Appendix 4 - Key Improvement Activities from CDIP 2024-25
Perth and Kinross Council · 17 September 2025
Back to Scrutiny and Performance Committee — 17 September 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 Key Improvement activities from CDIP 2024-25 Appendix 4 The following section provides an update on improvement actions included in the Corporate Delivery Improvement Plan 2024/25, approved at Council on 15 May 2024. Priority: Tackling Poverty What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update A co-ordinated and collaborative approach with partners and communities to mitigate the impact of poverty across Perth and Kinross An overarching Poverty Strategy, including key strategic actions for 2024/25 to prevent and mitigate the impacts of poverty for children living locally, will be considered later in 2024 Performance measures will be agreed as part of the Poverty Strategy (including baselines) Strategic Planning, People and Performance March 2025 A Tacking Poverty Strategy was approved in November 2024. An action plan which includes actions and performance measures has been developed by the Anti-Poverty Task Force. This is currently being taken forward by thematic sub-groups for delivery. Encourage and maximise the update of all supports targeted for children and young people to reduce costs and to reduce the impact such costs have on the outgoings of families in poverty Increasing uptake of free school meals for eligible children A 5% increase of uptake of free school meals Baseline: 2022/23: 65% (primary pupils); 43% (secondary pupils) Education and Learning March 2025 2023/24: 65% Primary, 53% Secondary 2024/25: 66% Primary, 60% Secondary While the uptake of Free School Meals (FSM) has increased among secondary pupils, Primary uptake has not increased significantly and overall, there has only been a slight increase of around 1% in uptake. The uptake of FSM has been actively promoted by schools and by the corporate communications team to encourage applications and uptake. Support is also provided for families to complete applications. Encourage and maximise the update of all supports targeted for children and young Reduce the cost of the school day Schools using the Cost of the School Day toolkit with Education and Learning March 2025 The majority of schools have now included Cost of the School Day within their school improvement plans and Cost of the School Day guidance has been published.
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2 Priority: Tackling Poverty What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update people to reduce costs to reduce the impact such costs have on the outgoing’s families in poverty action plans in place Quality Improvement Officers are following up with the remaining schools, and Cost of the School Day plans are now integrated within School Improvement paperwork. Impact will be measured over the course of 2025/26 based on measures included in the plans submitted. Increasing uptake of the National Entitlement Card for free bus travel to reduce travel costs Run drop-in sign up sessions to support people who have challenges to sign up online. A 5% increase in uptake of the National Entitlement Card amongst under- 22s. Baseline: March 2024 18,742 of under 22s with a card, 69.4% of under 22s in P&K Strategic Planning, People and Performance March 2025 March 2025 – 20,323 young people between 5 – 21 years with a card – 77.5% of U22s in PKC – this is an increase of 8.1% compared to the previous year and above the 5% increase target. Of the young people 5 – 11 years, 45% with a card, of the young people 12 – 21 years, 99.6% with a card. Comms have been issued throughout the year, on the Council’s social media platforms and on the real time information screens promoting the free 60+, disabled and U22s free bus passes. The free first Saturday in the month bus travel was also promoted in these areas. Promote NEC take up alongside free Saturday bus travel marketing activity
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3 Priority: Tackling climate change and supporting greener sustainable places What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Ensure we have a cleaner and greener Council fleet Implement the Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy for Perth and Kinross Council From 2025 100% of all fleet vehicles under 3.5 tonnes which reach the end of their useful life or lease period to be replaced with electric vehicles Baseline: In 2022/23 17 fleet vehicles were electric (4% of total fleet) Environment and Infrastructure March 2025 The Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy was approved by the Climate Change & Sustainability Committee in April 2025, with the aim of aligning fleet purchases with future developments in technology, and with the aim of increasing the number of Low Emissions Vehicles (LEVs) within the Council fleet between 2025-2030. We continue to closely scrutinise UK and Scottish Government targets relating to green transport to ensure that we continue to adhere to these. We also participate in Transport Scotland’s Policy Consultative Group. In 2024/25, 4.5% of the Council’s fleet were electric or powered by other zero direct carbon fuel technologies, above the target of 3.85% with three electric vehicles purchased in the year. Develop local public transport solutions which set the needs of residents and the environment as top priority Consider how subsidised local bus services could be configured to be more effective, efficient and economic, addressing equality issues and environmental commitments Develop a fully costed business case for new models of public transport delivery Scoping of proposals and project plan developed Establish baseline for number of journeys delivered through subsidised local bus transport, including existing support provided through Demand Responsive Transport and Community Transport Housing and Communities March 2026 PKC IT department have built a Power BI dashboard for reporting and analysing on bus passenger and revenue information. PTU have set up data feeds from the bus companies who use Ticketer electronic ticket machines and also a data feed from Stagecoach East Scotland’s electronic ticket machines. The Demand Responsive Data can be inputted manually from monthly returns. Consultants have been engaged to support the Council in the delivery of the outline business case and five workstreams have been established. Improved energy efficiency and A Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) will Progress on LHEES. Performance measures on this improvement will Economy, Development and Planning March 2025 The final approved LHEES and Local Area Energy Plans were published in May 2024. Following publication, a KPI framework has been developed and
