been referred into EEI or what the focus of the work was. In order to involve the young person and their family better in tailoring more bespoke and holistic support, for children who become involved in alleged offending behaviour, the EEI process is being integrated with the GIRFEC pathway. This will involve more robust planning for children in response to conflict with the law concerns with the people who know and have a relationship with the child. This is consistent with a rights respecting approach. 9.3 Within the existing EEI process, there is an option to refer young people to a commissioned service provided by YMCA (Bellshill and Mossend) for some specific offence focused work. The table below shows the numbers of children referred and the outcomes as reported by YMCA: YEAR Number referred Successful completion Refused Service 2019/20 21 15 0 2020/21 22 5 7 2021/22 24 7 15 9.4 While the number of children and young people referred to YMCA has remained stable (albeit at only 13% of the total number of children referred to the EEI process), the number of young people completing the programme is low. The pandemic is a contributory factor but not the whole picture. There have been changes of staff and delays in acting on referrals. YMCA has also not been able to provide data on overall wellbeing outcomes for young people and the views of children and young people in relation to their experience of the service received. A positive feature of the service has been the pathway for young people to a befriending and mentoring scheme known as ‘Y Empower’. 9.5 The annual cost of the contract is £106,387 annually. This also included befriending and mentoring for children called the Y Empower service. Over 2021/22, YMCA were supporting an average of 13 young people at any one time referred in Early and Effective Intervention. It is therefore does not represent good value for money. 9.6 Given the data, and the plans to integrate EEI with the GIRFEC pathway, it is imperative we create a service that is consistent with the national vision and priorities for a rights respecting approach to youth justice and the core elements of EEI. This means a responsive service that: • Takes a holistic approach to the needs of children and young people • Works in an integrated way with the team around the child and other family support and targeted interventions • Focuses on children’s strengths and capacities • Is rights based and involves children, young people and their families 9.7 Many of our existing services provided by Education and Families through core or additional funding (SAC/PEF/Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework) will be able to provide aspects of this service. However, there are a number of young people referred to EEI who require additional and targeted support around desistance, restoration and inclusion. 10. Findings of the Options Appraisal 10.1 The options appraisal group looked at the options set out below and conducted a SWOT analysis. Page 215 of 253
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OPTION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES/RISKS 1 Extend the contract with YMCA and work on a collaborative commissioning exercise to create an outcome- based and sustainable contract C&P: Good Practice in Procurement | Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (ccpscotland.org). Will build on existing expertise Avoid disruption to staff through potential TUPE arrangements May benefit the resilience of YMCA Bellshill and Mossend and children and young people receiving a service in this area Need to consider how current procurement rules will allow for collaborative commissioning 2 Re-tender Potential to attract new expertise, creativity and ideas from other providers Grow the community voluntary sector locally 3 Bring service in-house and deliver a youth work response via CLD. Support to be provided by CLD staff to mentor and involve young people in their own community/universal provision to reduce the risk of conflict with the law. This will be overseen by the CLD Development Officer. A more efficient and responsive service through alignment with current provision in the service and Empowering Clusters. Ability to flex and adapt the service around the needs of children if within the direct management and control of the service. Enhance the evidenced impact on children and young people through existing youth work provision. Clear and accessible pathways for young people within youth work provision and protecting, maintaining relationship and support Moving the service from local third sector provider may create some reputational risk for the council. 4 Cease the service A financial saving to the council – albeit support and interventions will need to be undertaken in the service. Risk of some young people coming into more frequent conflict with the law without more specialised support in relation to desistance. This may increase risk of referrals to the SCRA for offending and demands on more intensive resources. It should be noted that already more young people than the Scottish average are referred to Page 216 of 253
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SCRA on offence grounds in North Lanarkshire. Options Appraisal Outcome 10.2 With reference to the findings and the review, the table below sets out the scoring of the options detailed above using the council’s Options Appriasal Framework. Options Weighting 1 2 3 4 Policy Fit 30% 1.6 3.6 4.3 1 Cost/Savings 20% 1 2 2 2.3 Performance 20% 1.6 3.6 3.6 1 Operational Specific – GIRFEC based EEI approach 10% 2 2.2 4 1 100% 10.3 The outcome of the options appraisal is to bring the EEI service in-house and locate it within the Community Learning and Development service. 10.4 This outcome will have the advantage of ensuring integration together with the existing universal and additional provision to ensure good pathways of support for young people by workers with robust local knowledge. During the review process young people also told us they valued the CLD service and there is accordingly the potential to co-design this new approach to EEI. Page 217 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children, and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref JO’N/GMcL Date 28/02/23 Strategic Performance Framework - latest performance results for Education From Janie O’Neill, Chief Officer (Education - South) Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail ONeillJa@northlan.gov.uk McLaughlinG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Executive Summary Members will recall considering the latest results for the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) indicators at the Panel meeting in September 2019 and thereafter establishing a programme of scrutiny based on key areas of performance. Notably, several of the identified measures relate to performance information collected through external HMIE inspection processes. However, the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in November 2019 had a significant impact on the Service’s internal and external (HMIE) scrutiny processes with routine HMIe inspections being paused from March 2020 to till August 2022. During this period, inspectors only engaged with establishments who were awaiting further engagement. This had a significant impact on data collected in relation to the performance data identified in this report. Furthermore, the terminology used in relation to some of the key indicators has changed. Updates are noted in