Appendix 1 - Perth and Kinross CPC Standards and Quality Report 2024-25
Perth and Kinross Council · 14 January 2026
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Appendix 1 Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee Standards and Quality Report 2024/2025
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1 To quickly move to a section within this report, simply press the CTRL button and click on the section to which you would like to navigate below. Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................. 1 Acknowledgment from the CPC ......................................................................... 2 Welcome from the CPC ..................................................................................... 2 Preface ............................................................................................................. 2 Infographic – Standards and Quality Report 2024/2025 ........................................... 4 Section 1 – Continuous Improvement .................................................................... 5 Section 2 – Public Information, Engagement and Participation ............................... 34 Section 3 – Strategic Planning and Connections .................................................... 42 Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... 59 Appendix 1 – Letham Engagement Activities Evaluation ......................................... 60 Foreword I am pleased to present our Annual Report which, for many years, has provided an evaluation of the work of the CPC over the last year and set priorities for improvements for the years ahead. The CPC uses data to monitor pressures and plan improvements based on accurate information and intelligence. Over the years, it has become more effective at measuring trends in the data to compare and contrast with national figures. This year, the number of Child Concern Reports (CCRs) received has steadied somewhat, in contrast to the year-on-year increases seen since 2020. However, the subsequent key processes of Inter-agency Referral Discussions, Child Protection Planning Meetings, new registrations on the Child Protection Register and the number of unborn babies, babies, children and young people on the Register at the end of 2024/2025 have all continued to reduce as part of a five-year downward trend. The CPC’s subgroup, the Quality Assurance Working Group, monitors these figures on a regular basis and provides the CPC with their analysis. This provides assurance that early and effective intervention work which has been in place since 2022 through revised commissioning and project developments as part of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, has provided support to families before matters escalate to requiring formal child protection intervention. The CPC has undertaken a range of audit work in 2024/2025. A multi-agency audit, using the Care Inspectorate Framework, is planned each year and this year the focus was on those children and young people on the Child Protection Register for whom neglect was the primary issue. In addition, desktop audits were undertaken by the Child Protection Inter-agency Coordinator. These reviewed the inclusion of the views of children and young people in the child protection process and the impact of the introduction of the Safe and Together framework on
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2 child protection work where domestic abuse is a feature. Overall, the findings of the audits were positive and the improvement actions arising from the audits are being progressed. The CPC acknowledges that the most effective way of safeguarding children is through high quality, skilled multi-agency practice and this year there has been a number of actions to support this. These have included a Training Needs Analysis to ensure our training offer for 2025/2026 is meeting the needs of staff; a number of Community of Practice Events and the updating of CPC guidance in partnership with first line staff. Of particular importance both locally and nationally has been the CPC contribution to work on the development of a public protection approach involving all partnerships supporting vulnerable people. Locally, there has been progress in areas such as transitions; Violence Against Women and Girls; Child Protection and Suicide Prevention; and on governance across the partnerships and this will continue to be a major focus for the coming year. In conclusion, this has been a positive year for the CPC, achieved by maintaining a focus on working together with stakeholders including leaders and practitioners in child protection services, as part of a public protection approach and with families and communities. Bill Atkinson Bill Atkinson Independent Chair of the Child Protection Committee (2018 – June 2025) Acknowledgment from the CPC Our Independent Chair, Bill Atkinson retired in June 2025, after more than seven years in the position and a long, distinguished career in social work and child protection. The CPC would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Bill for his calm and focused leadership over the years and his strong commitment to improving the lives of children, young people and their families. We wish him well for a long and happy retirement. Welcome from the CPC Following Bill Atkinson’s retirement, the CPC are pleased to welcome Graham Binnie as their new Independent Chair. Graham joins the CPC following many years of service with Police Scotland, bringing a wealth of experience in public protection and familiarity with Perth and Kinross through his years in Police Scotland’s Tayside Division. Preface In late 2024, the CPC refocused its Improvement Plan to ensure its actions were specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. The Improvement Plan is now organised around the three primary areas of responsibility of all CPCs: • Continuous improvement. • Public information, engagement and participation. • Strategic planning and connections. The plan commenced on 1 January 2025, runs to 2028,and is available here. The structure of this report aligns with that of the improvement plan and is divided into the same three main sections. The aim of this alignment is to support readers to track the work of the CPC and its impact more clearly.
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3 A note about terms All abbreviations within this report are set out when first used and a list of abbreviations can be found here. Please note that, within this report, efforts are made to refer to ‘unborn babies, babies, children and young people’ wherever appropriate rather than simply ‘children and young people.’ Research indicates that it is important that we name babies in safeguarding work to help us avoid the ‘baby blind spot’ and to raise awareness of the unique needs of babies, in the same way that we differentiate those of children from young people.
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4 Infographic – Standards and Quality Report 2024/2025
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5 Section 1 – Continuous Improvement 1.1 Introduction Evidencing continuous improvement relies on being able to demonstrate the difference our partnership is making to unborn babies, babies, children, young people and families in Perth and Kinross. To this end, this section commences with a full overview of this year’s child welfare and protection performance information. Next, our self-evaluation activity and its outcomes over 2024/2025 are outlined, giving substance to the practice which underpins the statistics and offering reassurance on the service delivered to unborn babies, babies, children, young people and families. An analysis of our Learning and Development offer and innovations in 2024/2025 then follows, recognising the importance of learning and development in continuous improvement. Finally, a synopsis of the improvement work that has been completed in partnership with multi-agency first line practitioners over the year is provided, illustrating the importance of bringing together strategic and operational staff to drive continuous improvement. 1.2 Performance Information - What is the data telling us? Understanding and intelligently using data are cornerstones of continuous improvement. The CPC’s subgroup, the Quality Assurance Working Group (QAWG), carefully reviews and interrogates the data presented below at each meeting. This enables trends to be explored, and further enquiries made timeously, if required. The full dataset is also presented to the full CPC with observations from the QAWG so that all members have an opportunity to review the data and make any enquiries they deem relevant. This year’s data mainly follows the trends observed last year with the number of children and young people involved in formal child protection processes continuing to fall. With its ongoing work and responsibility for overseeing the National Minimum Dataset for child protection, the QAWG were keen to timeously explore the reasons that might underpin the decrease in the numbers of children on the Child Protection Register (CPR) and those involved in other key processes. The QAWG invited the Service Manager for Children and Families Social Work (CFSW) to their meeting in February 2025 to discuss the decrease in numbers and consider what may be driving the changes. Four main areas were identified as contributing to the reduction: • Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC), with its clear focus on making sure that children and young people get the support they need, at the time that they need it, has been shaping practice in Scotland for 17 years. Universal services have developed expertise in planning for children and young people and have benefited from additional or realigned resources such as Community Link Workers in schools, universal youth work or early years support practitioners in health services. More recently, the cultural shift prompted by the Promise from 2020 onwards, has brought a stronger focus on family and community support and doing things differently to reduce stigma and promote engagement with families. • Locally, innovations enabled by funding from the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) have included the Families Empowering Communities project, enhanced support for families at earlier stages, and the extended support in mornings, evenings and
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6 weekends through the COPE team for families in which children were on the edge of care. These resources were not available prior to 2022, which is when the realignment of Children and Families Social Work Service Level Agreements and the significant additional funding provided by the Scottish Government through WFWF began. More information on the innovations supported by funding from the WFWF can be found at Section 2.4. • The embedding of the Safe & Together™ model in Perth and Kinross, commenced in 2021, has changed the way in which CFSW intervene in domestic abuse cases, reducing the need for and use of formal measures. This was undertaken through significant funding being provided by Scottish Government and delivered through Equally Safe. This provides further reassurance and evidence that the redirection of resources towards early intervention, commenced in 2022, is ensuring that fewer children and young people require intervention at a child protection level. • It is important to note that CFSW fieldwork teams continue to work with a similar number of children and young people as in previous years and what appears to have changed is the basis on which CFSW teams offer support to unborn babies, babies, children, young people and their families, with a stronger focus on partnering with them to promote engagement. The QAWG has been able to determine through open exploration, interrogation of statistics and through having an overview of all CPC self-evaluation work, that the reduction of the use of formal child protection processes appears to be the result of the coalescence of local and national drivers which have gradually been shifting practice over time. It is also notable that the Covid pandemic created a significant ‘bump’ in the use of child protection processes and that this may cause the subsequent reduction in their use to appear more pronounced than may otherwise have been the case. The work of the QAWG in unpicking and exploring possible narratives behind the reduction in the use of child protection processes provides a strong level of reassurance that unborn babies, babies, children and young people in need and at risk continue to benefit from high quality services in Perth and Kinross. 1.2.1 Child Concern Reports (CCR) A CCR is generated when a service, agency, or individual contacts Children and Families Social Work (CFSW) to raise a concern or an issue regarding an unborn baby, baby, child, or young person. CCRs range from requests for early help through to the most serious child protection concerns.
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7 Overall CCR numbers The total number of CCRs has leveled off following consistent increases over a number of years whilst the number of children and young people subject to a CCR has fallen slightly. These changes are partly attributable to a new data recording system which has changed the process for recording CCRs and continues to be developed, so may impact the way CCRs are reported in the future. Several CCRs can relate to the same child or young person, particularly where there have been multiple or repeated concerns about them. Within police and social work services, escalation and trigger mechanisms are in place to monitor and review multiple or recurring CCRs. Where the child or young person has an allocated social worker, the CCR is shared with their worker for further investigation, assessment and follow-up. Where the child or young person does not have an allocated social worker, multi-agency screening arrangements determine next actions – these options include single or multi-agency assessment and support, referral to the Reporter (Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration – SCRA) for consideration of compulsory measures of care, referral to a Third Sector organisation for help and support and no further action, if appropriate. CCRs which are clearly of a child protection nature or which, after multi-agency screening, indicate the need for a child protection investigation are immediately fast-tracked for an Inter- Agency Referral Discussion (IRD) so that safety plans can be put in place without delay. CCRs by age-range The proportion of children and young people with a CCR in most age groups has remained relatively steady. There has been a slight increase in the 5-10 age group and a slight decrease in the proportion of children and young people in the 11-15 age group.