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4 Priority: Tackling climate change and supporting greener sustainable places What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update reduction in carbon emissions in the Council estate be published in May 2024 be agreed as part of LHEES external delivery groups have been established. Key LHEES delivery actions have been progressed including option development for a new Perth City Centre Heat Network and Heat Network Designation Zoning across Perth and Kinross more widely. This Council continued to fund SCARF to provide free home energy advice. This benefitted over 1638 households, helping to increase the warmth of homes while bringing down fuel bills and lowering emissions. As a result, £3,360 of fuel debt was written off, relieving immediate pressure for households in crisis. 558 households were provided with face-to-face support and personalised advice and interventions that helped them take control of their energy usage. This advice delivered an estimated £51,661 in household savings and 123.56 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions savings. Last, 108 onward referrals were made to additional schemes and support services, ensuring clients could access everything from energy advice funding to welfare rights advice. Increase provision of biodiversity sites Developing a long-term plan for managed grassland areas Increase volume of uncut grassland areas Baseline: 2023/24 40.4ha (53.68 acres) Environment and Infrastructure Housing and Communities March 2025 The grassland management trials were further extended in 2024/25 to include all sites in Perth and the surrounding landward areas towards Dundee. This forms part of the ongoing development of a long- term plan to support a “long grass” approach across Perth and Kinross. As part of ‘Grow Wild’ Phase 1, the area managed under this approach has increased from 49.16 hectares to 121.5 hectares in 2024/25. Initial monitoring shows that unmown areas support greater biodiversity, with increases in both insect and
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5 Priority: Tackling climate change and supporting greener sustainable places What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Increase provision of biodiversity sites flower populations. This contributes to reversing the decline in pollinators—essential for food production— and supports efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Delivery of UK Shared Prosperity Fund funded Biodiversity Towns and Villages Project and the Greening Industrial Estates Project Increase in number of biodiversity interventions Baseline: 2022/23 – 64 biodiversity interventions completed Environment and Infrastructure Housing and Communities March 2025 114 community engagements carried out for Biodiversity towns and villages. Biodiversity towns and villages help to create habitat and the monitoring contributes to national recording statistics to show the changes nationally. Raingardens help to mitigate flooding. Activities delivered include: • 10 community mapping sessions; • 11 events (Gardening for Wildlife, Amphibian Ladders, Scottish Swift Conference, Portmoak Gala, Hedgehog Highways); • 27 site visits & recces; • 2 volunteer sessions; • 5 tutorials; • 18 Snowdrop plantings; • 27 swift box installs; • 7 meetings in person or online; • 7 interactive Zoom conferences; • 226 fruit tree plantings, • 18 Mag/BeePost installs (will update). • 5 Businesses received non-financial support. • 2 SuDS raingardens implemented.
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6 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Unlock new investment in employment and housing land to support business growth in new growth sectors Commence design work and development of Perth West Eco Innovation Park Level of business interest in Perth West demonstrated by leasing or buying land Baseline: new measure, baseline data to be established 2024/25 Economy Development and Planning March 2025 Design work has already commenced with respect to opening up the 11ha of land that will form the first phase of the Perth Eco-Innovation Park at Perth West. Ground investigations have been carried out and Heads of Terms will soon be agreed allowing the transfer of land to the Council. A commercial real estate and property investment consultancy (JLL) began work in May to review market conditions and recommend a development partner who can work with the Council to realise the employment potential of the site. There is a steady level of interest from businesses in industrial sites and premises that the Council owns or manages including Northfield Business Park. Enquiries from companies looking for new premises in existing commercial business complexes remains steady. A baseline measure for this KPI is in the process of being established. Make Perth and Kinross a more competitive inward investment destination and encourage investment for growth from Developing and improving Invest in Perth information and support for new and existing businesses investing in Perth and Kinross Introduce Business Enquiry Management Increased levels of interest and awareness in inward investment opportunities in Perth and Kinross Baseline: new measure, baseline data to be establish in 2024/25 through the new Business Enquiry Management Economy Development and Planning March 2025 In October 2024, we launched a refreshed Invest in Perth website designed to promote Perth and Kinross as a prime location for doing business. The new site targets both local businesses seeking support and those interested in inward investment and land opportunities. With a cleaner, more user- friendly design, the website serves as a hub for signposting to business support agencies while showcasing current investment prospects.