explanatory notes on the datasheets. The Covid pandemic also had a significant impact on National and Local exam processes, with new processes being introduced. There were also changes to Achievement of a Level data (ACEL) collection processes across Scotland. Therefore, data should be interpreted in this context. Notwithstanding this, the performance benchmarking indicators are a useful tool to inform improvements to services and outcomes and in this respect the LGBF indicators are designed to provide initial information about a service. It is by reviewing and investigating this information further, and entering into discussions with other councils, that lessons can be learned, and improvements identified. Using the latest dataset, this report provides the Education, Children and Families committee with a summary of the analysis to identify which indicators and service areas show improved performance over time and are favourable when compared to the national average. This is intended to assist committee members to identify and prioritise which service areas they wish to review and scrutinise further as part of their 2022-23 programme of scrutiny. AGENDA ITEM 12 Page 219 of 253
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1. Background 1.1 There are six inter-related strategic frameworks which are key to assessing the success of The Plan for North Lanarkshire and monitoring delivery towards achieving the overall vision by ensuring each stage is appropriately planned, guided, implemented, and governed. 1.2 The six frameworks focus on ensuring a corporate one council approach in respect of Policy, Governance, Performance, Self-Evaluation, Project Management, and Demonstrating Improved Outcomes for Communities. 1.3 The Strategic Performance Framework comprises performance measurement at three levels (as per the diagram on the right). This aims to collectively provide an overview of performance to help understand the impact of council activities on improving services and outcomes for the people and communities of North Lanarkshire. The measures in this Framework allow for day to day activities, and progress towards achieving the long- term vision set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire, to be regularly monitored, reported, assessed, and scrutinised. 1.4 The Strategic Performance Framework is aligned to the Accounts Commission statutory direction which places a requirement on councils to report a range of information in terms of (1) improving local services and outcomes, and (2) demonstrating Best Value. Key points of note in this respect are that the Accounts Commission also expect to see: (a) A balance in reporting areas of improvement that have been achieved and not achieved. (b) Reporting that is undertaken in a timely manner. (c) Easy access to performance information for all citizens and communities. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children, and Families Committee: (1) Review the high-level performance overview presented in Appendix 1, and the supporting data contained within the linked Excel spreadsheet, and identify where further information is required to understand or investigate performance further. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (6) Raise attainment and skills for learning, life, and work to enhance opportunities and choices (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe (8) Engage children and families in early learning and childcare programmes and making positive transitions to school (9) Invest in early interventions, positive transitions, and preventative approaches to improve outcomes for children and young people (10) Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential Page 220 of 253
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1.5 A Performance Reporting Schedule supports the timely submission of a range of performance information that facilitates Elected Members and senior management to undertake regular performance reviews that inform scrutiny, challenge, and decision making processes. This Schedule, endorsed by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel in February 2023, includes Chief Officer’s individual six monthly Performance Reviews at Service Committees in line with the Strategic Performance Framework. 1.6 This report therefore presents the Education, Children, and Families Committee with the latest performance results for Education for Members’ further review and scrutiny. 2. Strategic Performance Framework Education, Children, and Families Committee responsibilities 2.1 In line with the terms of reference outlined in the Scheme of Administration, the Education, Children, and Families Committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing performance information for the following Ambition Statements from The Plan for North Lanarkshire: 6. Raise attainment and skills for learning, life, and work to enhance opportunities and choices 7. Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe 8. Engage children and families in early learning and childcare programmes and making positive transitions to school 9. Invest in early interventions, positive transitions, and preventative approaches to improve outcomes for children and young people 10. Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential 2.2 The high-level performance overview in Appendix 1 presents Members with a summary of the latest results for each performance indicator within the remit of the Chief Officer (Education). 2.3 The information in Appendix 1 comprises the following: • An ideal direction arrow - this indicates whether a higher or lower figure is the preferred direction of travel. • Measurement unit - for example whether the result is a %, a number, a unit cost (in £), or a ratio. • Performance results for the last four financial years (depending on availability of data) along with the latest year’s target and corresponding RAG status (for indicators where it is appropriate to set targets). • The most recent monthly or quarterly results, along with the corresponding target and RAG status. Note the inclusion of this information is dependent on the measurement frequency of the indicator and availability of data as at the time of reporting. A higher figure is better A lower figure is better Key to RAG status Performance is on target and/or within acceptable thresholds Performance does not meet target and is outwith acceptable thresholds Performance surpasses the target and exceeds expectations Page 221 of 253