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8 CCRs by source The main source of CCRs continues to be Police Scotland, followed by Education Services and Health Services. Overall, these three source groups account for over 85% of all CCRs submitted. The number of CCRs submitted by Police Scotland has been continually increasing over the last 5 years. Any Police Officer can raise a CCR, and these are coordinated and quality assured, prior to sharing, by Police Scotland’s Tayside Division’s Risk and Concern Hub. 1.2.2 IRDs When a child protection concern is received, an IRD is convened by Police or Social Work. This is a multi-agency meeting in which babies, children or young people who may have been subjected to, or are suspected of causing, significant harm are discussed, a decision is made on whether a child protection investigation is required, safety plans are put in place and next actions are planned to secure the baby, child or young person’s immediate safety. The number of children and young people subject to an IRD has fallen again this year, as has the number of IRD discussions taking place (which may involve more than one child or young person). Following an IRD there are a number of possible outcomes; if a joint child protection investigation (social work and police) is required, this may involve a joint investigative interview and/or a forensic medical examination of the baby, child or young person. The IRD may consider applying for emergency legal orders to protect the child or young person, making a referral to SCRA, recommending that a Child Protection Planning Meeting (CPPM) is convened, or referring to a single service or agency for intervention and support. Further in this section, at 1.3, the positive improvements that we have made since the introduction of the Tayside IRD Guidance in 2020 are documented through the outcomes of our audit activity which has evidenced that our responses to immediate concerns are strong and effective. This suggests that the reduced number of IRDs in 2024/2025 is likely to reflect the maturation of a proportionate, assessment-based approach involving supporting families at an earlier stage as highlighted in last year’s report.
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9 1.2.3 Joint Investigative Interviews (JIIs) A possible action from an IRD is for the child or young person to be invited to take part in a Joint Investigative Interview (JII). This is where a police officer and a social worker, both with advanced training, interview the child or young person to give them the opportunity to disclose, in their own words, at their own pace and in a trauma-informed environment, what may have happened to them. JIIs also aim to achieve the best evidence for the justice system, should the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service pursue a criminal prosecution in respect of any alleged criminal behaviour toward the child or young person. The number of children and young people who have participated in a JII has again fallen. This is in alignment with the reducing numbers of IRDs and child protection investigations. 1.2.4 Joint Paediatric Forensic Medical Examinations (JPFME) A further action from an IRD or following a JII is for a special medical examination of the child or young person to be conducted by a highly trained and experienced paediatrician. The number of children and young people who have had a JPFME carried out shows considerable variation from year to year as can be seen from this chart. 1.2.5 Child Protection Planning Meetings (CPPMs) CPPMs are the mechanism through which an unborn baby, baby, child, or young person’s name may be added to the Child Protection Register (CPR), They are multi-agency meetings which are only convened following a child protection investigation (ordinarily the decision of an IRD) when it is believed that an unborn baby, baby, child, or young person has been significantly harmed or may be at risk of being significantly harmed. The CPC closely monitors registrations, de- registrations, re-registrations and the length of time children and young people remain on the CPR as part of its quality assurance work.
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10 Pre-Birth Child Protection Planning Meetings (Pre-Birth CPPMs) In 2024/2025, 114 unborn baby referrals were received in total, the majority of which are from NHS Tayside. Following multi-agency screening and assessment, 19 unborn babies were the subject of a multi-agency Pre-Birth CPPM. At the Pre-Birth CPPM, 18 (95%) out of the 19 unborn babies considered were registered on the Child Protection Register (CPR). All unborn babies registered on the CPR are subject to a multi-agency Child Protection Plan. These cases tend to be complex with multi-faceted areas of concern, vulnerability and needs. This continued high level of pre-birth registrations also impacts the age profile of those placed on the CPR. Overall, unborn babies and young children under five remain the majority of those currently registered on the CPR. The remaining 95 unborn baby referrals, where the pregnancy continued, all received or were offered a variety of other supportive interventions and responses, including single agency or service support and multi-agency support. Initial Child Protection Planning Meetings (ICPPMs) Despite the high numbers of CCRs, the number of children and young people being considered at ICPPMs has fallen over the last three years. This indicates that alternative single and / or multi- agency supports had effectively been put in place for families at an earlier stage, preventing escalation to child protection processes. A key part of this has been the increase in the use of multi-agency Child or Young Person’s Plans, which provide early and effective intervention, help build positive relationships with the family and are coordinated by a Lead Professional. This appears to be working well to reduce risks, which in turn, lowers the numbers of ICPPMs that may be required to be held. Of the 33 children and young people who were considered at an ICPPM, 31 (94%) had their names added to the CPR. From the ICPPM, the 31 children and young people became the subject of a multi-agency Child Protection Plan, coordinated by their Lead Professional, which in child protection situations is always a social worker. For the two children and/or young people whose names were not added to the CPR, a Child or Young Person’s Plan would have been put in place and support offered to the family. The high conversion rate of ICPPM and Pre-Birth CPPMs into child protection registrations offers reassurance that the decision to convene a CPPM is being made robustly, ensuring that families are not being referred into this intensive process unnecessarily. This also enables stronger focus to be retained on the small number of unborn babies, babies, children and young people who are assessed as at significant risk of harm.
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11 Review Child Protection Planning Meetings (RCPPMs) RCPPMs consider whether a child or young person’s name should be retained on or may be removed from the CPR. They take place at standardised intervals following the ICPPM in line with national guidance. Where sufficient progress has been made, the RCPPM can make a decision to remove (de-register) an unborn baby, child or young person from the CPR. This is always a multi-agency decision. If insufficient progress has been made, the child or young person’s name will be retained on the CPR with consideration given as to whether compulsory measures may be required through a referral to SCRA. The number of children and young people considered at a RCPPM shows a general downward trend over the last five years, as does the proportion of continued registrations. New Registrations on the Child Protection Register (CPR) New registrations include unborn babies and registrations following CPPMs. These figures can routinely include large family sibling groups of five and more. The number of new registrations on the Child Protection Register (CPR) has fallen this year. This is closely related to the relatively similar numbers of Initial CPPMs taking place. The number of new registrations on the CPR has been generally decreasing over the last five years, following a sharp increase in 2018/19. Children on the Child Protection Register as at 31 July 2025 Following the previously described factors, which have resulted in a levelling off in the number of Initial CPPM and registrations taking place, the number of children and young people’s names on the CPR at 31 July 2025 shows a significant reduction to eighteen, the lowest level since 2013. This reduction correlates with the redirection of partnership resources towards earlier intervention and support in 2022 and the inception of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund and the innovations it has facilitated in early intervention practice. It is also a consequence of the significant investment made to secure consistent Chairing of CPPMs and the increasing use of Child and Young People’s Plans at a much earlier stage; thus, reducing the need to go to CPPM and CPR Registrations.
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12 Length of Registration Most CPR registrations last less than a year, and the number of children and young people who remain on the CPR for 12 months or more remains low following an increase in 2020/21. Many of the children and young people who are on the CPR for longer periods have multiple and / or complex needs which require coordinated support. The number of children and young people whose names are on the CPR for a period of less than 5 months indicates that a proportionate approach is being taken as children and young people should naturally move between levels of intervention as their situation improves, or should it deteriorate. For example, a child on a child protection plan should return to being on a child’s plan when risks have reduced and are being appropriately managed, evidencing proportionality. Re-Registrations Re-Registrations take place where the previous improvements in the child or young person’s circumstances have not been sustained, and the risk of significant harm has returned. The number of children and young people that are re-registered (placed) on the CPR, having been previously removed from the CPR, has fallen slightly, but remains above the significantly low levels seen in 2020/21. Most of these children and young people had last been removed (de-registered) from the CPR more than two years previously, following a multi-agency robust assessment and review meeting agreement. 1.2.6 Referrals to Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) Please note these figures are based on Financial Years (01 Apr – 31 Mar) The number of Children’s Hearings being convened across Tayside has not changed significantly. Perth and Kinross has seen a increase of 7% while the number of hearings taking place in Angus has increased by 14%. There has been a reduction of 6% in Dundee.
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13 Referrals to SCRA (figures based on Financial Years (01 Apr – 31 Mar) The overall number of referrals to SCRA from Perth and Kinross shows an increase of 24% this year, and a similar increase of 20% in the number of individual children being referred to SCRA. There has been a slight increase in the number of referrals being made by CFSW of 7%. Police referrals increased by 25% in the same period and referrals directly from Education increased by 57%. These trends have not been replicated elsewhere in Tayside and require further exploration. The basis of most referrals continues to be under s67(2)(a) of The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 – lack of parental care - but is very closely followed by 67(2)(j) –the child has committed an offence and s.67(2)(o) – failed to attend school regularly without reasonable excuse. The increase in the number of referrals under s.67(2)(o) is to be expected in line with the increase in the number of referrals from education. Compulsory Supervision Orders (CSOs) Figures based on Financial Years (01 Apr – 31 Mar) Children and young people who are placed on a CSO are formally considered to be looked after, either at home or away from home in another placement, and they are subject to regular supervision visits and contacts by a social worker who is responsible for their overall plan of care. The number of children and young people placed on CSOs and the number of children and young people who remained on a CSO, has remained steady, but shows a general downward trend over the last five years, including in the most recent financial year. The current conversion rate of non-offence referrals to Grounds hearings is 45%. The conversion rate of referrals from CFSW to Grounds hearings is 58%. Child Protection Orders (CPOs) Figures based on Financial Years (01 Apr – 31 Mar) CPOs are emergency legal orders which are only granted by a Sheriff when there is clear evidence that a baby, child, or young person is at significant and immediate risk of harm and the parent or primary caregiver does not agree to non-compulsory measures of protection, such as accommodation under Section 25 provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This year, the number of CPOs sought and granted has remained low, which reflects the strength of the work being undertaken at an earlier stage for children, young people and their families.