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7 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update existing businesses in key growth sectors System to provide more data and insight System being introduced in 2024 In January 2025, we launched and implemented our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This allows us to track all business interactions and engagements and monitor business opportunities and challenges. Make Perth and Kinross a more competitive inward investment destination and encourage investment for growth from existing businesses in key growth sectors Working more closely with Business Gateway, Growbiz and key businesses and sector representatives Increased levels of interest and awareness in inward investment opportunities in Perth Baseline: new measure, baseline data to be established in 2024/25 through the new Business Enquiry Management System being introduced in 2024 Economy Development and Planning March 2025 252 Business start-ups were supported by Business Gateway; this is an increase compared to 23/24 figures. Our New Start and Pre-Start Plus (previously Early-Stage Growth) target (20) exceeded, with over 22 businesses supported. Perth and Kinross had the highest BG Growth referrals across Tayside with 23, which are businesses with projected turnover increases of £200k+. Funding is provided to GrowBiz to support start-up micro enterprises/self- employed individuals and social enterprises in rural Perth and Kinross. Support is also provided for developing an enterprising culture in young people and in rural communities. The 2024/25 target for Enterprise Support for GrowBiz was 45 businesses a month, totalling 180 over a 12-month period. This target was exceeded with a total of 254 businesses receiving enterprise support in 2024/25. 231 businesses attended learning & networking sessions, exceeding the target of 180. 43% of businesses supported in 2024/25 fell into the category of Perth and Kinross Council's targeted growth sectors. The number of new businesses that started trading with the assistance of GrowBiz was 76. Perthshire Artisans had a target to support 36 creative sector businesses and was supporting 168 by the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
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8 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Increased number of businesses in the creative and digital industries Renewed focus on the visitor, cultural and creative economy as a result of greater collaboration through the new focussed delivery structure. Demand for business space for creative and digital industries will increase Baseline: new measure, baseline data to be establish In 2024/25 through the new Cultural Database in progress for 2024 Economy Development and Planning March 2025 Perth and Kinross now hosts 355 registered creative businesses, with initiatives underway to grow this number. The Culture Strategy 2023–2025 is being actively progressed, embedding culture as a driver of economic growth. Perth’s UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art status is enhancing its profile, supported by a programme of impactful local and international projects. The Famous Grouse Ideas Centre continues to support innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital growth, with programmes like The Angel’s Share attracting investment and supporting business development. Techscaler has established a regular presence, helping build a strong tech community and promoting Perth and Kinross as a hub for digital business. Unlock private investment and expertise to support public and private energy projects Develop a Strategic Energy Partnership with private partner and pipeline of energy investable projects Increased investment in energy projects shown through number of strategic cases approved for delivery which include financial investment Baseline: new measure, baseline data to be establish in 2024/25 Increase in number of registered businesses in energy Economy Development and Planning March 2025 We are progressing the Strategic Energy Partnership approach and have received advice from our legal advisers on the appropriate delivery models – based on other experience from similar models from across the UK. A draft Procurement Strategy will be agreed by an officer Board currently being established. A Competitive Dialogue process will be used to select a private sector partner which should be announced by March 2026.