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• A trend graph - this captures the direction of travel achieved over the four financial years and includes the most recent monthly or quarterly results where available. • Comments - narrative summarising the current position and providing an explanation for any significant variations in performance. Where applicable, this narrative also highlights the effect of the pandemic on service delivery, e.g. any increase or decrease in the volume of transactions or enquiries processed. 2.4 A large volume of data supports the high-level performance overview in Appendix 1. This is outlined in the latest performance results for Education Excel spreadsheet which is available through the following link for Members to carry out a deep dive and review and scrutinise each performance indicator further. The Menu on the second tab of the spreadsheet contains built in hyperlinks that automatically take the user to a tab for each performance indicator and therefore provides a useful navigation aid to review the contents of the file. • Latest performance results for Education.xlsx Current context 2.5 The programme of routine HMIe inspections was paused in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to cessation, 13 establishment inspections were inspected. 4 establishments were identified as requiring a re-inspection visit. Notably, 1 of these identified establishment only required a revisit in relation to its Early Years/Early Level provision, although this is not reflected in the performance indicator. The primary provision within this establishment was graded as Good across all 4 quality indicators in the school. When inspection activity resumed in September 2021, inspections focused on engagement with schools awaiting further inspection or thematic engagement designed to collect and share good practice. Therefore, inspections noted during academic session 2020/21 and 2021/2022 only include establishments who were awaiting re-inspection. This skews the data as it is not a proportionate representation of all establishments. Of the 10 inspections, noted in 2021/2022, 6 have now been completely signed off, 2 have partial sign off with the recommendation that the authority provide a progress update and 2 are still engaging with inspectors. Disruption to the HMIE inspection process, as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, has clearly impacted on the scope of our inspection performance data and as such we ask that it is interpreted and understood in this context. This includes indicators in relation to HMIe grades and parental satisfaction data which is derived from HMIe questionnaire results. Since inspections resumed in August 2022, 7 establishments have been inspected with 100% receiving positive reports, using current criteria which categorises a grading of satisfactory or above as positive. Only 4 inspections reports have been published to date but overall trends indicate positive impact of strategies employed by the Service to support continuous improvement. Notably, from session 2022-23, we will further challenge ourselves by adapting the criteria underpinning the performance indicator- % positive HMIE reports and only categorise establishments graded good or above as positive. This will have obvious implications on comparing trends over time but reflects our increased expectations and drive to improve outcomes for children and families. Using this new measure, over the 26 quality indicators considered during inspections for session 2022-23, 89% have Page 222 of 253
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achieved good or above gradings. (Using the previous measure – 100% achieved positive inspection gradings.) In summary, analysis of all inspection gradings awarded to NLC schools over the 5- year improvement cycle shows the following high level profile and conveys the urgency of recent improvement against statutory measures: • Pre-covid: 61% good+ inspection gradings (106 grades awarded) • 2022 – 2023: 89% good+ inspection gradings (26 grades awarded). Recent performance highlights 2.6 Despite challenges presented in collating robust data against the identified performance benchmarks, the data evidences improvements including those highlighted below. The number of pupils (%) achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or higher has risen from 65% in 2020/21 to 67% in 2021/22. The percentage of P1, P4, P7 pupils combined, achieving expected Curriculum for Excellence level in literacy continues to improve – rising from 68.6% in session 2020/21 to 72.2% in 2021/22. We have also noted an increase in the percentage of P1, P4, P7 pupils combined, achieving expected Curriculum for Excellence level in numeracy increasing from 76.1% in 2020/21 to 79.4% in 2021/22. At the Broad General Education stage (BGE), the data also shows a reduction in the attainment gap in literacy reducing from 22.4 in 20/21 to 19.0 in 21/22. The attainment gap in numeracy has also decreased, reducing from 20.7 in 20/21 to 16.6 in 21/22. We are also making progress towards closing the poverty related attainment gap at the Senior Phase recording an increase in the % of pupils living in the 20% most deprived areas gaining 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or higher, with attainment increasing by 1% to 52%. This is the highest level recorded to date. The percentage of funded early years provisions graded good or better has also continued to rise increasing from 90.1% in 2020/21 to 91.8% in 2021-22. The quality rating of Early Years establishments has remained positive, above 90%. Attendance for looked after children has increased from 78.6 in 2018-19 to 83.0 in 2020-21. Areas of performance requiring improvement 2.7 As explained above, changes to the HMIe Inspection process impacted on our ability to gather a full dataset in relation to identified performance indicators. However, Education, Children and Families recognise that this was only a contributing factor and have identified the need to forensically monitor the indicators identified below and to implement refreshed quality assurance procedures, to secure immediate improvements. Page 223 of 253
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Three of the identified areas focus on levels of parental satisfaction for 2020/21; • Percentage of parents agree or strongly agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing (71.4 %) • Percentage of parents agree or strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school (60.4%) • Percentage of parents who agree or strongly agree that the school is well led and managed (67.5%). Whilst local data indicates that these figures do not represent the view of the wider parental body, and that there is likely to be a direct correlation with the increased number of negative inspection results, the Service will track and monitor internal and external parental feedback to support improvement. Implementation of the refreshed quality assurance processes will facilitate monitoring at individual establishment level. Work to develop a new parental engagement strategy will also allow for focused feedback from parents/carers. Data and internal self-evaluation processes highlight the need to improve pupil attendance rates. The rate for session 2020-21 is 89.8%. This area has been identified as a key priority across the Service. An integrated cluster approach has been established wherein attendance data is monitored and shared regularly with key stakeholders to allow early identification and support for individuals whose attendance is causing concerns. This early identification and intervention will support improved attendance levels. The upcoming deployment of family engagement workers will further strengthen this approach. Next steps 2.8 As noted in paragraph 1.5, the Strategic Performance Framework is supported by a Performance Reporting Schedule. This sets out the arrangements for service, statutory, and Strategic Performance Framework reporting to committee. In this respect the Education, Children, and Families Committee can expect to receive the following in respect of insert Education during 2023/24. Report Description Committee cycle Annual Standards and Quality report This annual report serves 3 purposes: (i) To provide all stakeholders and the public with the performance information across the 6 NIF drivers and against improvement priorities to measure performance in improving educational outcomes for young people. (ii) To meet the statutory requirement under the Standards in Schools etc. Act 2000 (as amended by the Education (Scotland) Act 2016). (iii) To provide the information required to contribute to the Scottish Government’s annual report on the 6 NIF drivers for improvement. Cycle 3 in 2023 Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) This report updates on progress made in the Attainment Challenge during the latest session, and gives detail on areas of improvement within literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing and presents the end of academic year report as submitted to the Cycle 3 in 2023 Page 224 of 253