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14 This year, the number of children and young people placed on Child Protection Orders (CPOs) has stayed low, following a drop in 2021/22. Nationally CPO numbers rose by 5%, and the actual numbers of children and young people involved in PKC remains relatively small at only nine. 1.3 Self-evaluation & Audit Activity In late 2024, the QAWG created two documents, the first of which was the Quality Assurance Strategy which clearly set out the ethos of the CPC’s improvement work, ensuring that the impact of services on children, young people and their families, and their involvement in this kind of activity was centred. The second document was the Quality Assurance Schedule (2025 – 2028), a calendar of planned self-evaluation activity over a three-year period. Each year, a minimum of three desktop audits are undertaken solely by the Child Protection Interagency Coordinator (CPIC) and one full, multi-agency audit undertaken by a team of multi- agency reviewers. The audit topics have been determined by QAWG, with one space left per year to ensure that any new, arising issues can be explored as required. The Quality Assurance Schedule has a RAG (red, amber, green) status for each activity so that progress can be tracked and it is updated on a six-monthly basis.
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15 Through setting out our self-evaluation plan and ensuring that our partnership workforce is aware of what the audit topics will be, we plan to move from a deficit-based model of self- evaluation towards one in which agencies and services have the opportunity to do their own assessment of practice and plan towards improvement over time in advance of the CPC’s audit work providing an independent overview of progress. To support this, the CPC’s subgroup, the Practice Improvement Working Group (PIWG) has produced a workplan to support continuous improvement over the period of the Quality Assurance Schedule. To be effective, the outcomes and learning from self-evaluation activity must be disseminated widely and so, infographics and executive summaries are created from the results for each audit, and these are shared across the partnership and can be used to inform the improvement plans of individual teams and agencies. When actions are identified from audit activity, they are referred back to the relevant service or agency and progress is monitored through an action log via the QAWG. Over the next several pages, the findings from our desktop and multi-agency audits are provided through a brief summary and infographic from each. 1.3.1 Desktop Audit 4 – The voices of children and young people within child protection processes (February 2025). Children and young people at risk of harm have a right to have their views sought and taken into account during the child protection process. This principle has been strengthened through the introduction of the Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM) in May 2024. SCIM is robust in its efforts to ensure that children and young people are given the information and the support they need to decide whether they wish to consent to being jointly interviewed by police and social work when there has been a child protection concern for them. However, it is important that, at every stage, children and young people’s voices are heard and, where they are pre-verbal or non-verbal, that their views are sought through careful observation of them and their behaviours. Clear strengths were identified in this audit with practitioners offering children and young people a choice of ways to participate in meetings and to share their views. Relationships between practitioners, children and young people were strong and their needs were clearly central in decision-making. However, it was found that there needed to be further work in supporting children and young people to contribute and participate in ways that better suit them, the adoption of a routine approach to referring children and young people for Independent Advocacy and greater recognition that seeking their views is an integral part of child protection work, not a discrete activity.
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17 1.3.2 Desktop 5 – Implementation of Safe & Together™ in Perth and Kinross (March 2025) Considerable time and resources have been put into the implementation of the Safe & Together™ model since 2021. It was important to see whether the envisaged cultural shift in working with domestic abuse was underway. Safe and Together™ focuses on keeping child/ren protected from harm and in their care of their non-abusive parent wherever safe and possible to do so. It is an approach to working with domestic abuse in which the social worker and the team around the child partner with the non- abusive parent, recognising their protective actions to keep their children as safe as possible. Importantly, practitioners endeavour to hold the abusive parent accountable for their behaviour and parenting choices. There has typically been a victim-blaming narrative in domestic abuse and Safe & Together™ turns this on head, instead of asking why does the abused person stay in the relationship, the question becomes why does the abusive person behave in a controlling or violent manner towards their life partner? It places responsibility where it belongs – with the person who is causing the harm. The results of this audit were very pleasing, with a clear shift towards victim/survivor-focused practice, recognition of the protective actions of the non-abusive parent clearly described in reports and better contextualisation of the impact of abuse on victims/survivors, such as frequent house moves and disruption to friendships, support, education and careers. This may be through fleeing abuse or through the perpetrator deliberately moving the victim/survivor away from their friends, family and supports. It was clear that workers repeatedly reached out to the abusive parent to try to engage with them, even when these attempts were rejected many times. There were only two minor areas for development identified – greater consideration of the interaction of domestic abuse, mental health and substance use and a need to continue to focus on engaging with both parents. These development points were referred to the Safe & Together™ steering group for their consideration. .
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19 1.3.3 Desktop 6 – Effective Practice in IRDs (July 2025) IRDs are an essential part of the child protection process. Following new IRD guidance in 2020, an audit was completed in 2022 to assess the compliance of IRD practice with the new standards. The QAWG selected this topic to revisit the results of the 2022 exercise and establish the quality of practice five years on from the new guidance. A sample of six IRD minutes were reviewed by the CPIC using the same tool as the 2022 evaluation. As the infographic, which compares findings from 2022 with 2025, below shows, there have been significant improvements in practice. Of the four improvement actions noted in 2022, one has been fully met in terms of consistency of use of the template, one has been paused for some time pending the rollout of the national IRD training, one has not been possible due to a reduction in support staff over the period and only one action, clearer recording of the rationale for decisions, continues to be relevant. Overall, the results from this audit were very positive, with all 6 minutes reviewed being of good quality and having excellent attendance from the four core services (Education, Health, Police and Social Work) wherever applicable. There was lots of good evidence of information being gathered and effectively shared to ensure that plans could be created to keep children and young people at risk of harm safe.
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21 1.3.4 Multi Agency Audit – Recognition and Response to Neglect (May 2025) Neglect is one of the most common forms of child maltreatment and early recognition and response can significantly reduce its impact on children and young people. Twelve reviewers were recruited from first line practitioners and managers from across the partnership who were provided with training on the use of the Care Inspectorate’s Quality Framework for children and young people in need of care and protection (2022) as an audit tool. Over 20 professionals had volunteered to be reviewers which was very positive and allowed for a balanced mix of professions and levels of experience to be achieved. Working in multi-agency pairs, the reviewers audited three sets of case records each over two days looking at the quality of the response for children and young people whose needs had been seriously neglected. In a new approach this year, the parents of each child or young person whose records were reviewed were contacted and they were invited to provide feedback on their experience of services. Seven parents agreed to take part in semi-structured interviews but unfortunately, only one person took part in the end. All children and young people over five were given the opportunity to share their views about how they experienced services. This was done through open questions with the support of a trusted and known adult. Three children and young people were able to provide some feedback on their experiences, and this helped inform the reviewers’ evaluation of practice and the impact of services on children, young people and families. As can be seen from the infographic below, significant strengths were identified by the reviewers who were impressed with the individualised support packages that were put in place for families and the efforts of workers who were seen as going ‘above and beyond’ to keep children and young people safe and cared for. Immediate responses to risk were strong and effective and the evidence showed that the team around the child worked hard and well with each other to build strong and trusting relationships with children, young people and families. Areas for development included ensuring that chronologies for families are created and maintained, that plans for children and young people have clear and measurable actions and that the views of babies and young or non-verbal children are actively sought and recorded through observations. Ensuring that practitioners have space to reflect on the progress that a family is, or may not be, making and adapting the plan appropriately was also recognised as an area for further development. To disseminate the learning from the multi-agency audit, an executive summary was distributed to all relevant first line managers across the partnership, along with the infographic below. All parents who had been contacted, whether they chose to participate or not, have been sent an easier read version of the infographic shown below and were invited to feedback any comments they may wish to share.
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23 1.3.5 Joint self-evaluation activity with Education and Learning The CPIC and the Wellbeing Coordinator for Education and Learning work closely together to ensure that their respective self-evaluation activities can be used as a means to triangulate findings and outcomes. For example, additional questions were added to the CPC Multi-Agency Audit to enable more accurate comparison with the planned Education and Learning Audit of Child Concern Folders. The infographic on the next page shows the similar themes that were identified across CPC and Education and Learning Evaluation work.
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25 1.3.6 Self-evaluation summary and looking forward. As has been demonstrated in this section, the CPC is committed to continuous improvement and, to this end, has established robust self-evaluation arrangements with our partners to ensure that our partnership is always working towards improving the quality of the service that we deliver to unborn babies, babies, children, young people and families. Our self-evaluation activity has consistently demonstrated that our children’s workforce, across the partnership, are committed to the best interests of families and work hard to build trusting relationships with children, young people and their parents and carers. They work well together to ensure that babies, children and young people at immediate risk of harm receive strong and effective responses. Partnership working, information sharing and keeping families informed and updated were significant strengths. The audit activity has enabled the identification of areas which could benefit from improvement, such as creating and maintaining chronologies and ensuring that plans for children and young people have clear actions which can be easily tracked for progress and review. This supports services to focus on these areas of work going forward. Looking forward, we are keen to further develop the involvement of children, young people, their parents or carers and practitioners more widely in our self-evaluation activity and will provide an update on this in our 2025/2026 report. 1.4 Learning and Development The CPC benefits from its own Learning and Development Officer (LDO) who designs and delivers the CPC’s training programme, which is delivered free of charge to all those involved in child welfare and protection work in Perth and Kinross. In this section, an overview of the new approaches in learning and development in 2024/2025 is provided, describing how the CPC has been testing out new ways to upskill and engage with practitioners and how we have been seeking and listening to their views to develop our programme for 2025/2026 through a training needs analysis. An important development this year saw the LDO qualify as a certified trainer in the Safe & Together™ model in January 2025 after a four-month course. The LDO has now delivered a full 4 day in person course as well as some one hour briefing sessions, providing an excellent resource for the partnership. The LDO has continued to deliver a full programme of free Child Protection Learning and Development opportunities, including in-person courses, Community of Practice (CoP) events, live webinars and eLearning, for inter-agency practitioners from any agency or service operating in the Perth and Kinross area. Opportunities continue to be delivered from within our existing resources by the LDO and CPIC supported where possible by CPC and sub-group members. 1.4.1 CPC Community of Practice Events (CoP) CPC CoP events aim to facilitate improved connection and share learning across our services and agencies. This supports the continued development of our child protection culture, ethos and day-to-day practice across Perth and Kinross. A total of 174 inter-agency practitioners attended our three CoP events this year.