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9 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report More people choose Perth and Kinross as a destination for holidays and day trips Increased promotion of consumer and visitor offer via Perth City and Towns website and social media channels Deliver national and international tourism campaigns with Visit Scotland. Attend or be represented at national and regional travel trade events Increased consumer and visitor expenditure, dwell time and overnight stays. Baseline: 2022 Direct tourism expenditure: £463.48 million Average length of stay (staying visitors): 3.1 days Economic impact of tourism: £646.50 million Economy Development and Planning March 2025 Perth City & Towns is the promotional arm of Perth & Kinross Council in terms of residents and visitors, overseeing the marketing and promotion of Perth City and the surrounding towns, large events, and footfall drivers, as well as tourism initiatives for the area, The website offers promotional opportunities for retail, hospitality businesses, visitor attractions and event organisers via a multi-platform marketing strategy and vibrant, varied programme of events. Perth City and Towns Website – 108,685 Active Users - 57,670 of which is organic search. Top Location – London with 23,169 Followed by Perth – 17,604 Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow. Locations spanning across the UK. Social Channels: Facebook 33K followers Twitter / X 11K followers Instagram 7K followers. Mailchimp Newsletter – 23K – Monthly Newsletter advertising what’s on across the region. We delivered a series of creative campaigns and events to promote Perth city centre and support local businesses. Notable new additions included Perth
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10 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Cocktail Week, which showcased 35 venues and generated an economic impact of £263K, and the Street Life Campaign, which highlighted over 130 independent retailers, reinforcing Perth’s identity as a hub for unique, local shopping. Other initiatives included Perth Eat Week, the launch of a new City Centre Map, and continued promotion of the Perth & Kinross Gift Card, all aimed at boosting visibility and footfall across the city. Events are the most popular pages with the Christmas Blog generating 21,158 page views, followed by the events and festivals blog generating 19,341 page views. Perth City and Towns platform will continue to be used to promote the region. The website will undergo a rebuild in 2025/2026 to further enhance the brand, improve navigation, refresh content whilst also adding additional functions to support promoters and end users. Further enhance our employability outreach capacity, supporting individuals in community settings Review and increase the number of employability outreach locations and frequency Increased numbers of individuals supported in targeted locations and overall increase in number of people supported Baseline: 2022/23 - 215 number of people supported in outreach locations Economy Development and Planning March 2025 We have increased the number of people supported overall, including within key priority areas. Within 2024/2025 we have supported 199 parents with 45 of those participants moving into Self-employment 13 of which were supported with childcare whilst moving back into employment. 119 participants have been successful at accessing our training grant which is in place to upskill or gain a new qualification. While direct outreach remains a challenge, we have strengthened local visibility and access by working through trusted partners, improving referral routes, and responding quickly to identified needs. Working in partnership with different services at the NEXT
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11 Priority: Developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update STEPS 4 ALL employment drop ins at Letham 4 all we have seen 21 clients engage with us since this began in March 25’ We are a referral pathway on FORT giving better access to employability services – 1 referral from a different agent so far but support is now in place. Crieff community campus remains an outreach hub on the first Thursday of every month – the staff were keen to give us a bigger presence in the library allowing us to connect with book bug attendees. Recognising challenges around traditional outreach, our approach has focused on making ourselves more visible and accessible where families already are – flexibility has been key. Strengthening warm referral pathways through partners such as Business Gateway and establishing a regular presence at The Hub – allowing families to meet with us in trusted, familiar spaces. We are collaborating and working together to improve visibility – employability board/ flyers on tables and marketing for tv screen in main foyer.
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12 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Attainment at key milestones is raised for all children and young people Using health and wellbeing census data to inform school level improvement plans PKC attainment for each of the indicators within the Corporate Plan will increase to at least target levels. Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Education and Learning February 2026 For Session 2024/25:31% of primary schools had included a priority addressing Health and Wellbeing on their School Improvement Plans: 22% of primary schools identified the Nurturing Schools programme 13% identified Relationships and Behaviour 10% identified Health and Wellbeing curriculum development Over 70% of schools have now engaged with the Nurturing Schools Programme. Increase the number of young people going into positive destinations such as work experience, further education, volunteering and employment By placing an Employability Youth Worker in each locality to liaise with school Early intervention approach in Increase in school leavers entering positive initial destinations Baseline: 2022/23 (95.97%) Education and Learning March 2025 Summer leaver data is not yet available for 2024/25, however for 2023/24 the percentage of school levers entering an initial positive destination increased to 96.4% from 95.97% in 2022/23. Over the course of the year, an internal Work Placement Assessors course has been delivered in conjunction with the corporate Health and Safety team. 20 staff have now been trained, including Employability Youth Workers. This has built additional capacity for work placements to be arranged and by training the Employability Youth Workers, those who are most at risk of not achieving a