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Scottish Government. Moving forward, the SAC report will now be referred to as the SEF (Strategic Equity Fund). 3. Measures of success 3.1 Measures of success include: • Regular oversight and monitoring of performance across the organisation to gain assurances in terms of governance and accountability. • Regular review and challenge processes to scrutinise the performance of the council to ensure effective use of resources and that resources are directed in accordance with agreed policy and according to priorities, while ensuring sound decision making and clear accountability for the use of resources in achieving improved outcomes for service users and the local community. • Performance monitoring, management, and reporting arrangements that support the demonstration of improved performance in local services and outcomes, and the delivery of Best Value. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - High-level performance overview Janie O’Neill Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officers (Education - North and South) Page 225 of 253
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 226 of 253
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 227 of 253
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Appendix 1 Education High-level performance overview - as at January 2023 Page 228 of 253
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Indicator id ideal direction unit of measurem ent 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2021/22 target 2021/22 RAG status 2022/23 ytd 2022/23 target 2022/23 RAG status trend comments Attendance at school - % attendance for all pupils, primary and secondary school CHN19a higher figure is better % 91.2 89.8 only measured bienially Attendance in NL schools have shown a small gradual decrease over recent years which is at a slightly greater rate than the similar decline in national and family group average. The latest results show attendance in NL schools of 89.8% compared to the national average of 92% and the family group average of 91.2%. Attendance at school - % attendance for looked after children CHN19b higher figure is better % 78.6 83.0 only measured bienially The latest results for attendance in NL schools for looked after children has shown an improvement to 83%. This trend has followed the national and family groups averages, although NL figures remain lower than the national average of 87.9% and the family group average of 86.6%. Attendance at school - % attendance for disabled children Pi045 higher figure is better % 87.5 89.2 only measured bienially The council has also recently started to measure attendance for disabled children; this shows an improvement in attendance from 87.5 to 89.2 over the period of the data collected. National comaprison are not available for this indicator. Exclusions from school, all pupils - exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils CHN20a lower figure is better number 35.0 15.3 only measured bienially Exclusion rates in NLs schools have shown significant improvement in recent years, with the latest results (15.3 per 1,000 pupils) closing the gap with the national average (11.9) and the family group average (13.7). A range of service interventions have improved supports for NLs pupils in recent years, this has ensured that resources and decision making are devolved to where needs arise. Exclusions from school, looked after children - exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils CHN20b lower figure is better number 293.3 95.7 only measured bienially Exclusion rates in NLs schools for looked after children have also shown significant improvement in recent years, with the latest results (95.7 per 1,000 pupils) closing the gap with the national average (77.8) and being considerably lower than the family group average (127.2). A range of service interventions have improved supports for NLs pupils in recent years, this has ensured that resources and decision making are devolved to where needs arise. Exclusions from school for children from Additional Support Needs (ASN) schools - exclusion rate per 1,000 pupils Pi054 lower figure is better number 104.7 192.0 only measured bienially The council has also recently started to measure exclusion rates for disabled children; this shows an increase from 104.7 to 192 over the period of the data collected. National comaprison are not available for this indicator. HMIe inspection reports, early years - % of positive reports i034 higher figure is better % 80.0 71.4 33.3 100.0 100.0 Green only measured annually Inspections of early years establishments remained at 100% in 2021/22 with 5 being inspected and all 5 receiving a positive report. The national inspection programme was impacted on by the pandemic in 2019/20 and 2020/21. HMIe inspection reports, schools - % of positive reports i030 higher figure is better % 92.3 69.2 33.3 80.0 100.0 Red only measured annually Inspections of schools achieved 80% in 2021/22 with 10 being inspected and 8 receiving a positive report. The national inspection programme was impacted on by the pandemic in 2019/20 and 2020/21. Quality ratings of early year privision - % funded early years provision which is graded good or better CHN18 higher figure is better % 89.5 90.4 90.1 91.8 only measured annually The latest results for the quality of early years provision following inspections by the Care Inspectorate found that 91.8% of funded early years provision in NL was graded good or better in 2021/22. This is an improvement on previous years and is higher than national average gradings (90.9%) and family group average gradings (89.5%). 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2020/21 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2020/21 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2020/21 0.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 2018/19 2020/21 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2020/21 0.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 2018/19 2019/20 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 Page 231 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: DB / TO’H Date 28/02/23 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report From: Derek Brown (Deputy Chief Executive) E-mail: BrownD@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 302 517 Executive Summary This report provides a summary of the financial performance of the Education, Children and Families Service for the period 1 April 2022 to 6 January 2023 (Period 10). The report highlights the projected outturn position as at 31 March 2023, including explanations of major variances in accordance with North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations. The Education, Children and Families Service has a Net Revenue Budget of £460.192m for the 2022/23 financial year. Incorporated within the Revenue Budget are approved savings totalling £6.830m. It is anticipated that £3.969m (58.11%) of these savings will be realised during the current financial year. The Service is currently forecasting an overspend of £3.563m for the current financial year. The overspend is primarily the result of in-year contractual inflation uplifts. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Review the financial position of the Education, Children and Families revenue budget (2) Review the contents of the report The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning AGENDA ITEM 13 Page 233 of 253