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26 Our thematic events were: • Recognising and Responding to Disclosures (25/11/24) • Resolution and Escalation (19/02/25) • Children with Disabilities (27/05/25) CoP Evaluation Quotes 1.4.2 CPC Learning and Development Opportunities In 2024/2025, we successfully achieved our aim of increasing the availability of in-person child protection learning opportunities by almost a third. As noted in the table below, 6 in-person courses were offered across 3 of the 4 workforces (general, specific and intensive) with various opportunities available to undertake the course across the academic year. 12 out of 25 courses took place as planned with a total of 161 delegates attending. Unfortunately, 13 courses required to be cancelled due to very low registration numbers. Overall, there was reduction of 100 delegates attending from the previous year. Through the CPC Training Needs Analysis exercise discussed at 1.4.6 below, practitioners advised that they sometimes found it difficult to know what training was available to them, described that they sometimes felt overwhelmed by the volume of emails they received and that they necessarily had to prioritise emails related to their service users, patients or pupils and that pragmatically, arranging cover to attend training could be difficult. This led to discussion at the CPC Development session in May 2025 at which senior leaders committed to support and reinforce attendance at training within their services and agencies, recognising that it is important that first line practitioners, who may struggle to prioritise their own learning, are given the ‘permission’ they may need to devote some time to learning. Nonetheless, the impact of the training for the practitioners was notable. For example, those attending the half-day Child Protection Recognition and Response Course evaluated that they had increased their confidence in recognising and responding to child protection concerns significantly - from a self-evaluated 7/10 prior to the training to 9/10 after. CPC Child Protection Committee Learning & Development Courses 01.08.24-31.07.2025 Number of Available courses Number of Courses Delivered Number of Places Available Numbers of Delegates Attending Child Protection Recognition and Response (half day) 11 6 275 76 Exploring Neglect (half day) 4 1 100 15 Parental Engagement and Resistance (half day) 3 2 75 23
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27 CPC Child Protection Committee Learning & Development Courses 01.08.24-31.07.2025 Number of Available courses Number of Courses Delivered Number of Places Available Numbers of Delegates Attending Effective Inter-Agency Practice (one day) 3 2 75 31 Children Affected by Parental Substance Use (half day) 2 1 50 16 Child Sexual Exploitation (1 day) 2 0 50 0 Totals 25 12 625 161 Analytical Comment (up 6 from 23/24) (up 4 on 23/24) (up 155 from 23/24) (down 100 from 23/24) Other Child Protection Learning & Development Courses 01.08.24-31.07.2025 Number of Available courses Number of Courses Delivered Number of Places Available Numbers of Delegates Attending E&L Child Protection Officer (1 day) 4 4 100 70 Safe & Together Core (4 days) 1 1 30 24 ELC Childcare Child Protection Basic Awareness 6 6 120 73 Totals 11 11 150 167
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28 1.4.3 CPC Course Evaluation Feedback Safe and Together CORE – May 2025, AK Bell Library 1.4.4 E-modules The CPC delivers nine e-modules that employees of Perth and Kinross Council (including teachers and social workers) and colleagues across the partnership can complete for free, at a time and pace that suits them. These include basic child protection awareness, Getting it Right for Every Child and chronologies. Over the year, 2,549 employees of Perth and Kinross and a further 2,069 colleagues from across the partnership completed e-modules – a total of 4,618 altogether. It was pleasing to see a 15% increase in completion of the essential Child Protection eLearning Module and a 12% increase in completion of the Getting it right in Perth and Kinross eLearning Module compared to 2023/2024. However, completion of other optional Child Protection e- modules is significantly less than previous years. It remains important that inter-agency staff know what eLearning opportunities are available and how to access them. The CPC will continue to promote these across the partnership. 1.4.5 Workplace Evaluations Following each course attendees are contacted to ask about the impact of the learning event they attended in their workplace. Response tends to be relatively low but 82% of those who responded believed that the learning had either a moderate or significant benefit to their practice in the workplace. Whilst practitioners were less sure about the direct impact for children and families, almost 60% believed there was either a moderate or significant benefit of their learning on their direct practice and outcomes for families.
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29 1.4.6 Training Needs Analysis Every three years the CPC conduct a Training Needs Analysis to better understand the child protection learning and development needs of inter-agency first line practitioners and managers working in Perth and Kinross. In March 2025, 131 inter-agency staff completed the online Child Protection Training Needs Survey.
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31 As can be seen from the above diagram, inter-agency staff highlighted a number of key child protection and wellbeing training needs. These topics have been included in the 2025-2026 offer and will be delivered through the core programme as well as thematic learning events throughout the year. Staff were clear about the benefits of undertaking learning delivered by the CPC but identified barriers including lack of time to undertake learning / attend courses or obtain suitable cover for protected learning time. This may reflect the issues noted above with respect to the falling attendance numbers at training. The CPC and partners continue to work together to minimise barriers wherever possible, ensuring a blended learning approach is maintained. Participants at the CPC Development Session agreed that leadership needs to ensure that practitioners are strongly encouraged to attend CP training and that it should be viewed as a priority. We hope to report an improved picture next year. 1.4.7 New Interactive Pathways Toolkit All CPC inter-agency child protection staff learning and development opportunities are continuously updated to ensure they are compliant with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021; updated 2023 and the National Framework for Child Protection Learning and Development in Scotland 2024. The LDO has brought these drivers together in our robust and interactive CPC Inter-Agency Child Protection Learning Pathways and Programme Toolkit (Padlet). Here are some screenshots to illustrate its interactive nature.
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32 This updated and refreshed Pathways Toolkit clearly and simply directs practitioners to identify their Workforce Group (Wider, General, Specific or Intensive) and clarifies what child protection learning is required to undertake their role effectively. The learning pathways include a combination of eLearning and face-to-face courses. The eLearning can be undertaken flexibly; allowing busy practitioners to learn at the time, pace and place most convenient to them. However, we continue to provide as many in-person courses as we can, ensuring our learning programme offers networking opportunities where practitioners can come together. Both sets of learning opportunities meet the updated knowledge, understanding and skills required of each workforce group specified within the National Framework for Child Protection Learning and Development. 1.4.8 Learning from Learning Reviews Learning Reviews are undertaken by CPCs nationally in specific circumstances when a critical incident has occurred in which in which a baby, child or young person has been seriously harmed or died. The aim of a Learning Review is to explore what has happened and what may be learned, in terms of systems and practice, to prevent future reoccurrence. In 2024/2025, no Learning Reviews were undertaken in Perth and Kinross. However, across Scotland and the wider UK, there have been a range of Learning Reviews which have relevance for the children’s services workforce. To support staff to be aware of the themes that have arisen in Learning Reviews, we have offered the following learning opportunities on external reviews: • In November 2024, Caren McLean, Lead Officer for Child Protection in South Lanarkshire, presented a webinar on the circumstances of Young Person C and D. This was on the tragic case of Amber Gibson, who was murdered by her brother in 2021; both of whom were care experienced. • In June 2025, Eileen Marnoch and Kirsty McDiarmid from East and Midlothian Public Protection Committee presented a webinar on a recent Learning Review on the abuse of a position of trust. 1.4.9 Speed Learning Sessions The CPIC undertook a small test of change in May and June 2025 and delivered four ‘Speed Learning Sessions’ on another East and Midlothian Public Protection Committee Learning Review on Family B, in which there had been both chronic and acute neglect. Each speed learning session was scheduled on MS Teams for a maximum of 30 minutes and different time slots were organised, morning, lunchtime and late afternoon to try to provide a range of opportunities for attendance. The sessions consisted of the CPIC giving a 15-minute presentation on the key learning points from the review with the remaining 15 minutes being an opportunity for questions and discussions if so desired. It was made clear that practitioners could leave after the 15 minutes, if this were all the time that they had spare. Attendance was relatively small, but feedback was very positive with attendees appreciating the opportunity to be briefed quickly on presenting issues in child protection. As such, a further test of change will take place in 2025/2026 to see if this is an efficient and viable way of engaging with practitioners. 1.5 Guidance Updates and Development As part of our improvement plan, the CPC is working through its guidance documents to ensure that they are easily accessible, simple to use and fit for purpose for the practitioners who need
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33 them. It was clear that operational staff needed to be engaged and involved in this work, alongside those at a strategic level, to make sure that, as well as being consistent with local and national drivers, they were functional documents for those who need to use and refer to them. This led to the development of a CPC Guidance Development Group (GDG) which reports to the PIWG and is comprised of multi-agency first line practitioners. As has been described above, under the section on CoPs, it has been important to put an iterative process in place to ensure that there is effective two-way communication between the CPC and practitioners. Members of the GDG attend the CoPs to seek views from the wider practitioner group. From each CoP, a 7- minute briefing is then created with the key points and the GDG make a short video to describe the key points of the guidance so that a range of learning styles are supported. We have moved away from a pdf file format for our guidance documents towards a webpage for each which is fully ‘clickable’ and enables practitioners to look for, and quickly navigate to, the specific information that they may require at any given time. This year, the GDG has reviewed and updated Professional Curiosity and Managing Professional Differences – Resolution and Escalation. The group is working on updating our ‘Engaging with Families’ guidance (which was previously entitled ‘Working with Hostile and Non-Engaging Families’) and this should be published in late 2025. Currently, two Short Life Working Groups (SLWG) are developing new guidance as identified in the Improvement Plan. The first is on children and young people with disabilities and the increased risks that they face in terms of child protection. The second is on working safely with children and young people, which is around how professional boundaries and appropriate behaviours safeguard the children and young people with whom we work. Two further SLWGs are in development – one regarding the potential additional risks faced by young people who are part of the LGBTIQA community, and the other is concerned with those faced by children and young people from minoritised ethnic groups. The CPIC has been engaging with the PKC Equality Network and the Perth Welfare Society in some pre-development work for these groups and these will be reported on in 2025/2026. 1.6 Conclusions and Looking Forward The information contained within this section has shown the various ways in which the CPC is fulfilling its commitment to driving continuous improvement through working in partnership with staff at all levels of our organisation to ensure that children and young people in need or at risk and their families receive a timely and effective response which is rights-based and grounded in a whole family approach. We continue to be ambitious to achieve the best possible outcomes for unborn babies, infants, children, young people and families in Perth and Kinross and will look to build on our progress in 2025/2026.