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13 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update school and delivery of employability programmes positive destination can be prioritised for work experience placements. The number of pupils undertaking work experience placements has increased to 596 in 2024/25 and is on a steady upward trajectory from 264 in 2021/22. External funding has been secured to run a pilot Enterprise and Employability programme at Perth High School for S3 pupils who are at risk of not achieving a positive destination. YMCA are working with groups of 6- 8 young people in each school with a focus on employability skills. The impact of the programme includes an Employability Award at SCQF Level 4 which all participants are on track to achieve. This recognises improved consistency in attendance and engagement, improved attitude towards youth workers, improved engagement in accredited work and participation in wider opportunities. Those delivering the programme reported improved engagement, development of key life skills, and increased self- confidence among participants, many of whom may underachieve within the school environment and leave school with no positive destination. A school atmosphere conducive to Implementation of the updated Anti- Bullying Strategy Schools will have robust procedures to reduce Education and Learning March 2025 The PKC Anti-Bullying Strategy and supporting Operational Guidance were published in June 2024. These support children, young people, parents and staff
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14 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update learning and personal development, where children and young people feel safe, secure, listed to and have their views taken into account on issues that affect them which will include key strategic actions for 2024/25 bullying in line with improving relationships in schools and ELC settings to feel be informed on approaches to prevent bullying and be confident that bullying can be addressed wherever it happens. Schools are using these to inform the development of local procedures, appropriate to their own context. Considerable work has been undertaken on Relationships and Behaviour with the promotion of a culture and ethos within our settings where positive, respectful relationships and valued and invested in. Guidance on relational approaches has been shared with schools. Support and professional learning has also been provided to ensure that respectful relationships and positive behaviour are a foundation of practice within schools and ELC settings. The most recent available data for 2024/25 shows a reduction of 7% in the number of bullying incidents recorded when compared with the previous year. Improved understanding of causes of attainment gap so that effective interventions can be identified and implemented Review and refresh the Perth and Kinross Council interventions toolkit to address the needs of key priority groups All schools will plan, record and track pupil progress via the Closing the Gap tool Education and Learning March 2025 The Interventions Toolkit was launched in 2023 and was subsequently updated in 2024 to share details of impact of interventions in Perth and Kinross settings. The tool provides links to resources, training and guidance with a focus on evidence-based interventions and approaches, including support for practitioners in undertaking needs analysis.
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15 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update A reduction in the poverty- related attainment gap for school leavers Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report It links very closely with the Closing the Gap Tool (CTGT) which tracks and monitors PEF-funded interventions aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. KPI - 100% of schools are using the CTGT to plan, track and monitor interventions, with impact measured and next steps noted. This facilitates quality assurance of all interventions funded by Pupil Equity Funding (ensuring that the conditions of the grant are adhered to and that interventions are appropriately targeted and evidence- based). It also enables the dissemination of good practice and successful outcomes across the service through case study and report evidence. KPI - Leaver data in relation to the Poverty Related Attainment Gap demonstrates a reduction over time. The gap between SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5 school leavers attaining 1 or more qualification at SCQF Level 5 has reduced from 28% in 2020/21 to 19% in 2023/24. The gap between SIMD Q1 and SIMD Q5 school leavers attaining 1 or more qualification at SCQF Level 6 has reduced from 41% in 2020/21 to 28% in 2023/24 Improve support to children and young people with additional support Through the Additional Support for Learning Maintain or reduce placement within independent schools Baseline: new measure, Education and Learning March 2025 We currently have 29 children placed in independent schools. This is a concerning spike in what was previously a downwards trajectory. The implementation of actions from the ASN Transformation Programme will
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16 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update needs to realise their full potential Transformation Programme baseline to be established in 2024/25 address this going forward with the creation of three additional Intensive Support Provisions across Perth and Kinross (open in August 2025). Additionally, a review of the provision for children and young people with Social and Emotional Behaviour Needs (SEBN) will ensure that their needs can be appropriately met. A revised model for support staff and the use of PowerBI will provide time for schools to ensure that ASN data is accurately recorded and that the allocation of support is closely linked to identified need. Career Progression Pathway models for staff supporting learners with ASN have been drafted with mapping underway to ensure that all training is linked to statutory duties, is evidence-based and links to the Staged Levels of Interventions. The Compass App, designed by ARC Scotland, is being rolled out across PKC secondary schools. This enhances understanding of the post-school transition process by young people with additional support needs and the adults supporting them, enabling them to be more in control of the process. Education and Learning and NHS Tayside have collaborated to complete an audit of young people in S3 – S6 who meet the criteria for an intellectual disability, facilitating services providing post-school support to more
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17 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update effectively plan their provision to improve options for the young people. Various initiatives have been implemented to support inclusive learning environments across PKC, including the purchase of enhanced support resources, such as pop-up sensory spaces (tents) and weighted blankets, vests, or body socks for children who require appropriate pressure support to help them regulate their behaviour. Compared with the previous year 2023/24, data on the number of incidents of incidents of distressed, challenging, violent or aggressive behaviour reported by staff in 2024/25 has shown a reduction of 12%, which is almost 200 fewer incidents. Provide Kinship Carers with a range of supports to enable them to meet the needs of children in their care Provide opportunities for Kinship Carers to engage in: • Support groups • Training Number of Support Groups and Training Opportunities afforded to Kinship Carers Baseline: new measure baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 Our Carers Group for kinship meet monthly. We have a core group of around 12 carers who attend regularly. The group is gaining popularity, and our carers are actively encouraged to join us. In the support group we present opportunities for learning. The model works very well as it generates a lot of discussion. During the assessment process, learning for carers takes place – for example, a common theme is trauma related care, and carers are asked to reflect on this to increase their understanding. Following the placement of a child a common theme we address is around Life Story and how carers can help a child understand their circumstances.