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1. Background 1.1. North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations require Deputy Chief Executives and Heads of Service to remain within their approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations - defined as the higher of £100,000 or 5% - within their budget monitoring reports. Where significant deviations are identified, officers must provide explanatory commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant, must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 2. Report 2.1. Summary of Financial Position 2.1.1. North Lanarkshire Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 17 February 2022 of which £465.120m (52.4%) represented the approved Net Revenue Budget for Education, Children and Families. During 2022/23 there has been a net budget reduction of £4.928m to £460.192m following operational realignments between Council Services. These movements include the transfer of staff groups to the Chief Executives Service including the Administrative & Finance Assistant (AFA) team and Technicians Service (£2.994m) along with legislative changes in respect of employers’ national insurance contributions (£1.859m). 2.1.2. The Service is forecasting a net overspend of £3.563m to the end of the financial year. Further analysis of major variances is provided within Section 2.2 of this report. 2.1.3. Included within the net overspend projection are significant, in-year, inflationary cost pressures. There are material inflationary pressures linked to increases in utility costs across the Service’s educational and Active & Creative Communities estate (£4.983m), coupled with further increases to mainstream and ASN pupil transport contracts (£3.651m). As part of the Council’s financial planning process, resources were previously earmarked following the closure of the 2021/22 annual accounts to help offset the projected inflationary pressures faced by Services during the current financial year. The consolidated position summarising in-year inflationary pressures and funding options across each Service will be presented in the Council’s summary budget monitoring report. 2.1.4. In the period up to 6 January 2023 several teacher trade union staff groups had participated in strike days and this industrial dispute remains unresolved. At the close of Period 10 pay deductions totalling £0.657m have been accrued in relation to action taken on 24 November and 7 December 2022. The impact of the teacher’s strike is not included in this report because school DSM budgets will be adjusted on an ongoing and equivalent basis through to the cessation of the industrial action. However, similar to Section 2.1.3 above the financial impact of the strike days will be reflected in the Council’s summary budget monitoring report. 2.1.5. The current 2022/23 budget incorporates £6.830m of savings previously approved by the Council on 17 February 2022. Further information regarding particularly challenging savings, along with associated management actions and replacement in-year savings, are included within this report at Appendix 5. Page 234 of 253
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2.2. Analysis of Significant Variances 2.2.1. The Service has a total employee budget of £374.081m and currently anticipates a projected underspend of £6.914m. The underspend reflects actual and projected vacancies, along with the roll out of finalised HQ, cluster, and school staffing structures. 2.2.2. Service employee budgets are partly devolved to establishments per the Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme, with the remaining budgets held at HQ level. Under the DSM scheme devolved staffing budgets for teaching and non-teaching posts are delegated to Head Teacher management. Establishments receive allocations based on agreed formulas and distribution methods. Devolved staffing budgets for financial year 2022/23 total £217.036m. 2.2.3. The Service is anticipating an overspend of £5.586m within Property Costs predominantly linked to increased costs in relation to utilities / energy inflation (£5.300m) along with other minor overspends across the Service (£0.286m). 2.2.4. The Service is anticipating an underspend of £1.822m within Supplies & Services primarily due to synergies with external funding, management action and the curtailment of non-essential expenditure within Cluster / HQ support (£1.264m), Active and Creative Communities (£0.439m), HQ funded support to the ASN sector (£0.134m), offset by other minor overspends across the Service (£0.015m). 2.2.5. The Service is anticipating an overspend of £5.513m within Transport and Plant which reflects ongoing demand pressures within ASN transport (£2.678m) and increases to mainstream transport contract rates (£2.810m) along with minor overspends across the Service (£0.025m). 2.2.6. The Service is anticipating an underspend of £0.012m within Administration Costs primarily due to management action and the curtailment of non-essential expenditure. 2.2.7. The Service is anticipating an overspend of £0.992m within Payments to Other Bodies primarily in relation to demand led external placements within Family Fostering and Kinship awards (£0.579m), ASN service provision (£0.329m), along with other minor overspends across the Service (£0.083m) as outlined in Appendix 3. 2.2.8. The Service is anticipating an underspend of £0.180m within Transfer Payments in relation to reduced demand for childrens’ support services and applications for clothing grants. 2.2.9. The Service is anticipating an underspend of £0.826m within Other Expenditure primarily due to the curtailment of non-essential expenditure within Cluster / HQ support (£0.845m) partially offset by minor overspends within other Service areas (£0.019m). 2.2.10. The Service is anticipating an under recovery of income of £1.227m in relation to actual membership and visitor’s fees for Active and Creative Communities (£1.482m) being lower than the budget target, coupled with reduced cross-boundary ASN placements within NLC establishments (£0.366m), partially offset by a HRA funding contribution to the Tackling Poverty Team along with various minor over recoveries across the Service (£0.622m). Page 235 of 253