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34 Section 2 – Public Information, Engagement and Participation 2.1 Introduction The CPC has a clear remit to engage with residents of Perth and Kinross to ensure that they are aware of child welfare and protection issues and, should they ever need to access help or make a referral for a child and young person that they can easily find out how to do so. This section begins with an overview of our public facing webpages, then discusses our approaches to engaging with the residents of Perth and Kinross, both those who have had involvement with child welfare and protection services and those who have not. 2.2 The CPC Webpages The CPC webpages are the primary way that the CPC is able to communicate with Perth and Kinross residents and the practitioners from across the partnership. The webpages are hosted on Perth and Kinross Council’s website and are in the process of being reviewed and updated. It is anticipated that this process will take a further 12 – 18 months due to the volume of information involved. 2.2.1 The ease of finding information on how to refer a concern. One of the most important functions of the CPC webpages is to ensure that anyone who is concerned about an unborn baby, baby, child or young person in Perth and Kinross can easily find out what they should and can do to help. It is no longer possible to document accurately the number of unique visitors to the website due to the changes to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations in 2022. Therefore, to see how effective our webpages are in providing this information, the CPIC undertook a variety of Google searches to assess the accessibility of this information to the public. Using the search term ‘worried about child + the name of a town or village in Perth and Kinross,’ the CPIC searched all the towns and some of the larger villages in the area. This resulted in a Google- created artificial intelligence summary which advised the person to contact our Child Protection and Duty Team and brought up the relevant CPC page as the second ‘hit,’ usually with the NSPCC being the first. This provides reassurance that the details and advice provided on the CPC webpages regarding concerns for any child or young person are readily accessible. It is good that a range of routes are offered, including contacting national child protection agencies such as the NSPCC so that individuals who are concerned can exercise their individual choice and preference in making contact with services. 2.2.2 Pages for Children and Young People In March 2025, the CPIC redesigned the pages for children and young people to be more age/developmental stage appropriate and accessible, dividing the information sections into two sections, for children aged up to 11 years and young people aged 12+, with information about staying safe and the rights of children and young people in each. The webpage and its resources are available here. For comparison, here is a screenshot of the webpage as of February 2025 before the redesign:
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35 Below are two screenshots from the section for children aged up to 11 which went live in April 2025: The aim has been to create a more colourful and engaging page that children and parents can look at together and explore staying safe through appropriate interactive games and short videos.
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36 Here is a screenshot of the page for those aged 12 and over: Several parents, children and young people were asked to road-test the new webpages and provide feedback through a form but only a very small number (six) did. However, the feedback was very positive:
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37 Parent 2 Suggestions for the webpages included more facts and a range of games for older young people about how they can stay safe online. The webpages are a work in progress, and we will continue to make efforts to secure a wider range of feedback on them. 2.2.3 Webpages for Practitioners Ensuring practitioners in Perth and Kinross can access national and local information and guidance quickly and easily is another important function of the website. As described in Section 1.5, the CPC is in the process of updating all of its guidance documents for practitioners so that they can navigate easily to the information they need, make use of 7-min briefings or watch/listen to a short video which summarises the main points. In the interests of transparency, these pages are accessible to any person who should wish to access them. “I liked how it is filled with information, and it is all very easy to understand and read. I like how it is split into different ages. I liked how there is an audio version of the story for the kids and adults. I liked how the webpage has the ChildLine number on it as I don't see that a lot anymore. I really liked this 'Always remember, it is never your fault if someone has hurt or harmed you or is not looking after you well. You have a right to grow up safe and protected from harm. You can learn more about your rights below.” Parent 1 “Loved that it gave you the option to read the story or listen to it as not everyone is great at reading” Parent 2 “I like that it tells you that you don’t have to give your name as some kids might be frightened that they will get into trouble.” YP, aged 14 “The story – I like that I could hear it” Child, aged 7 “it helped me learn more how to be safe while playing games online and talking to people that aren't my friends or family.” Child, aged 9
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38 2.3 Engagement with Perth and Kinross Residents Three strands of work have been undertaken this year in terms of engagement with the wider public within Perth and Kinross - with families who have used our services, within a specific community and within our staff groups, a large percentage of whom are Perth and Kinross residents and whose households or family groups are likely to include unborn babies, babies, children and young people . 2.3.1 Families who have used our services. This year, as part of the multi-agency audit, the CPIC contacted every parent and carer of the18 children and young people whose case records had been chosen for review. Each parent and carer was invited to take part in a semi-structured interview to provide feedback on the impact of services on their family. To do this, they were offered a choice of a telephone call, home visit, office visit or a MS Teams call with a professional who had had no prior involvement with their family to ensure that they felt that they could speak freely. Careful thought was given to which professionals would undertake this work and those selected had enhanced knowledge of trauma-informed and responsive approaches. It was important that our duty of care to the parents and carers was fulfilled, and they were offered follow-up conversations or signposted to support if required. Seven parents agreed to take part but unfortunately, only one managed to do so. This was anticipated in some ways, as the audit team recognised that parents might not wish to revisit the events that had led to their children’s names being placed on the Child Protection Register and that, in some cases, they continued to face ongoing and chronic challenges in their lives. However, what this exercise did underline was that encouraging participation is important - even when one person replied that they had zero interest in taking part, they thanked the CPIC for taking the time to ask them. Of the 18 children and young people, seven had been babies or toddlers at the time of their registration and were still very young and of the remaining 11, two children were known to be having a particularly difficult time, and it was decided not to contact them. This left 9 children and young people to be contacted. Three young people did not respond to invitations to take part; three children were no longer open to social work and whose parents did not respond to invitation letters. It felt inappropriate to contact these children directly. This left three children and young people, who shared their views with a trusted adult already known to them through answering some questions about their experiences, doing a Talking Mat and completing a ‘Having Your Say’ form, respectively. These were included in the file for the reviewers to include in their overall assessment of practice in the case. In line with our ethos, all parents and carers, irrespective of whether they participated in the audit process, were provided with an easier read version of the infographic in Section 1.3.4 which summarised the findings from the audit for them and invited them to reply to the CPIC should they wish to comment or ask questions. None of them has done so at the time of writing. However, it is hoped by reaching out to parents and carers and keeping them informed of the audit outcomes, they may feel more able to participate in providing feedback in the future. Although these numbers are very small, it is positive that there has been some parent and child involvement in the audit process, and some learning will be taken forward regarding next year’s activities.
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39 2.3.2 Test of Change – Letham Events week commencing 30 April. In partnership with the Adult Protection Committee and some of our other Public Protection partners, the CPC decided to try a test of change with respect to engaging with specific communities. This led to a planned week of events in and around the Letham Hub and involving Our Lady’s, Letham and Goodlyburn Primary Schools. An evaluation of the activities undertaken and their impact during this week is appended to this report. Regrettably, the turn out for our events was low, although some useful connections were made which would not have been without it taking place. For example, meetings are now ongoing with the Perth Welfare Society with the Adult Protection Coordinator and the CPIC with a view to co-production of child and adult protection information for people from minoritised ethnic groups. The CPIC continues to meet with a small group of parents who attended the Internet Safety Talk at Letham Primary, and they have ‘road-tested’ the CPC webpages for children and young people, providing useful feedback. The most successful part of the week was the poster competition which was held with the local schools on the subject of keeping safe online and in real life. Over 70 entries were received from children in P5 – P7, and the standard was super, with the children spending time thinking about staying safe, not just for themselves but others in their family too. Councillor John Rebbeck judged the winners and runner ups and presented the awards to the children. Runner up at Letham Primary, Name Withheld
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40 2.3.3 Engagement with staff In the region of 85% of staff employed by Perth and Kinross Council live locally. Figures are not known more widely across the partnership, but it is likely that many colleagues live and work in Perth and Kinross. When the CPC engages with staff, such as the Staff Survey undertaken amongst the children’s services workforce in August 2024, it is likely that, to some extent, a fair proportion are responding as parents or carers resident in the area too. The council holds quarterly induction events for new staff at which the CPC takes a marketplace stall whenever possible, handing out information about child protection and what to do if they are concerned about a child or young person. The CPIC’s experience of being on the stall at these events is that several people take the opportunity to discuss concerns that they might have, for their own children or other people, providing an opportunity for signposting. Mason and Alan Runner ups (also pictured above)
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41 2.4 Summary and looking forward. The CPC has taken small but positive steps in engaging with and seeking participation from both the wider community and those children, young people and families who have been in contact with child welfare and protection services. Further tests of change will be tried in 2025/2026 to try to pursue greater engagement and participation. The CPC will be, in conjunction with its Public Protection partners, exploring working with Authentic Voice towards greater participation and inclusion of lived and living experience in our work.
