Minute of meeting of 19 September 2025
Perth and Kinross Council · 4 February 2026
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 4 February 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Children, Young People and Families’ Partnership Minute of meeting of the Children, Young People, and Families Partnership held on Friday 19 September 2025 at 9.30am in Council Chambers, 2 High Street, Perth. Present: Councillor L Barrett. Councillor M Frampton A Singh, Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice, PKC D Macluskey, Strategic Lead – Education and Learning, PKC G Boland, Strategic Lead – Strategic Planning, People and Performance, PKC Z Pullar, NHS Tayside E Cruickshank, NHS Tayside S Jeffrey, Tayside & Fife Partnership Coordinator for Children’s Hearings Scotland R Smith, Third Sector Interface Rep G Binnie, Independent Chair of Child and Adult Protection Committees In Attendance: S Fogg, Independent Advocacy Perth & Kinross; B Hutton, S Cooper, S Turner, A McConnachie (all PKC). Apologies: Councillor C Shiers; J Menzies, HSCP; L Sutherland, SCRA; J Baker, Perth and Kinross Council. A Singh in the Chair 1. Welcome and Apologies The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were noted as above. 2. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest in terms of the relevant Codes of Conduct. 3. Minute of Previous Meeting The minute of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Families Partnership of 20 June 2025 was submitted and noted as a correct record subject to agreed amendments.
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The Chair also advised The Partnership is still seeking a Deputy Chair and would welcome any interest. 4. Unknown Activity of Care Leavers Receiving Aftercare Support - Update Following the last meeting, where the issue of unknown economic activity of young people in receipt of After Care services was unknown, Councillor M Frampton provided a verbal update in her role as Chair of the Corporate Parenting Sub-Group. She advised young people who transfer into Through Care and After Care after they turn 16 need tailored support in several areas but as time goes on their confidence in managing themselves increases. Historically cases were kept open until the young person turned 26 even if they were no longer engaging with the service which led to inaccuracies in reporting. Currently the number of cases are being reviewed and so far, it has been found some young people have moved to other areas and others have asked to no longer be contacted so these cases are now being closed. Young people who are no longer engaging are being written to explaining this change in approach and cases can be reopened if the young person needs or wants this. This approach should mean more accurate reporting in future. Resolved: The Partnership noted the update 5. Independent Advocacy and Rights Presentation S Fogg, IAPK Advocacy Manager gave a verbal presentation outlining the work of the service. Highlighting that IAPK are leading the way nationally. IAPK have additional funding for any child open to social work. In line with the Continuing Care Act their Childrens Team supports young people up to the age of 26. Their service is not means tested and a person does not need to be able to speak or have capacity to access it. Statistically she said research has shown every £1 spent on independent advocacy saves Health and Social Care £12. That 96% of 5000 children surveyed would recommend independent advocacy. Last year IAPK had 2000 referrals, and they have a 30% return rate. Their team is made up of 10 advocates with 4 of them full time. The Chair asked how we promote Independent Advocacy to the workforce as they may think they are already carrying out that role.
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S Fogg advised that is the biggest barrier and it is not just professionals who think that as family and friends can too. She thinks the only way around it is seeing advocacy in action as it changes minds. The Chair asked about Independent Advocacy and the Children’s Hearing system. S Jeffrey said they are keen to get feedback, both good and bad, from Independent Advocacy. They have Independent Advocacy attending their Childrens Hearing Improvement Partnership meetings and good practice from chairs and panel members that is pointed out is shared as well as bad as it can identify training needs. S Fogg advised Independent Advocacy have been doing Children’s Hearings in Perth and Kinross since before the legislation came in. She said panels in Perth and Independent Advocacy are leading the way with their collaborative approach as in other areas Independent Advocacy are not getting in the room. E Cruickshank asked about young children who cannot speak, and the approach used for example the NHS use talking mats. S Fogg advised irrespective of age Independent Advocates are trained on non-instructive advocacy which involves interpreting non-verbal cues and observations and their code of practice is similar to Social Work. D Macluskey said previously Independent Advocacy Perth & Kinross have spoken to headteachers and since then the perception in schools is that Independent Advocacy is understood to some extent, valued tremendously but could be used more and would be in communication with S Fogg after the meeting. Resolved: The Partnership noted the presentation. 6. Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee Business Activity Report Since 20 June 2025 There was submitted a report by the Independent Chair of Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee (G/25/133) providing a summary of the key business activities of the Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee (CPC) since the last meeting of the Children, Young People and Families Partnership (CYPFP) on 20 June 2025 when the update report was last presented. The Chair welcomed G Binnie to post and to The Partnership. In addition to the report G Binnie said that operationally coming into post he has confidence in the activity going on and confidence in the management of the Child Protection Committee. Strategically he said his job is to look at how we collaborate with public protection areas better with a workshop next week to start that process.