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2.3. Earmarked and One-Off Resources 2.3.1. In finalising North Lanarkshire Council’s annual accounts to 31 March 2022, the Education, Children and Families Service was given approval to earmark £104.983m of resources represented by £85.701m (Non-Covid) and £19.282m (Covid) to fund key projects and initiatives. Most of this reserve (£54.175m) is earmarked for existing school building contractual commitments. Other specific reserves include Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) carry forwards, Devolved School Management (DSM) carry forwards, and ring-fenced 1140 Hours grant. Future monitoring reports will provide updates on use of these reserves during 2022/23 as outlined in Appendix 4. 2.4. 2022/23 Budget Savings and Growth 2.4.1. The Council previously approved total savings of £16.484m during 2022/23. The initial Education, Children and Families Service savings target for 2022/23 was £6.830m. The Service uses a variety of information, records, and processes to monitor achievement of its approved budget savings. As at Period 10, it is anticipated that £3.969m (58.11%) of the approved savings target will be realised in the current financial year as outlined in Appendix 5. 2.4.2. The unachieved savings of £2.861m have predominantly arisen due to temporary operational timing delays, the phased introduction of new staffing structures, consideration of the school academic calendar, and impact of Covid-19. In year management action has been taken to address this funding gap and the savings are expected to be fully achieved during future financial years. 2.4.3. As part of the Council’s approved General Fund Revenue Budget for 2022/23, the Education, Children & Families Service were allocated £3.470m towards several one- off investments. Further information on use of these one-off investment allocations during 2022/23 is provided in Appendix 6. 2.5. Management Actions 2.5.1. Management will continue to review and implement actions through to financial year end with the aim of minimising the projected overspend position. These actions will include: a) Vacancy management b) Creating efficiencies through use of grant / external funding c) Curtailment of non-essential expenditure d) Application of earmarked reserves to offset one-off cost pressures 3. Measures of success 3.1. The Service operates within approved budget resources. Page 236 of 253
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1. Appendix 1: Objective Analysis Appendix 2: Subjective Analysis Appendix 3: Payments to Other Bodies Appendix 4: Status of Earmarked Reserves Appendix 5: Savings Appendix 6: ‘Recover NL’ One-Off Investments Derek Brown Deputy Chief Executive Page 237 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? As stated within the main body of the report 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Page 238 of 253
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The approach outlined in this report supports the Council’s actions in managing financial sustainability and financial management risks. Financial pressures and risks are reviewed on a regular basis by the Service Management Team, CMT and Committee. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 239 of 253
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APPENDIX 1 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10] Early Years 25,522,277 25,522,277 0 31,807,284 31,807,284 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Primary Schools 92,377,292 92,377,292 0 136,209,480 136,209,480 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Secondary Schools 91,890,348 91,890,348 0 127,846,098 127,846,098 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Special Schools 15,163,051 15,163,051 0 20,651,426 20,651,426 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Education Service Delivery 16,001,265 17,884,986 (1,883,721) ADV 71,465,354 74,275,149 (2,809,795) ADV (3.9%) 1,800,797 Overspends within transportation costs linked to ASN service delivery and contract inflation pressures partially offset by underspends contained within employee costs budgets. Children & Families 26,159,282 25,969,595 189,687 FAV 36,567,528 36,278,319 289,209 FAV 0.8% (617,618) Underspends contained with employee cost budgets partially offset by overspends within Family Placements, External Fostering & Kinship Placements Justice Services (105,797) (90,080) (15,717) ADV 73,431 93,863 (20,432) ADV (27.8%) (328,247) Minor overspend Active & Creative Communities 8,636,851 9,791,939 (1,155,088) ADV 25,037,035 26,367,925 (1,330,890) ADV (5.3%) (370,469) Overspends linked to increased utitlities costs along with reduced income in relation to membership fees and site visitors a result of Covid partially offset by underspends contained within employee cost budgets. Employability 5,545,624 5,515,937 29,687 FAV 3,906,759 3,876,032 30,727 FAV 0.8% 45,609 Minor underspend Community Learning 3,706,268 3,579,751 126,517 FAV 4,645,059 4,345,898 299,161 FAV 6.4% 517,899 Underspends contained within employee cost budgets with over-recovery of external funding. Welfare 1,616,015 1,624,917 (8,902) ADV 1,982,435 2,003,270 (20,835) ADV (1.1%) 533,169 Minor overspend NET EXPENDITURE 286,512,476 289,230,013 (2,717,537) ADV 460,191,889 463,754,744 (3,562,855) ADV (0.8%) 1,581,140 As stated above DIVISION OF SERVICE BUDGET TO DATE ACTUAL TO DATE YEAR TO DATE VARIANCE ANNUAL BUDGET NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Objective Analysis Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families [4] [7] PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 240 of 253
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APPENDIX 2 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10] EMPLOYEE COSTS 277,200,813 270,414,503 6,786,310 FAV 374,081,276 367,166,958 6,914,318 FAV 1.9% 2,059,149 Underspend primarily due to phasing of external funding with recruitment reflecting academic not financial year along with vacancy management. PROPERTY COSTS 32,021,028 36,543,642 (4,522,614) ADV 66,191,398 71,777,539 (5,586,141) ADV (8.4%) 22,349 Impact of projected increased utitlity costs across the school estate and Active and Creative Communities and other minor overspends across the Service. SUPPLIES & SERVICES 10,584,431 10,089,507 494,924 FAV 26,416,538 24,594,564 1,821,974 FAV 6.9% 267,884 Management action, curtailment of non-essential expenditure and synergies with external funding to support increased costs and demands within other areas of the Service TRANSPORT & PLANT 8,458,302 12,592,369 (4,134,067) ADV 13,902,719 19,415,566 (5,512,847) ADV (39.7%) (119,121) Overspend in relation to ongoing cost pressures linked to ASN service delivery and observed market increases for mainstream transport contracts. ADMINISTRATION COSTS 3,394,906 3,348,401 46,505 FAV 7,139,355 7,127,318 12,037 FAV 0.2% (358,448) Management action, curtailment of non-essential expenditure and synergies with external funding to support increased costs and demands within other areas of the Service PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES 29,392,956 30,150,571 (757,615) ADV 43,126,125 44,117,741 (991,616) ADV (2.3%) 133,977 Overspend in relation to external ASN placements and external fostering / kinship placements. TRANSFER PAYMENTS 2,938,359 2,831,264 107,095 FAV 4,492,512 4,312,512 180,000 FAV 4.0% 180,000 Underspend in relation to clothing grant applications and children's support services CAPITAL FINANCING COSTS 1,385,300 1,385,300 0 43,710,875 43,710,875 0 0.0% 0 Balanced budget REVENUE FINANCING COSTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0% 0 Balanced budget OTHER EXPENDITURE 6,181,587 6,201,991 (20,404) ADV 27,077,490 26,251,517 825,973 FAV 3.1% (1,161,934) Management action, curtailment of non-essential expenditure and synergies with external funding to support increased costs and demands within other areas of the Service TOTAL EXPENDITURE 371,557,682 373,557,548 (1,999,866) ADV 606,138,288 608,474,590 (2,336,302) ADV (0.4%) 1,023,856 As stated above INCOME (85,045,206) (84,327,535) (717,671) ADV (145,946,399) (144,719,846) (1,226,553) ADV 0.8% 557,284 Reduced income in relation to Active and Creative Communities membership fees and site visitors and fewer cross-boundary ASN placements within NLC NET EXPENDITURE 286,512,476 289,230,013 (2,717,537) ADV 460,191,889 463,754,744 (3,562,855) ADV (0.8%) 1,581,140 As stated above CATEGORY BUDGET TO DATE ACTUAL TO DATE YEAR TO DATE VARIANCE ANNUAL BUDGET NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Subjective Analysis Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families [4] [7] PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 241 of 253