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42 Section 3 – Strategic Planning and Connections 3.1 Introduction Strategic planning and forming connections are at the heart of what the CPC does, it is the key inter-agency, strategic partnership within Perth and Kinross for child protection. In this section, the structure within which the CPC sits, and its working groups are outlined, before moving on to consider the creation of greater links between the CPC and its Public Protection (PP) partners. Finally, updates are provided from some of agencies and services undertaking wider family support work in Perth and Kinross. 3.2 The working arrangements of the CPC The CPC is strongly committed to building an active child protection community and securing a culture where the care and protection of children and young people is at the heart of everyone’s job. An independent person chairs the CPC to support accountability and drive the agenda of the CPC forward. The CPC has two full-time staff members to support it in achieving its goals – the CPIC and the LDO. The CPC is ably supported through a part-time business management post, ensuring the smooth administration of its meetings, subgroups and takes forward additional tasks as required. Membership of the CPC remains intentionally wide and is regularly reviewed to ensure that it accurately reflects the local children's services landscape across the public, private and third sectors. This allows the CPC to take a whole-community approach to raising awareness of the key risks to children and young people. It further creates and sustains connections which might not otherwise be made between diverse agencies and services, all of whom are concerned with the welfare of babies, children and young people. The CPC meets six times per year and minutes from these meetings are published on its public- facing website. Meetings are held in a combination of in person, hybrid and solely on MS Teams. Each year, a development session is held in person which provides an opportunity for discussion between its members outwith its usual busy agenda, promoting the exchange of ideas and providing space for creativity. As the CPC is a strategic body, its members are officers from across the partnership who have the seniority and capacity to commit to changes or undertakings that have been deemed necessary by the CPC as a whole. To take its work forward, the CPC has three subgroups which are its ‘engine rooms’ - each with a different focus. Diagram 1 below shows the structure within which the CPC and its subgroups sit.
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43 The first CPC subgroup is the QAWG, which was chaired in 2024/2025 by the Strategic Lead for Children, Families and Justice. Its membership comprises senior officers from across the partnership and has a vital role in the quality assurance activities of the CPC as explained in Section 1.3. The QAWG scrutinises data on a regular basis, exploring any themes or potential anomalies and directs self-evaluation activities. The findings of each audit are reported into this group and its members determine what actions may be required, delegating work as required to the Practice Improvement Working Group (PIWG). Some of the key outcomes from the QAWG this year have included the refocus of the Improvement Plan, the creation of the Quality Assurance Strategy and Schedule and the development of Speed Learning Sessions. The second subgroup is the PIWG which was chaired in 2024/2025 by the Service Manager for Children and Families Social Work (Fieldwork). The group is comprised of intermediate managers with strong and close links closer to operational practice. The PIWG takes forward tasks as designated from the QAWG, brings Short Life Working Groups together to work on practice issues and disseminates good practice examples from the partnership by inviting practitioners to attend and present their work. Some key outcomes from the PIWG have been the creation of guiding principles for Working with Fathers, Male Carers and Social Fathers and the production of a work plan to support services with self-evaluation activities. The third subgroup is the Case Review Working Group (CRWG), which was chaired in 2024/2025 by the Detective Chief Inspector for Public Protection in Tayside Division, Police Scotland. This group undertakes consideration of cases in which a Learning Review may be required and supports the undertaking of a Learning Review if determined necessary, in accordance with national criteria and frameworks. The CRWG also seeks to learn from and disseminate information about Learning Reviews in other areas and has organised two webinars over the last year to promote awareness of important themes as detailed in Section 1.4.
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44 In addition to these subgroups, the CPC has the Independent Schools Child Protection Group, which brings together private and independent schools within Perth and Kinross to facilitate information exchange between the schools, the CPC and Education and Learning. The group is always attended by the CPIC and the Wellbeing Coordinator from Education and Learning who provide updates from a local and national level. This year, the group has had guest speakers to provide updates on key topics. Enola Butler, Speak Out, Stay Safe Coordinator, NSPCC, attended to provide information on the ‘Speak out, Stay Safe’ programme in schools and information on resources for children and young people, including those with additional support needs. Most recently, Detective Sergeant Allan Neary, Police Scotland, attended to raise awareness of knife crime, the impact of the Knife Angel display in Perth and the resources that are available to support schools in addressing concerns of these kinds. Both speakers were very well received. In terms of governance, the CPC reports to the Public Protection Chief Officers’ Coordination Group (PPCOG), the Children, Young People and Families Partnership (CYPFP) and the Public Protection Coordination Group (PPCG). All of these groups have strong representation from senior officers across the partnership and provide opportunities for strengthening our strategic connections. Looking outwith Perth and Kinross, the CPC has also continued to chair and support a Regional Collaborative of Chairs and lead officers from across 14 CPCs across North and Central Scotland and actively engages in national meetings with CPCScotland and the Scottish government. 3.3 Public Protection Arrangements Public Protection (PP) or Protecting People, as it also known, and the need to ensure that all public protection partnerships are working effectively together, has been of increasing importance nationally in recent years. The PPCG was established to bring together the partnerships to consider cross-cutting agendas, promote synergy and facilitate joined-up working. The other PP Partnerships represented at PPCG are: • Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP) • Adult Protection Committee (APC) • Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) • Suicide Prevention (SP) • Violence against Women and Girls Partnership (VAWP) • Community Safety Partnership (CSP) For the CPC, the benefits of a PP approach have long been self-evident because unborn babies, babies, children and young people may be affected by any single or combination of the issues addressed through the partnerships listed above. Domestic abuse, problematic parental substance use, and parental mental health issues have predominated as the main reasons that babies, children and young people are referred into welfare and protection services for decades. The CPC has been strongly advocating for a whole family approach to child welfare and protection over a number of years, recognising that babies, children and young people ’s care and protection primarily relies upon those within their families, households and communities. This is why strengthening a PP approach is embedded in the improvement plan in action 2.1: We will work towards a Whole Family, Whole of Life approach to Public Protection.
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45 In terms of existing collaborative work, the CPC and APC have benefited from having a shared independent Chair since 2017. This will continue and be further strengthened with the appointment of the new Chair, who will have an additional role in providing leadership for the PPCG. The CPIC and the Adult Protection Interagency Coordinator (APIC) work closely together on areas of joint interest such as working to ensure young people between the ages of 16 and 26, depending on their needs, benefit from the right help at the right time for them. Both the APIC and CPIC work closely with the VAWP Coordinator on issues such as Forced Marriage and ensuring children, young people and adults who are being subjected to domestic abuse receive the care and protection they need. The CPIC sits on the Children and Young People’s subgroup of the ADP, bringing alignment between parts of the ADP delivery plan and the CPC improvement plan. The CPC is linked in with the work of CSP through initiatives which target knife crime and anti-social behaviour and works with SP and MAPPA on specific issues as required. In February 2025, the PP partnerships and the Chief Officer Group participated in a facilitated event to consider how to further strengthen our PP arrangements and the PPCG is working through some of the recommendations from this event, such as a shared PP strategy which is anticipated to be reported on within our Annual Standards and Quality Report for 2025/2026. 3.4 Partnership Updates Within this section are updates on services and developments in Perth and Kinross in the children’s sector. 3.4.1 The Bairn’s Hoose Pathfinder Project and the Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM). In 2023/2024’s report, information was provided regarding the implementation of the Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder project in Tayside which commenced in 2023 as a partnership between Perth and Kinross, Dundee, Angus, Police Scotland and NHS Tayside, as well as on the implementation of SCIM in May 2024. Briefly, the Bairns’ Hoose model represents a transformational, whole systems approach to ensuring that children and young people who have been victims of, or witnesses to, abuse, neglect, exploitation or other harms are provided with the best possible care. It also includes children below the age of criminal responsibility whose behaviour may have caused serious harm, recognising that they remain children in need of care and protection themselves. Bairns’ Hoose aims to ensure that children and young people’s need for trauma informed recovery, support and justice is coordinated through one place, ensuring a holistic response. The implementation and use of the SCIM model is integral to this with both models having a strong focus on the rights and best interests of the children and young people. Conceptually, there are four ‘rooms’ within the Bairns’ Hoose: • The Child Protection Room which is the interview suite where children and young are interviewed by specially trained child protection professionals using SCIM, where they are listened to and what they have to say is recorded. • The Health Room in which the child or young person’s health needs are met, this could be through medical assessment or a forensic medical examination as well as more routine health needs if required.
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46 • The Justice Room from which the child or young person can give evidence to court if required via a satellite link in a peaceful, trauma-informed environment. • The Recovery Room from which children and young people are supported to recover from what has happened through therapeutic or practical supports. To deliver these four ‘rooms,’ the pathfinder has developed a ‘hub and spoke’ model for the region, with Seymour House in Dundee designated as the primary ‘hub.’ For Perth and Kinross, the ‘spoke’ is located within Almondbank House in Perth which has an interview suite, family room and the capacity for vulnerable witnesses to give their evidence to court. This is highly beneficial for victims and survivors of abuse. Funds from the pathfinder have been used to upgrade the facilities in Almondbank House, creating a separate private entrance and greater comfort for children, young people and families, with toys, books and games. Funds have also been used to create flexible, therapeutic and practical support for families after child protection investigations, delivered by Includem. In March 2025, the Scottish Government confirmed that funding for the pathfinder was extended until March 2027 which will allow further work to continue towards fully meeting the Bairns’ Hoose standards by that date. Feedback from children, young people and parents and carers is routinely sought by the SCIM team. In July 2025, all of the 17 children and young people who had left feedback confirmed that they had been given good information and clear explanations of what was going to happen and when. One young person said: “The lady came to my house and gave me a leaflet, spoke to me about breaks, that I can stop it if I want to and I don’t have to do it. It’s my choice.” All 17 children and young people reported feeling listened to by the workers. 15 rated the workers as ‘good’ and two as ‘okay’. 16 children and young people reported that they had thought the interview room was good, comfy and felt safe. In July 2025, 17 parents and carers had also responded to the survey which mirrored the views of the children and young people, reflecting good practices in preparing children and young people for the interview, feeling heard and listened to and appreciating the environment that had been created for them. A different question for parents and carers concerned impact on themselves, the child and their family. Whilst many spoke about the benefits of the child being believed and having the opportunity to tell their story, some parents and carers reflected on the shock that the presenting concern had created and the impact on family relationships. This underlines the importance of the therapeutic support which is being made available to families as they come to terms with these difficult issues. 3.4.2 NSPCC – Speak Out. Stay Safe. Programme in Schools The Speak out. Stay safe. is a safeguarding programme for children aged 5- to 11-years-old. It is available to all primary schools. It helps children understand: • abuse in all its forms and how to recognise the signs of abuse. • that abuse is never a child’s fault, and they have the right to be safe · where to get help and the sources of help available to them, including the Childline service.
