Appendix 1 - Youth Strategy Action Plan - Update August 2025
Perth and Kinross Council · 12 November 2025
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 12 November 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page 1 of 6 Youth Strategy Action Plan – Update August 2025 Specific Issue Actions By Who When PROGRESS AS OF AUGUST 2025 Young people need support to ensure they are safe online and that they know the consequences and impact around their messaging. Supported discussions in all settings around use of social media and how this can impact on others as well as keeping themselves safe. Programme to be developed to inform young people of legal and moral implications of on-line messaging. All CPC GIRFEC group SFYP and Youth Forum Sep 2026 Sep 20256 A significant response to this theme has been delivered through the Partner Operations Group, with impactful work carried out by RASAC who have worked with 2047 young people through:39 sessions on Understanding Sexual Violence Online, 21 Sextortion Workshops,16 sessions on Online Safety. These sessions are ongoing across secondary schools, with operational partners now extending delivery to community groups and young people not reached through schools, ensuring broader access. Incorporated in the above training we have informed them of their rights and responsibilities. Ensure there are safe places for young people in schools and communities. Identify where the safe places in schools are for young people to go to when they need it. Identify and publicise safe spaces for young people in communities. Education and SFYP SFYP and partners Sep 2026 Sep 2026 Along with Services for Young People recognised youth organisations continue to provide trusted safe spaces. Services for Young People are supporting 8 weekly drop ins across 8 secondary schools. Our partners offer consistent community spaces, and a key development includes a partner organisation extending services at Drumhar Health Centre. A standout example of youth-led action came from the KYTHE Youth Forum, who collaborated with Loch Leven Campus SMT to identify unsafe areas within the school and co-develop strategies to improve safety. Appendix 1
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Page 2 of 6 Support for guidance teachers and community link workers inc. training on mental health to support young people Identify suitable training and rollout programme Education Sep 2026 While some partners have already delivered health-related training, upcoming partnership meetings will explore how to ensure consistency and identify funding sources for a wider rollout. Education staff attend ASSIST training and Inhouse inputs from the Lighthouse. Training and awareness raising is also delivered by the suicide prevention officer. This action continues to be a priority for development going forward. Young people need trusted adults around them to raise any concerns and believe that they will action their concerns. Develop the role of trusted adult and scope out how the role could be used to support young people. Young People need to choose who their trusted adult is. Refresh the role of the named person. All GIRFEC group Sep 2026 Having Services for Young People staff in each of the secondary schools is offering young people another trusted adult to advocate on their behalf. Along with attending any school meetings Services for Young People staff also offer support for young people at Looked After reviews and Children’s Hearings. Across Perth and Kinross localities our Universal Youthwork partners indicate that they have made (in 2024-2025) 22,823 contacts with 3,293 young people, further promoting youth workers as trusted adults, and their venues as safe places to meet. A future development is to extend the role of the named person through the GIRFEC group. The Youth Forum is being established but requires work with the young people re role, membership etc. Develop constitution- ways of working, membership and roles. SYP and CRO Sep 2026 Following further consultation with young people a centralised approach was not the favoured option. In its place there are locality groups supported by staff who then come together to share the voice of young people.
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Page 3 of 6 Ensure links with CYPF partnership are established. Identify and progress links to agenda when appropriate. SYP and CRO Sep 2026 A presentation is to be made at a future partnership meeting to give detail around what young people are saying, the issues facing them and supports that are needed. This will be the start of the conversation about how to strengthen links. Develop links with school and community groups. Undertake visits to and establish links with groups. SYP and CRO Sep 2026 Discussions are underway to establish links with the forthcoming Learner Participation Strategy, led by our Education Colleagues. Once the Participation Strategy is launched there will be an invite to a future partnership meeting to strengthen the links and identify some joint working across both strategies. Young people need to be prepared for employment with writing CV’s undertaking skills development and preparing for interviews. Develop package of support specifically targeting those who wish to go into employment. Youth Employability partners through the Local Employability Partnership Sep 2026 Along with 82 young people receiving employability support from the Skills and Employment Support team, LOGOS further supported 16 young people in Crieff and 10 in Auchterarder through CV writing and Interview support. This approach is going to be further rolled out through the partnership to localities, Young people need to be prepared for adult life and some of the practical things they need. Develop life skills programme to include aspects of housing and finances. Parenting programmes could also be included. SYP and partners Sep 2026 Services For Young People are working with Rock Trust to produce and deliver a Housing Tenancy Programme for our Champs Boards. This will include the financial responsibilities of running a household, being a good neighbour and active citizen. Services for Young people will deliver this pilot across all our Champs Boards after the October holiday, after this programme is delivered work will focus on introducing this within PSE classes across our secondary schools.