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18 Priority: Enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update There are also ongoing supports in local communities being developed to support the development of informal networks. The support has ensured that carers feel able to care for the children and avoid a breakdown in the arrangement. We recognise that not all carers want to attend a group and have a model of support where individual carers are allocated an individual worker this allows for one-to-one support if that is there preferred option. National resources are available and carers are aware of how to access them. Improve educational outcomes for looked after children Where additional educational support is identified in a child’s plan – to provide access to online tutoring. Number of looked after children in receipt of online tutoring. Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 29 pupils have been supported via online and face 2 face tutoring support from the Volunteer Tutors Organisation (VTO).
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19 Priority: Protecting and caring for our most vulnerable people What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Take a partnership approach to the assessment of risk of significant harm to a child Undertake Initial Referral Discussions between Social Work, Police, Health and Education Number of Initial Referral Discussions Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 In 2024/2025 there was a total of 222 Initial referral discussion (IRDs) across Children and Family social work service. These IRDs involved 358 children and young people. These discussions always include relevant partners in the police, social work, health and, where necessary, education. In keeping with the previous years, the need for IRDs continues to reduce and we think this relates to improved universal support services and increased early intervention preventing crisis and the need for crisis intervention. Take a partnership approach to minimising and reducing risk through early support and assessment Weekly Multi Agency Screening Group (MASH) to triage referrals Number of Families triaged Number of children triaged Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 Between April 2024 to March 25, 218 children were triaged and allocated via the weekly MASH meetings. This equates to 185 families which has increased from the 170 in the last reporting year. We are keeping intervention at a proportionate level according to assessed need. In line with the Promise, we are ensuring that families are receiving the right support at the right time. It’s not appropriate for us to measure impact/ outcome when all we have done is triaged the referral to the most appropriate place. Enhance our housing support offer by implementing an Intensive Housing Support Service for people with complex needs Commission a third sector provider to deliver intensive housing support. Repeat homelessness presentations will be minimised and tenancy sustainment for previously homeless people with complex needs will increase Baseline: Housing and Communities March 2025 The Intensive Housing Support service was commissioned and launched in October 2023. Since its introduction, the service has consistently operated at full capacity, supporting approximately 20 individuals at any given time. It is delivering significant benefits for people whose needs exceed the scope of existing support services. However, due to the relatively small scale of the service and the short time it has been in place, it is challenging to demonstrate outcomes through key performance
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20 Priority: Protecting and caring for our most vulnerable people What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update 2019/20 (25); 2020/21 (30); 2021/22 (15); 2022/23 (5) Feedback from people with complex care needs will be positive with better outcomes being reached. Qualitative measure to demonstrate positive impact indicators (KPIs). Many of the individuals supported have complex, long-term needs and deeply embedded behaviours, which require time and sustained support to address. The Intensive Housing Support service contract runs to October 2025 and has been extended to March 2026. Beyond this, we intend to mainstream the service by including it as part of the recommissioning of the much larger Floating Housing Support service, by redesigning the model to provide for service-users with Low, Medium and High support needs. The new, integrated service will be in place from April 2026. Where children cannot remain living at home, every effort is made to keep them within their kin network Children, parents / carers and kin networks are listened to and afforded the opportunity to have their say through Family Group Decision Making Number of families completing the Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) process and adhering to a family plan Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 The FGDM and Lifelong Links continue to be promoted and offered to families. We have rolled out the connections tool which identifies who is important to the child and who they want to keep in touch with. This is proving very popular with children and young people and other local authorities. In the past year 76 children/young people were referred, and plans agreed for 54 of these. This is shown in the overall decrease of children and young people being accommodated and an increase in those in kinship arrangements. Maintain significant relationships for care experienced children to deliver on the principles of The Promise Offer care experienced children and young people to create a Lifelong Links plans to maintain significant relationships. Number of children and young people completing Lifelong Links plans Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Children, Families and Justice March 2025 We have identified a space where brothers and sisters who are separated can come together and have fun. During 2025/26 this will become operational and is being designed with the voice of children and young people and carers in mind. In line with The Promise which recognises the importance of sibling relationships - we are creating a place where meaningful sibling family time can take
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21 Priority: Protecting and caring for our most vulnerable people What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update place. We want this to be an organic development and will promote it through our networks.