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APPENDIX 3 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [9] [10] GENERAL PTOBS 6,155,221 6,198,871 (43,651) ADV 10,101,273 10,174,173 (72,900) ADV (0.7%) (3,797) Minor overspend ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS 3,468,217 3,721,352 (253,134) ADV 7,738,919 8,067,993 (329,074) ADV (4.3%) 413,869 Increased costs in relation to out of authority ASN provision for day placements, residential and secure accommodation EARLY YEARS 11,531,766 11,531,766 0 13,894,454 13,894,454 0 0.0% 0 Balanced budget VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS 663,451 669,767 (6,316) ADV 1,114,610 1,124,974 (10,364) ADV (0.9%) 0 Minor overspend FAMILY PLACEMENTS 7,522,394 7,976,909 (454,515) ADV 10,054,583 10,633,861 (579,278) ADV (5.8%) (276,095) Impact of increased costs as result of contract inflation pressures along with continued demand within this service area CHILDRENS SERVICES - GENERAL 51,907 51,907 0 222,286 222,286 0 0.0% 0 Balanced budget TOTAL EXPENDITURE 29,392,956 30,150,571 (757,616) ADV 43,126,125 44,117,741 (991,616) ADV (2.3%) 133,977 As stated above [4] [7] PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Payments to Other Bodies Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families CATEGORY BUDGET TO DATE ACTUAL TO DATE YEAR TO DATE VARIANCE ANNUAL BUDGET Page 242 of 253
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APPENDIX 4 Value % Service Specific Earmarked Reserves: School Carry Forward / Support 5,331,815 0 5,331,815 3,285,329 5,331,815 100.0% 0 5,331,815 PEF Carry Forward 5,122,022 0 5,122,022 3,940,017 5,122,022 100.0% 0 5,122,022 Seemis Replacement Project 36,399 0 36,399 27,999 36,399 100.0% 0 36,399 Early Learning and Childcare 14,248,598 (6,759,000) 7,489,598 5,227,456 7,489,598 100.0% 0 7,489,598 CYPMHW Framework 18,881 0 18,881 0 18,881 100.0% 0 18,881 Shotts Prison 46,844 0 46,844 0 46,844 100.0% 0 46,844 School Contractual Obligations 54,174,844 (54,174,844) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 Asylum Seeker 32,333 0 32,333 24,872 32,333 100.0% 0 32,333 Whole Family Wellbeing 233,272 0 233,272 0 233,272 100.0% 0 233,272 Student Social Worker Resumption Funding from Universities 21,380 0 21,380 0 21,380 100.0% 0 21,380 ESF Match Funding - Pipeline 406,136 0 406,136 312,412 406,136 100.0% 0 406,136 Active & Creative Communities 2,568,303 0 2,568,303 2,073,078 2,568,303 100.0% 0 2,568,303 Youth Guarantee Funding 2,908,913 0 2,908,913 856,169 2,908,913 100.0% 0 2,908,913 Legacy Flexible Fund 67,157 0 67,157 67,157 67,157 100.0% 0 67,157 DigitalNL Savings 310,825 0 310,825 310,825 310,825 100.0% 0 310,825 Roots Opportunity for Growth (LAA Children) 173,208 0 173,208 27,500 173,208 100.0% 0 173,208 SUB-TOTAL (Non-Covid) 85,700,930 (60,933,844) 24,767,086 16,152,814 24,767,086 100.0% 0 24,767,086 Service Specific Earmarked Reserves (COVID-19): Education Services Head Quarters 1,301,807 (134,000) 1,167,807 355,202 1,167,807 100.0% 0 1,167,807 Education Services Schools 12,075,284 (1,628,888) 10,446,396 5,976,069 10,446,396 100.0% 0 10,446,396 Social Work Services - Criminal Justice 57,341 0 57,341 30,875 57,341 100.0% 0 57,341 Active & Creative Communities 702,425 0 702,425 691,000 702,425 100.0% 0 702,425 Financial Insecurity / Welfare 4,645,208 0 4,645,208 2,492,923 4,645,208 100.0% 0 4,645,208 Community Renewal Fund 500,000 0 500,000 0 500,000 100.0% 0 500,000 SUB-TOTAL (Covid) 19,282,065 (1,762,888) 17,519,177 9,546,069 17,519,177 100.0% 0 17,519,177 TOTAL 104,982,995 (62,696,732) 42,286,263 25,698,883 42,286,263 100.0% 0 42,286,263 Commentary Regards UsageDESCRIPTION OF EARMARKED RESOURCE Reserve Allocation Adjustments In Year Approved Reserve Total Spend to Date Projected Spend Reserves No Longer Required Reserves Required In Year FINANCIAL YEAR - 2022/23 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Status of Earmarked Reserves Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families Page 243 of 253
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APPENDIX 5 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Reconfiguration of Secondary School Week to Facilitate Transformative Practice 626 626 0 0 Reconfiguration of Secondary Management Structures 474 474 0 0 Management Models for Future Campuses 159 159 0 0 Realignment of Early Years Grant Cash Flow to Match Expenditure 1,000 1,000 0 0 Residential / Family Placements / Throughcare 600 300 300 Current level of service demand is in excess of budgetary provision Management Action within other areas of the Service to offset savings gap. 300 0 Merger / Rezoning School Catchments 675 175 500 Delay in the implementation of the associated saving Approval in place to rephase saving and delay full-year implementation until 2023/24. In-year Management Action within other areas of the Service to offset savings gap. 500 0 Librarians 238 177 61 Delay in the implementation of the associated saving Management Action within other areas of the Service to offset savings gap. 61 0 Reduce management fees to Culture and Leisure NL 3,058 1,058 2,000 Delay in the implementation of the associated saving In-year allocation of approved Earmarked Reserve to manage delay in the implementation of the associated saving. 2,000 0 TOTAL 6,830 3,969 2,861 As stated above As stated above 2,861 0 58.11% 41.89% 41.89% 0.00% Delivered Gap Replacement Revised-Gap DESCRIPTION Value Revised Savings Gap CommentarySavings Gap NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Savings Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families APPROVED SAVINGS REPLACEMENT SAVING / FUNDING DESCRIPTION OF APPROVED SAVING Target Value Value Deliverable Reasons for Savings Gap Page 244 of 253
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APPENDIX 6 Value % Recover NL One-Off Investments Active & Creative Communities Culture, Leisure and Sport Facility Improvement Programme Following the insourcing of culture, leisure and sport services it is recognised that there is investment required to ensure customers experience a positive and safe environment from the Council's facilities which will, in turn, support increased use of facilities and participation in active and creative activities. 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 100.0% 0 Usage in line budget motion approval Active & Creative Communities Active60 Pass Building on the success of the Council's Active65 membership pass at £50 for the year, continuation for one more year and extending the scheme to over 60s. 550,000 550,000 550,000 100.0% 0 " Active & Creative Communities Keeping the Promise Free provision of sport and leisure facilities for care experienced children and young people to promote physical and mental wellbeing. This would include AccessNL memberships, family passes to Time Capsule Waterpark and nutritional wellbeing support for one year. 300,000 300,000 300,000 100.0% 0 " Active & Creative Communities Active Teens Extending the successful Active Teen programme of free gym memberships for 11-15 year olds during the working week for one more year. 300,000 300,000 300,000 100.0% 0 " Education, Children & Families Scottish Attainment Challenge Reinstate Scottish Attainment Challenge funding for one year only. 1,020,000 675,000 1,020,000 100.0% 0 " Education, Children & Families School and Early Years Clothing Grants Continuation of enhanced grant value for school aged pupils and NLC scheme for early years children for one more year. 300,000 195,000 300,000 100.0% 0 " TOTAL 3,470,000 3,020,000 3,470,000 100.0% 0 Projected Spend Projected Spend Variance Commentary Regards Usage FINANCIAL YEAR - 2022/23 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Recover NL One-Off Investments Period 10 (01 April 2022 - 06 January 2023) Education, Children & Families DIVISION PRIORITY AREA COUNCIL MOTION AREA Approved Investment Total Spend to Date Page 245 of 253