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Page 4 of 6 Young People need to know their rights and how to exercise them. Provide information and publicity around UNCRC and what this means to them. CRO Sep 2026 Our Children’s Rights Officer has launched the UNCRC Online Information Module, accessible to: Council staff, partner organisations and young people themselves. This will be further promoted through our partner networks to embed rights-based understanding across services and young people Young People want to volunteer but are unsure how to do this and what opportunities exist. Create a volunteering portal for young people and support to access by organisations looking for volunteers. Communities team within Perth and Kinross Council in partnership with PKAVS Sep 2026 Service for Young people are supporting PKAVS to promote its volunteering strategy by working with selected youth forums. This work will also make its new volunteering portal more accessible and appealing to young people. This will help increase youth participation in local opportunities. To date: 4,883 volunteer hours recorded through the participation of Young People through the Duke of Edinburgh Award plus 94 new users registered through the PKAVS portal showing 1536 volunteering hours recorded by them. Young people experience discrimination because they are young. Intergenerational work can help with that as well as challenging discrimination in a positive way. Create opportunities for inter-generational work. Support young people who have faced discrimination and offer advice about challenging in future. SYP and HSCP All Sep 2026 Sep 2026 At a local level there are Community projects that have an intergenerational slant such as Joint initiatives in community gardening. Further development and promotion of these will go towards increasing opportunities. Further development of volunteering opportunities will allow for greater intergenerational work.
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Page 5 of 6 The partnership are also developing ways in which we can celebrate the achievements of our young people and change the narrative. Being in a rural community has barriers but by working together we can challenge these barriers. Work with partners to create opportunities for young people who are isolated to become involved with others. All Sep 2026 Along with the Gannochy Trust Perth and Kinross Council continues to support our local youthwork partnership to deliver opportunities for young people to take part in. We know rural areas face challenges with transport and service availability which has resulted in KYTHE purchasing a mobile youthwork provision delivering opportunities across the Glendevon area, Bridge of Earn and Abernethy. AYP have supported a youth group in Kirkmichael. The Y games held at the DOOCOT next to the Gannochy Trust supported in excess of 70 young people from across Perth and Kinross to take part in friendly highland games competition. Street Sports for all continues to work with partners to deliver Street Sports in remote areas. A trip has seen two rural groups and a city group travel to Alton Towers for the day. Young People who are involved in anti-social behaviour find themselves a focus in smaller communities and this leads to difficulty in changing the perception of themselves. Help young people to change the perception of themselves and be involved in their community. All Sep 2026 Services for Young People continue to work at a local level with young people referred to them. Work is then focussed through individual and thematic group work sessions which aims to positively re-engage them with community and school activities. An example of this was displayed through joint working between Services for Young People and the Alyth Youth Partnership where those YP on the verge of exclusion from their local community were
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Page 6 of 6 involved in cleaning up the local area through a litter picking initiative. For 2024/2025 184 referred young people who are on the edge of statutory intervention were given support from Services for Young people on an individual basis. Young people who are unaccompanied and seeking Asylum require support for integration. Develop integration package. SYP Sep 2026 Young asylum seekers continue to be supported by Services for Young People at Scott Street. The CASA programme is successfully integrating the young people into their local communities. They participate in a weekly Life Skills programme, delivered through the Dynamic Youth Award, which covers: Mental Health, Budgeting, Diet and Nutrition, Cleaning and Household Management, Sexual Health, Voice and Rights This programme is designed to build independence and prepare young people for future tenancies, while also strengthening their role as active citizens. For 2025 :8 CASA young people will receive a Dynamic Youth Award and 6 will receive their Bronze DOFE Award.