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22 Priority: Supporting and promoting physical and mental wellbeing What improvement s do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Targ et Date Progress Update Increase uptake of sport and physical activities. Work with key partners to develop programmes which optimise opportunities for physical activity Numbers of participants have increased. Baseline: 2022/23 (1.002M) Economy, Development and Planning March 2025 Working with key partners throughout 2023-24 and into early 2024-25, there was continued focus on the completion of the Year 1 Action Plan, developed as part of the Physical Activity & Sport Strategy 2023-2028. However, due to the unexpected flooding and subsequent closure of Bells Sports Centre in October 2024, this had a significant impact on the usage levels and all individual and group bookings, had to be re- directed to other available venues across Perth & Kinross for the foreseeable future. The Olympia Dundee re-opening early in 2024, also impacted the displacement that had been evident throughout 2023-24 at Perth Leisure Pool. Overall, participation in 2024-25 dropped to 886,359. Increase uptake of sport and physical activities. Social prescribers encouraging the use of outdoor activities Reduction in health and social care issues related to inactivity. Baseline: new measure, baseline to be established in 2024/25 Health and Social Care Partnership March 2025 This action is to be removed as there is no data and for a range of reasons this is not measurable. Increase uptake of sport and physical activities. Work with schools and sport groups to increase the number of opportunities for children and young people to take part in physical activity Number and percentage of the total school roll (primary and secondary) participating in Active Schools/ school sports Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Education and Learning March 2025 Through our commitment to Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport (PEPAS), and working in partnership with a range of other organisations (e.g. Live Active Leisure, UHI Perth, SportScotland and community clubs), participation in extra-curricular sport activities has continued to improve with a 43% participation rate in 2024/25.
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23 Priority: Supporting and promoting physical and mental wellbeing What improvement s do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Targ et Date Progress Update This equates to 7859 primary and secondary pupils taking part in extracurricular sport and physical activity, a 1% increase on the 2023/24 academic year. Notably PKC secondary school pupils’ participation in extracurricular clubs is in the top 3 local authorities in Scotland at 38%. Reduce waiting times for people to access Mental Health Services. Redesigning specialist community mental health services across Tayside. Reduction in waiting lists (weeks) Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Health and Social Care Partnership March 2025 The CMHWB Delivery Plan has now come its conclusion and so we are moving to a new version which will be more strongly aligned to the pan-Tayside vision of have a more uniform "Model of Care" for Tayside. Deliver the Strategic Delivery Plan for Community Mental Health and Wellbeing (CMHWB) Increase access to preventative and community support. Reduction in waiting lists (weeks) Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Health and Social Care Partnership March 2025
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24 Priority: Working in Partnership with Communities What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Deliver a clear, consistent, and joined up approach to supporting communities and households with the help and support they need to mitigate and move beyond poverty. Develop multi- disciplinary locality working focussed on locally identified needs. Feedback from communities and staff on the effectiveness of the multi-disciplinary team approach Strengthened partnerships within localities with case studies to evidence Qualitative measure to demonstrate impact Strategic Planning, People and Performance March 2025 March 2026 Progress has been made in several areas and new areas have been identified to enhance our rolling programme. External evaluation activity with the Scottish Government is planned for 2025 to better assess which approaches and interventions have the biggest impact. Provide more affordable homes to support liveable and sustainable communities Deliver PKCs affordable housing programme of 1,050 over the next 5 years Maintain 53%/47% split across urban and rural areas, which is in line with the population split in Perth and Kinross Baseline: 22/23: Total 242 homes (54 buybacks/ empty homes; 145 new rural homes (77%) and 43 new urban homes (23%) Achieve an average 210 affordable housing completions Economy Development and Planning March 2027 The adopted Local Housing Strategy 2022-27 (March 2023) target is to deliver 1050 affordable homes with an Urban (53%) / Rural (47%) split to ensure representative distribution. In financial year 2024/25, there were 264 (above target of 210) new affordable homes completed by PKC and our RSL partnerships with an urban/rural split of 53% Urban (140) and 47% Rural (124).