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Councillor M Frampton asked in terms of “Areas for development” within the report who would be involved in the close observations of babies and very young children. G Binnie advised it could be anyone such as social workers, police, Independent Advocacy etc. S Fogg added from an Independent Advocacy perspective it is a developing need and there is also a development need. She also mentioned the Scottish Government’s Voice of the Infant pledge but said there was too much to go into detail on. Z Pullar said the Family Nurse Partnership are doing a lot of work on this and a lot of quality improvement work is being done on this area. G Binnie added it is an evolving practice. It is about challenging ourselves to get more information and not accept non-engagement as the end. The Chair said at The Partnership earlier in the year having the voice of children and families heard at the arena was discussed and asked G Binnie how he would ensure this happens. G Binnie said it requires some thought. He is conflicted that the formality of committees is a barrier and that it is an area that needs looked at. He suggested Independent Advocacy could maybe play a part. S Fogg advised that ties in with conversations they have had with adult services as it is often the same families they see. The Chair said they want a broad experience and not just the lens of one person on committee. S Jeffrey said Children’s Hearing Scotland had a group of care experienced young people influencing their redesign and they have an Experts by Experience – also a group of care experienced young people – that they link in with. B Hutton said they have good mechanisms in place for engagement within the Youth Strategy that will be discussed later. Resolved: The Partnership noted and endorsed this update from the CPC 7. Thematic Approach to Performance Reporting There was submitted a report by the Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice (G/25/134) continuing the thematic reporting plan for performance and outcome information focused on children, young people and families and setting out a suite of information around the second of the themes, namely Quality of Life.
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The Chair highlighted “Emergency hospital admissions as a result of an unintentional injury” are higher than the Scotland average and wondered if NHS colleagues could shed any light on that. Z Lister said they have had conversations with ambulance colleagues about the threshold they have for taking children and young people to hospital. Occupancy in paediatrics is not higher than other areas and they have no concerns about unintentional injuries. D Macluskey said this would be interesting to explore as it has been a rising trend since 2017 while the rest of Scotland has been falling and if it continues the gap will only widen. The Chair asked B Hutton for his comments on the Scottish Children Reporter’s upward trend, and he advised there has been an increase in undertakings to appear and that he thinks it is a small amount of young people causing the majority of the increase. S Jeffrey said it may be helpful in future to also have a graph showing how many young people are referred to The Reporter on welfare grounds. S Fogg said with the Care and Justice Bill coming in Independent Advocacy have been asked to give the Government a predicted increase in figures and wondered if The Partnership had any predictions. The Chair said he would link her in with S Cooper who has been doing work on that. The Chair recognised that in terms of Housing, Perth and Kinross are sector leading and they will contact Elaine Ritchie to congratulate her team on behalf of The Partnership. B Hutton suggested expanding the congratulations to The Youth Housing Support Group as well. D Macluskey agreed the numbers are extraordinary and should be recognised, celebrated and shared. Resolved: (i) The Partnership considered and commented upon the information set out in Appendix 1. (ii) The Partnership provided guidance to inform the future direction of thematic performance reporting. 8. Annual Report on Suicide Prevention There was submitted a report by the Strategic Lead – Education and Learning (G/25/135) providing an update of the work around suicide prevention and mental health support across education and learning communities. Councillor L Barrett raised the number of schools that had no relationship with the document within the report and asked if this will be picked up with those schools to which S Turner advised it would be.