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47 The programme links directly the Curriculum for Excellence and helps reinforce key messages about abuse and neglect. Speak out. Stay safe includes: 1. Virtual assemblies for children aged 5-7 and 7-11; 2. Follow on lesson plans with engaging activities and resources to help reinforce and embed key messages; 3. Face-to-face, volunteer led workshops for children aged 6-7 and 9-11 (these are offered to schools as NSPCC has volunteer capacity locally). NSPCC and Perth & Kinross Council have agreed a delivery plan so that every primary school is offered the virtual programme on a three-year cycle. In the 2024/2025 session, 21 schools delivered the virtual assembly content to around 2870 pupils. In addition, 17 schools also had volunteer led, face to face workshops for P3, P6 & P7 pupils, around 1060 pupils. Speak out. Stay Safe. virtual assemblies and volunteer lead workshops were also delivered in Morrison’s Academy, an independent school in Crieff. Feedback from primary schools in Perth & Kinross Forgandenny Primary School: “Thank you so much for all your support and help in organising and delivering the Speak Out, Stay Safe programme at Forgandenny Primary School. Margaret and Sonja were excellent. Compassionate, professional, and able to talk to the children at their level about some very challenging issues. Please pass on our thanks to them both.” Abernethy Primary School “The class were engaged in both the assembly and this workshop; it was great to have visitors come into the school to speak more about the topics addressed in the assembly.” Pitcairn Primary School “The information was very clear and informative. The children were very engaged with Buddy and were hoping to meet him during the workshop. They developed a good understanding of Childline and the importance of speaking to a safe adult. The assemblies were very informative and engaging. This was an excellent experience for our children.” The photos below show a display created by P6/7 pupils in Portmoak Primary School, evidencing the learning around keeping safe and how to get help if they or a friend needs it.
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48 NSPCC also offers an adapted six week Speak out Stay safe programme for children with Additional Support Needs (ASN) This programme supports schools to teach children about what abuse is and safe adults they can turn to for help. These materials are intended for children with moderate learning disabilities, autism spectrum conditions or other additional learning needs and are available throughout the year on request. 3.4.3 Children’s Rights Officer (CRO) Update Young people are becoming increasingly confident in understanding their rights, but work continues to make those rights real in practice. The development of a UNCRC Implementation Group within the council is being explored so that our responsibilities under the UNCRC, The Promise, and corporate parenting may be more fully understood and acted upon. The CRO does not provide individual advocacy but regularly provides support to staff who are working with children and young people where there are complex, rights-based situations to be navigated. The CRO partners with Independent Advocacy Perth and Kinross to deliver in-person training on the UNCRC as well as delivering awareness sessions on the Champions Boards and The Promise more widely. A newly developed online module supports individual learning on the UNCRC whilst a Corporate Parenting Module has now been added to our essential learning offer. Champions Boards The Champions Boards are now active in all 11 secondary schools and engaging 73 young people. The boards focus on supporting care-experienced young people to improve their wellbeing and confidence, develop life skills and providing meaningful opportunities for them to be heard and involved. In May 2025, our first annual awards ceremony was held at the AK Bell Library to celebrate 65 of the young people achieving their Dynamic Youth Achievement Award. In June 2025, 15 young people attended a leadership residential designed to build confidence, teamwork, and communication skills. Champions Boards have been creative in promoting youth voice with the Blairgowrie Champions Board’s co-designing a graffiti project with two murals representing the group in their school. The project was nationally recognised by The Promise for its inclusive, youth-led design.
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49 A key milestone this year was the visit to the Scottish Parliament, where Champions Board members observed First Minister’s Questions and met Natalie Don-Innes, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, to share their experiences of care in Perth and Kinross. Inspired by this, many young people now want to engage more locally. The Children’s Rights Officer is working to facilitate these conversations with Elected Members and Strategic Leads across the Council’s varied services. Our community-based Champs groups (FYI) increased from just 3 to 38 members, with 30 children and young people attending regularly. To support engagement across ages and needs, the group has been split into three - Seniors, Transitions, and Juniors. Feedback from Champs has been very positive. A young person’s survey showed the majority of the 19 respondents felt that their voices are taken seriously at Champs, that it has improved their school experience, enabled them to access new opportunities and develop meaningful relationships through the group. Here are some of the things the young people told us about the impact of Champs: ‘Champs has helped us try new things,’ ‘I am more relaxed/calmer in classes,’ ‘it has boosted my confidence in school,’ ‘helped my mental health,’ ‘breaks up my day,’ ‘I feel more welcome in school.’ Youth Forum, Youth Strategy Partnership and Strategic Voice The Youth Forum structure has evolved to better meet the needs of young people and how they prefer to do things. A fixed format was not working for the young people who needed more flexibility and different choices of how to be involved and contribute. The young people’s workers, with whom they have built relationships, now gather their input on a quarterly basis. Young people are always welcome to attend these meetings which also provide a space for partners to network, contribute to agendas, share updates, and highlight areas of good practice. As a result, the Youth Forum is now known as the Youth Strategy Partnership. It continues to reflect the priorities outlined in our Youth Strategy. How we engage with children and young people needs to adapt to provide them with ways to engage that suit them. We want to support services to think more carefully and consistently about how they engage young people—how views are gathered, how feedback is given, and how we show accountability for the decisions that follow.
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52 3.4.5 CREST The CREST Team continues to provide both Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Lifelong Links (LL) service to children, young people, and their families across Perth and Kinross Council. It is well established service promoting family-led engagement in child centred planning and decision making. Both FGDM and Lifelong Links are fundamentally restorative, seeking to retain crucial relationships for children within their families and communities, including sibling relationships. An approach which is entirely congruent with the key principles and aims of The Promise and with the UNCRC. Professionally led meetings and child protection systems can be difficult for vulnerable families. FGDM is helping develop systems that are based on more positive relationships between professionals, families, and their wider network. FGDM sees and promotes the family and the wider network as a resource, by building on strengths, tapping into their extended network, and supporting them to take ownership of decision making in matters affecting their family. Its aim is always that children and young people can remain living with, or stay connected to, their family and other important people in their lives. From 01 August 2024 and 31 July 2025. CREST has supported 52 children and young people. So what difference is CREST making? When asked for feedback on our service, family members tell us that: “This was a really good process that helped me feel more involved and in control. The coordinator was lovely, and she really listened to me and helped me be more positive. This helped me feel more confident working with social work because of my past with my other children and helped me keep my baby with me.” “There is no need for improvement, it was just perfect. The coordinator was excellent, what a lovely understanding lady, that makes it all feel so friendly & understanding. The advocate was also excellent, she too was lovely, we all felt relaxed & able to put across all our worries individually. Highly recommend this for any family that is struggling to communicate with each other it has been so helpful & I feel now we can sort all this out, whereas before we didn’t have any hope. Now it feels better & we can work on the outcome to suit us all. EXCELLENT.” “I have far more support than I thought I would have. FGDM has given me the belief I can ask for help with my decisions.” Staff tell us that: “The service has been extremely beneficial to me and the family. Allowing family to focus solely on the child and putting their own difficulties aside. Staff extremely knowledgeable and helpful, going above and beyond to achieve goals.” (Social worker) “The coordinator was helpful in getting family members to engage in the process, getting them to take ownership of the risks/concerns that had been identified, and potential solutions. (Social Worker)
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53 The case studies below, in which names, relationships and key details have been altered to ensure privacy of the individuals concerned, show how FGDM can support families to come together for the benefit of their children and make a major difference in their lives. Case study – Bea, aged 14. Bea was accommodated at the age of six and had had no contact with any of her birth family after being placed in a long-term foster care placement. Sadly, when Bea was 14, her placement disrupted, and she needed to move on an emergency basis to another placement. After intensive work and reaching out to family, Bea reconnected with her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Clark. Understandably, Mrs. Clark was initially reluctant to engage with social work due to her historical experiences of working with services. Through working alongside the independent coordinator, Mrs. Clark was supported to meet with Bea’s social worker, leading to an assessment of Mrs. Clark as a potential kinship carer. In time, Bea successfully transitioned to live with her grandmother just after becoming 15, and this has benefited them both. Case Study, Brodie, aged 9. At the time of referral, Brodie was unable to live with his parents as it was not safe for him to do so. Brodie has complex health needs. He had had various placements within his family but sadly, his main carer died which led to a move into foster care. Due to the level of his needs, Brodie’s family felt unable to provide the care he needed. The independent coordinators spent time building a trusting relationship with Brodie’s extended family members, and their wider network who were previously unknown to Social Work. The coordinators encouraged open and reflective discussions to explore what possibilities there were, and what support was needed for them to care for Brodie. Through this process, possible carers have been identified from within the wider family, with other members willing to provide short breaks to support the main placement. Relationships are being built between Bertram and his wider family whilst the kinship assessment is ongoing. In 2025/2026, we look forward to continuing to help more children, young people and their families to remain connected or reconnect together. 3.4.6 Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) As has been described in the first section of this report, there has been considerable focus since 2022 on extending the provision of early help and support to families. The funding provided by the Scottish Government through WFWF has been a key part of supporting this move.