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25 Priority: Working in Partnership with Communities What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update each year. Baseline: 2022/23 (203) Support community groups to manage local assets, such as community halls Support community groups to develop Community Asset Transfer (CAT) plans Carry out engagement activity to promote Community Asset Transfer as an option Increase in number of Community Asset Transfers Baseline: 2022/23 (0) Increase in community groups applying for community asset opportunities. Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Housing and Communities March 2025 In 2024/25, we supported 34 community groups who expressed interest in Community Asset Transfer (CAT), providing them with relevant asset information and a single point of contact. This is an increase from 31 groups supported in 2023/24. This approach has helped build relationships and enabled meaningful discussions about whether CAT is the right path for each group. Currently, 16 groups are still considering the CAT process—a reduction from 21 live cases at the end of 2023/24. This decrease is due to some groups finding alternative solutions outside the CAT process, while others have chosen not to proceed with their projects. Each group progresses at its own pace, but several are expected to move forward with full Stage 2 applications within the next year. The launch of the Advancing Community Assets Fund in 2024/25 has further supported progress. To date, £74,000 has been allocated to fund capital works, surveys, valuations, and development workers to strengthen community ownership applications.
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26 Priority: Working in Partnership with Communities What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update Examples of groups that found alternative solutions in 2024/25 include: • Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust, who secured a long-term lease for Wellmeadow Toilets in July 2024, ensuring the facility— previously earmarked for closure—remains open to the public. • Aberfeldy Development Trust, who completed the purchase of the Slaughterhouse Field site to develop community-owned affordable housing. Increased engagement and applications from communities to the Community Investment Fund (CIF) grants programme Review application and assessment process and implement improvements identified through evaluation of the 2023/24 Community Investment Fund programme Increase in the number of groups receiving community investment funding Baseline: established in 2022/23 Annual Performance Report Increase in the number of people benefitting from a Community Investment Fund funded project Baseline: 2021/22 36,115 people benefitted from a Community Investment Fund funded project Housing and Communities March 2025 In 2024/25, Ward Panels allocated just over £326,000 to support 114 projects aligned with the priorities set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan. A review of the application and assessment process has been completed, and a new proposal will be brought forward for the 2025/26 Community Investment Fund grant programme. The proposed model aims to: • Increase engagement with communities and community organisations • Strengthen collaborative working at a local level
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27 Priority: Working in Partnership with Communities What improvements do we want to achieve? How will we make these improvements? How will we know if we have been successful (Baseline included for reference) Strategic Lead Target Date Progress Update This refreshed approach is designed to ensure the fund continues to deliver meaningful impact and supports community-led priorities. An empowered and skilled workforce who are confident in engaging with resident and communities and demonstrate the organisational values and expected behaviours at all times. Delivery of action within the Employee Engagement and Cultural Change Programme. Feedback from our workforce, managers, and community members Strategic Planning, People and Performance March 2025 The People and Culture Strategy 2024-28 Delivery Action Plan was approved in June 2024 and expanded on the work of the previous Employee Engagement and Cultural Change Programme. It includes specific measures allowing the monitoring and measurement in specific areas to identify improvement and the need for further action. The plan is monitored by the Workforce Planning Board, chaired by the Strategic Lead for Strategic Planning, People and Performance. The 2024 Employee Survey results are a positive indication that we are effectively delivering the improvements with 92% of respondents saying they feel their team demonstrates our PKC values often / every day. The development of individual team action plans created in response to the survey results and the progress made with these has allowed continued monitoring of the response and progress towards improvement. A further survey will take place in November 2025.