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The Chair acknowledged it was a really good and helpful report. He was concerned about a potential blind spot related to conclusion 4.1 as it only focuses on the school environment and potentially those pupils who do not attend school or are not even leaving their bedrooms are not being captured to which S Turner advised those pupils should still be on a school role, have a Child’s Plan and still be picked up in the data. The Chair also asked about the use of language, how that has changed with particular reference to primary schools and whether there is something about young people in primary schools not understanding the language around suicide and whether the attention we are giving it is disproportionate. S Turner advised there is something to that and it is striking a balance with what is out there in terms of posters etc. It is a complex area that we need to understand better and one a close eye is being kept on. In relation to question 2 within the report The Chair asked how are we impartially assessing the information because is it not a case of teachers marking their own homework to which S Turner advised the starting point had to be the perception of staff and she did not think teachers would see it as marking their own homework as it is a partnership approach. D Macluskey added a lot of work has gone into building capacity and confidence and he can see that has worked. Teachers say their confidence comes from multiagency work as well as quality assurance work carried out in schools. In relation to question 7 in the report The Chair asked about post referral rejection and if the experience for teachers is different now following the changes with the NHS. S Turner advised that the changes with the NHS related to neurodiversity and not mental health. She added there is a gap and a need for something for young people which is a topic for wider partnership discussion. D Macluskey talked of the progress in the link up with CAMHS as now when there are bumps in the road there is dialogue and lessons learned when that was not always the case. S Cooper said that some of the gap is being picked up by Lighthouse who have a creative approach with gyms and football some of the activities they have. They are investing in and building confidence and self-esteem in young people who do not want to sit in a room and talk. The Chair added that generationally there are different mindsets and that it might be helpful for The Partnership to unpick those differences in terms of forward planning. E Cruickshank said children and young persons voice is something to think about while also thanking the author for the report and agreeing with the
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comments made in particular D Macluskey’s about the link up with CAMHS saying any bumps now are less significant. G Boland asked about the reduction in the return rate and if there was a reason for that. S Turner replied advising there was no particular reason. The focus was on getting responses from all secondary schools and the primary schools that did respond represented a broad range with primary schools also having other mechanisms for identifying problems. Resolved: (i) The Partnership reviewed and agreed the proposed work, including the whole school community approach to mental health work, in two school communities for the school session 2025/26 (ii) The Partnership requested the Strategic Lead – Education and Learning continues to report on this work to the Partnership on an annual basis. 9. Youth Strategy 2024 - Annual Update There was submitted a report by the Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice (G/25/136) providing the first annual update following the strategy’s approval by the Learning and Families Committee in October 2024. G Binnie asked in relation to the young persons voice with it being a complex environment where every week could have something new how is it decided what to ask, how much steering takes place and how are safeguarding and child protection conversations instigated. B Hutton advised they have a relationship-based approach and they use the mechanisms that are already there to start discussions. Sometimes they find out those discussions are already happening. Sometimes it is a case of asking the young people what agencies they want to come along. D Macluskey scaling conversations are taking place around a policy concerning the voice of young people with the working title of Young Voice of Perth which will feed into The Youth Strategy and vice versa. B Hutton said they have asked for a pilot and working group in relation to a Youth Forum which ideally would have young people from all over Perth and Kinross coming together in the centre. D Macluskey said from experience of Pupil Councils they tend to get bogged down in their limitations and that Education could help with the limitlessness of the Youth Forum. R Smith added in terms of funding activities the Gannochy Funding Panel is really undersubscribed.
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Resolved: (i) The Partnership recognised the progress that has been made. (ii) The Partnership requested the Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice provides a further update report in a year’s time. 10. Perth and Kinross Integrated Children's Services Plan There was submitted a report by the Strategic Lead – Children, Families and Justice (G/25/140) providing progress in the development of the Perth and Kinross Integrated Children’s Service Plan 2026-2029 and an update on the Strategic Leads Network for Children’s Services and Planning. S Cooper advised a lot of work has been done already, particularly with data. The data they have is currently being analysed and if there are gaps an email is going out today which needs responded to by 7 October with either the missing data or where to find it. She added Strategic Leads are identifying where this report is going to go and that as well as a toolkit for families being developed a number of consultation events are planned as well. Councillor L Barrett did not think Free School Meals were the only reason behind the decrease in child poverty to which S Cooper agreed adding that other interventions were identified in one of the reports. B Hutton added Welfare Rights have played a huge part which was also agreed. The Chair said they intend to have a first draft of The Plan by the end of the year with it coming into force in April 2026. Consequently, The Partnership may need to look at its governance structure as for now its subgroups report to the current plan and that might need changed. E Cruickshank said from a health point of view NHS Tayside will likely be retaining focus on what currently sits in The Tayside Plan with the addition of dental health concerns. Resolved: (i) The Partnership considered and commented upon the information detailed in this report and as set out in Appendix 1. (ii) The Partnership provided guidance to inform the future direction and further development of the Perth and Kinross Integrated Children’s Service Plan 2026-2029.