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref CG/JMcK Date 28/02/23 Contracts awarded below Committee approval threshold From Chief Officer of Assets and Procurement Email mckinstryj@northlan.gov.uk Telephone James McKinstry 07939 281102 1. Background 1.1 The Councils General Contract Standing Orders (the ‘GCSOs’) outline financial approval thresholds for contracts for goods, works and services. Contract awards above £500,000 for Supplies and Services and above £2,000,000 for Works require approval by the Committee. These contract awards are considered by the Committee on a case-by-case basis. 1.2 Where the value of a contract award is between £50,000 and £500,000 for Supplies and Services and between £500,000 and £2,000,000 for Works, GCSOs require that the Head of Asset and Procurement Solutions award these contracts on behalf of the appropriate Chief Officer. Executive Summary This report notifies the Committee of the contracts awarded between 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022. It sets out those contracts awarded with a value below the financial threshold requiring Committee approval Recommendations The Education, Children and Families Committee are: • advised of the Contracts awarded below Committee approval threshold between 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022 as per the process within the Council’s General Contract Standing Orders. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (10) Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential AGENDA ITEM 14 Page 247 of 253
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1.3 The Head of Asset and Procurement Solutions is required to notify Committee on a regular basis of any such contracts awarded on behalf of Procuring Service Areas. 2. Report 2.1 The GCSOs require that contracts in excess of £500,000 for supplies and services and £2,000,000 for works are approved, on a case-by- case basis, by the Committee before award. 2.2 The GCSOs require that contracts with a value above £50,000 but less than £500,000 for Supplies and Services and above £500,000 but less than £2,000,000 for Works are awarded by the Head of Asset and Procurement Solutions on behalf of the appropriate Chief Officer. 2.3 The contracts awarded by the Head of Asset and Procurement Solutions that are under the £500,000 Committee financial approval threshold for Supplies and Services and £2,000,000 for Works in the period from 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022 are detailed in Appendix 1. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Contracts support the delivery of Council and service priorities. 3.2 Appointment of contractors who have suitable experience and capability to deliver the required supplies, services or works. 3.3 Contracts awarded by the Council are compliant with GCSOs and procurement legislation. 3.4 The Council’s Contract Register is kept updated by services and management information is comprehensive and accurate. 3.5 Best Value is both demonstrable and achieved. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - Summary of contracts awarded. James McKinstry Chief Officer of Assets and Procurement Page 248 of 253
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where Financial impacts have been identified, they have been established and addressed in each specific Contract Strategy and incorporated into the project. The Council’s Procurement Strategy proposes methods of maximising the delivery of procurement benefits that could bring improved financial return to the Council and the areas wider economy. Certain benefits have a monetary value attached and these will be monitored on a project-by-project basis. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where HR impacts have been identified, they have been established and addressed in each specific Contract Strategy and incorporated into the project. Contracts awarded by the Council are compliant with GCSOs and procurement legislation. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where Legal impacts have been identified, they have been established and addressed in each specific Contract Strategy and incorporated into the project. Page 249 of 253
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Contracts awarded by the Council are compliant with GCSOs and procurement legislation. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Sustainable procurement is one of the key objectives of the Council’s Procurement Strategy and will have a positive impact, including, embedding sustainable procurement as business as usual and incorporating community benefits into the Councils contracts. Supporting local businesses and SMEs through closer working with colleagues in the Council’s Enterprise department and by making our processes more streamlined and accessible. Where Environmental/Carbon impacts have been identified, they have been established and addressed in each specific Contract Strategy and incorporated into the project. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Where Risk impacts have been identified, they have been established and Page 250 of 253
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addressed in each specific Contract Strategy and incorporated into the project. Contract award procedures may be susceptible to legal challenge if they are not discharged in accordance with GCSO and procurement legislation. 5.1 0 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 251 of 253
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APPENDIX 1 – SUMMARY OF BELOW THRESHOLD CONTRACT AWARDS Contract Description Contract Award Date Contract Start Date Contract End Date Contract Extensio n Contract Value (incl extension) (£s) Successful Tenderer Supplies Services Works No of Tenders Received Route* BA Childhood Practice Course 27/10/2022 24/10/202 23/10/202 N/A £290,137.50 New College Lanarkshire Services 1 *CO Public Library Management Solution 2022-27 28/10/2022 01/11/202 31/10/202 N/A £230,000.00 Softcat PLC Services 1 **DAF3 * CO – Contract Award from an Open Procedure where a single bid was received. ** DAF3 – Direct Award from a 3rd Party Framework (SG – SVAR) to best value provider. Key – Procurement Route CO - Contract Open Procedure CR - Contract Restricted Procedure FO - Framework Open Procedure FR - Framework Restricted Procedure FMCC - Mini Comp Council Framework FMC3 - Mini Comp 3rd Party Framework DAFC - Direct Award Council Framework Page 252 of 253
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DAF3 - Direct Award 3rd Party Framework DAH&SC - Direct Award Health & Social Care Related Services N - Negotiated Contract EXT - Extension to Contract/Framework Page 253 of 253