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54 The aim of WFWF is the transformation of the support for families to a holistic, early intervention and prevention model and the provision of support for families when they need it, where they need it and for as long as they need it. The funding has been significant, commencing in 2022 and now confirmed to continue until March 2027, the total amount received by Perth and Kinross by the end of that period will be £4,359,000. WFWF funding has enabled: • The Parenting and Learning Team to deliver an increased number of courses for parents and carers to support them in caring for the children across the developmental stages, from pre-birth, to toddlers through to teens. • The CFSW COPE team to extend their service from evenings and weekends to include mornings, which can be a real pressure for families struggling with school routines etc. COPE provides intensive support to families who are already known and open to Children’s Social Work. The WFWF monies have both increased the capacity of the team and provided greater choice and flexibility for families with support now available from 7.30am to 10pm weekdays, and 10.45am to 9pm at weekends. • The Families Empowering Communities (FEC) Project to increase its staffing capacity and extend its delivery into 3 additional locations. FEC provides holistic early intervention and support for families. The first locations were Crieff and Letham and subsequently, Bertha Park, Muirton and Blairgowrie were added. FEC offers universal activities to enable all families to feel included and connected to their wider community, such as Summer holiday activities. They provide group activities in conjunction with the local community, including a youth club, parents’ wellbeing group, crafting group, creative writing group and family games nights and drop-in sessions. The team also provide one to one parenting support for those within the localities who self-refer or are referred by another agency. • The compilation of a directory of services for Family Support which holds a range of information to support parents, carers and practitioners to find the support that they have identified is needed. Working in collaboration with Perth CAB and the Perth & Kinross Anti-Poverty task force we have introduced the Fast Online Referral Tracking (FORT) system across the area. FORT allows for a more streamlined referral process between partners, which makes connecting people with the support they need simpler and easier. • The creation of the Family Advice and Community Connections Service (FACCS) which is delivered by Aberlour to screen, signpost and/or provide a flexible range of supports to families requesting early help. Families can “reach in” for support, with no requirement for referrals from professionals. Support is provided for children, young people, parents, and carers with children from pre-birth to 18 years old. The kinds of support provided include support to engage with other services, parenting and family routines, relationship issues, budgeting, tenancy support and supporting mental health and wellbeing. Support is provided for families in a coordinated manner, with support workers linking families in with community-based support to ensure that support in sustainable in the longer term.
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55 3.4.7 Barnardos Barnardo’s delivers two services in Perth and Kinross, Hopscotch and Space4U. Hopscotch is an early intervention service for children and young people impacted by parental substance use providing a range of therapeutic 1:1, befriending/parent buddy, whole family and group work support. In 2024/2025, Hopscotch has supported 21 children and young people and offered individual work to nine parents. The team has reached 157 young people as part of multi-agency awareness raising sessions across three secondary schools. As part of our partnership, we have also been developing drop-in sessions with pupils around substances, risk and helping them to stay safe. We are very excited about building on our multiagency partnership in 2025/2026 to support capacity building and co-production learning, extending this with parents and carers. Space4U is an intensive whole family support service for families impacted by substance use, domestic abuse, parental mental ill-health and/or disability. The Space4U team has provided direct support to 39 children and young people as well as 11 parents/ carers. The team has offered a range of 1:1 sessions providing emotional and practical support, befriending/parent buddy and family work to increase parenting capacity, improve family relationships, build resilience and reduce risk. Over 80% of the children and young people referred to the service have: • Received a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and/or a learning disability, • Are currently on the assessment pathway for one of these conditions. • Or have been impacted by trauma in their young lives to the extent that it has contributed to their additional support needs (ASN). Children and young people who have been referred to Space4U may often have difficulty attending school on a consistent basis or following a full-time timetable due to these issues, their mental health or needs-related behaviour. Space4U works closely with schools to address these issues. The children and young people have shared with the teams some of the challenges they face, in their own words: “It’s ok, I’ve seen her stumble and not able to speak before so it’s alright.” – on mum’s increased drinking. “I sometimes don’t understand my friends and I think it is because they’ve not got the same experiences as me. I probably grew up quicker than I should’ve.” “I’m kind of getting used to a quiet home; she used to just shout all the time and when she left, I expected dad to shout at me because I’m used to it.” “We had a dog – I was always a bit worried about the dog when I was at school. I mean it always got fed and it’s walks but I still worried about him being left home with mum.”
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56 “I get so easily angry and irritated now – it’s hard to stop feeling angry.” “It’s like he wasn’t around for ages, either working, pub or Murray Royal so when he was home he’d just be telling me off.” “I have a hard time trusting people because of it.” Positive Impact Listening to children and young people and understanding their lived and living experience at home with their families and providing support and strategies to help them cope has been effective. Workers use a variety of approaches to engage with children and young people. Evaluation of the impact of our Space4U support for children and young people has been extremely positive: • 95% evidenced improved mental health and wellbeing • 90% evidenced positive/improved family relationships. • 90% evidenced improved resilience. • 84% evidenced improved ability to express feelings. • 77% evidenced reduction in impact of trauma
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57 Case Study: Sally Sally has started to develop coping strategies such as knitting, drawing and breathing exercises which she is finding helpful when dealing with difficult situations. Sally has started to open up more to her father, Mr Colman, about her feelings and if she is not comfortable saying her feelings out loud, has started to write these down so they can work through them together and it is positive to see progress being made in this area. Sally has made great progress with her wellbeing and in being able to regulate her emotions and this has meant that her relationship with her father has improved, as she no longer lashes out on such a regular basis. Working on their relationship has been a priority for both Mr Colman and Sally and they have started to spend a lot more time together outside of the house. Mr Colman has been attending a local community garden which Sally goes along to during school holidays, and they have recently had a few day trips together which they have enjoyed. Better Breaks As part of additional funding through Better Breaks, we were delighted to be able to invite families impacted by disability from Perth and Kinross to a two-day, activity-packed residential holiday. Families told us about the positive impact that this had had on them: “What an amazing weekend! Thank you so much again for making it happen for us. It’s given us confidence to be able to try new things as a family and I’m forever grateful for the support. We’ve landed lucky with you.” 3.4.8 PKAVS Young Carers It has been a super busy year for the young carers project. Between August 2024 and August 2025, we have delivered over 40 day trips, this summer alone we had 20 day trips offering 280 young carers a chance to have a break from their caring roles and to make new friends with others in a similar situation. Some of the activities included horse riding, active kids, laser tag and tubing at Midlothian Ski Centre! We have also facilitated 5 residential trips, one of which included a trip to Pisa partially funded by the Gannochy Youth Fund and through fundraising activities the young people attending organised. Another of the residentials was led and fully funded by Venture Trust offering a 4-day therapeutic wilderness adventure for 10 older young carers 16-18. We also have another fully funded residential coming up to Glenmore Lodge through Young Scot. We are really grateful to these partners in allowing us to ensure more young carers get the break they deserve. Our education Attainment Service still continues to offer support through tutor led groups for P1-S2 and in 1-1 tuition for S3-S6. There are currently 80 young carers registered with EASyc. We have a vacancy out at the moment for someone to not only oversee the running of this project,
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58 but to also develop it further to offer support accessing further education, work experience and apprenticeship opportunities. Our counselling service also continues to be utilised by young carers who have the opportunity of six weekly 1-1 counselling sessions with our in-house counsellor Chris, who works with us 1.5 days a week. There is currently a 6-month waiting list for this service. We continue to work well with education, attending all secondary ITM meetings. We also hope to relaunch our young carers e-learning module for professionals, the link to which was lost when we updated our website many years ago. It is hoped that this will be launched sometime in September. In addition to the launch of the e-learning module we hope to also relaunch the Young Carers ID badge with the support of education. The card is to be brought back at the request of young carers. They noted that it had the potential to be a really useful tool, but that education staff had not been fully made aware of what it was for. It is hoped that by having Education fully onboard when we relaunch, that there will be more staff awareness and training regarding the card and its uses. Overall, it has been a great year, and we would like to thank all partners who have supported us with delivery and also the many people who kindly donate to our service making it possible for us to bring some joy and fun into the lives of young carers. 3.5 Summary and looking forward. The CPC has a proud tradition of creating, maintaining and strengthening connections between strategy, practice and the key agencies of the children services workforce. We firmly believe that it is, and always has been, ‘everyone’s job to make sure children and young people are alright.’ As has been demonstrated within this section, the CPC continues to forge links and connections and as shown in our partnership updates, there is much work underway to strengthen these throughout our services and agencies. Looking forward, the CPC will continue to build on our ongoing work to strengthen our public protection arrangements to support a whole of life, whole family approach to care and protection for those who need it. Conclusion This has been a busy year for the CPC as we have sought to strengthen our quality assurance strategy and activities, work more closely with first line practitioners and increase the involvement of children, young people and families in our work. Our quality assurance activity has provided reassurance that unborn babies, babies, children and young people in need and at risk in our communities receive effective responses from services and that our practitioners are child-focused, spend time building relationships with children, young people and their families and work positively with one and other to provide the packages of support needed. However, the CPC is committed to driving forward continuous improvement of services to ensure that our services are excellent and will continue to focus on this goal in 2025/2026.
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59 Abbreviations ADP Alcohol and Drug Partnership APC Adult Protection Committee CCR Child Concern Report CFSW Children and Families Social Work COG Chief Officers’ Group CPC Child Protection Committee CPIC Child Protection Inter-agency Coordinator CPPM Child Protection Planning Meeting (Previously Child Protection Case Conference) CPO Child Protection Order CPP Community Planning Partnership CPR Child Protection Register CRWG Case Review Working Group CSO Compulsory Supervision Order CSWO Chief Social Work Officer CYPFP Children, Young People and Families Partnership CRO Children and Youth Rights Officer GDPR General Data Protection Regulations GIRFEC Getting it Right for Every Child IAPK Independent Advocacy Perth & Kinross ICPPM Initial Child Protection Planning Meeting IRDs Inter-Agency Referral Discussion LDO Learning and Development Officer MAPPA Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements NHS National Health Service (Tayside) NSPCC National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children QAWG Quality Assurance Working Group PIWG Practice Improvement Working Group PKAVS Perth and Kinross Association of Voluntary Service PKC Perth and Kinross Council RASAC PK Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Perth and Kinross RCPPM Review Child Protection Planning Meeting SCRA Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration SMARTer Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic and Time-Limited SP Suicide Prevention UBB Unborn Baby UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child WFWF Whole Family Wellbeing Fund
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60 Appendix 1 – Letham Engagement Activities Evaluation
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