CPWD 16 05 24 Document Pack (Bookmarked)
West Dunbartonshire Council · 16 May 2024
Back to Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board — 16 May 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Agenda Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board Date: Thursday, 16 May 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Time: 14:00 ___________________________________________________________________ Venue: Cunard Suite, West College Scotland, ___________________________________________________________________ Contact: Nicola Moorcroft, Committee Officer nicola.moorcroft@west-dunbarton.gov.uk committee.admin@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Dear Member Please attend a meeting of the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board as detailed above. The business is shown on the attached agenda. Yours faithfully PETER HESSETT Chief Executive Page 1
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Distribution:- Councillor Martin Rooney (Chair) Councillor Michelle McGinty Councillor Clare Steel Peter Hessett, Chief Executive, West Dunbartonshire Council Beth Culshaw, Chief Officer of West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (WD HSCP) Laura Mason, Chief Education Officer, West Dunbartonshire Council Peter Barry, Chief Officer – Housing and Employability, West Dunbartonshire Council Fiona Taylor, Health and Social Care Partnership (WD HSCP) John Anderson, Manager, West Dunbartonshire Leisure Trust Liz Connolly, Principal, West College Scotland Elizabeth Dean, Department of Works and Pensions Lorna Gibson, Superintendent, Police Scotland Jimmy Hyslop, Operations Manager, Scottish Natural Heritage Sharon Kelly, Head of West Region, Skills Development Scotland Bruce Kiloh, Principal Transport Policy Officer, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Joe McKay, Local Senior Officer – West Dunbartonshire, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service Mark Newlands, Scottish Enterprise Kevin Quinlan, Scottish Government Location Director Selina Ross, Manager, West Dunbartonshire Community Volunteering Service Rebecca Campbell, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Catherine Topley, Chief Executive, Scottish Canals Gordon Watson, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Gerry Watt, Scottish Prison Service Sandie Scott, NHS Golden Jubilee, Director of Strategic Communications and Stakeholder Relations Carole Anderson, NHS Golden Jubilee, Director of Transformation, Strategy Planning and Performance Gary L’Anson, Police Scotland, Divisional Commander Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Division Amanda Graham, Chief Officer, Citizens, Culture, & Facilities Elaine Troup, Communities Manager Provost Douglas McAllister [substitute] Councillor John Millar [substitute] Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal [substitute] Date of issue: 2 May 2024 Page 2
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COMMUNITY PLANNING WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE MANAGEMENT BOARD THURSDAY, 16 MAY 2024 AGENDA 1 APOLOGIES 2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Members are invited to declare if they have an interest in any of the items of business on the agenda and the reasons for such declarations. 3 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING 7 - 10 Submit for approval as a correct record, the Minutes of Meeting of the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board held on 22 February 2024. 4 ACTION LOG 11 - 12 Submit for information the Rolling Action list for the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board. 5 COMMUNITY PLANNING EXECUTIVE GROUP To Follow Submit report by Peter Hessett, Chief Executive providing an update of discussion at the most recent Community Planning Executive Group (CPEG) meeting held on 22 April 2024. 6 VERBAL UPDATE – CPWD CHILD POVERTY EVENT Receive a verbal update from Stephen Brooks regarding the CPWD Child Poverty Event. 7/ Page 3
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7 POWER OF ATTORNEY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN (PRESENTATION) Receive a presentation regarding the Attorney Awareness Campaign from Fiona Taylor (HSCP) and Joe McCormack (Citizens Advice Bureau). 8 COMMUNITY JUSTICE PARTNERSHIP UPDATE 13 - 16 Submit report by Lesley James, Head of Children’s Health, Care and Criminal Justice (Chief Social Worker – HSCP) providing an update regarding the above. 9 FLOURISHING DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP 17 - 27 (DIG) UPDATE Submit report by Peter Barry, Chief Officer, Housing and Employability providing an update on the work of the Flourishing Delivery and Improvement Group. 10 INDEPENDENT DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP To Follow (DIG) UPDATE Submit report by Fiona Taylor, Head of Health and Community Care providing an update on the work of the Independent Delivery and Improvement Group. 11 NURTURED DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP 29 - 38 (DIG) UPDATE Submit report by Lesley James, Head of Children’s Health, Care and Criminal Justice (Chief Social Work Officer – HSCP), providing an update on the work of the Nurtured Delivery and Improvement Group. 12 EMPOWERED DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP 39 - 45 (DIG) UPDATE Submit report by Selina Ross, West Dunbartonshire CVS providing an update on the work of the Empowered Delivery and Improvement Group. 13 SAFE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE 47 - 48 Submit report by Inspector Jonathan Harris, Police Scotland, providing an update on the work of the Safe Delivery and Improvement Group. Page 4
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14 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Members are asked to note that the next meeting of the CPWD Management Board will be on Thursday, 15 August 2024 at 2pm, on MS Teams. Page 5
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COMMUNITY PLANNING WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE MANAGEMENT BOARD Thursday, 22 February 2024 Present: Councillor Martin Rooney (Chair) West Dunbartonshire Council Councillor Michelle McGinty West Dunbartonshire Council Councillor Clare Steel West Dunbartonshire Council Peter Hessett West Dunbartonshire Council Laura Mason West Dunbartonshire Council Peter Barry West Dunbartonshire Council Amanda Graham West Dunbartonshire Council Elaine Troup West Dunbartonshire Council Fiona Taylor West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Lesley James West Dunbartonshire Council Claire Cusick West Dunbartonshire Council Judith Mclaughlin Department for Work and Pensions Jimmy Hyslop NatureScot Roddy MacNeill Police Scotland John Binning Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Liz Connolly West College Scotland Anthony Mallon Scottish Fire and Rescue Selina Ross West Dunbartonshire CVS Rebecca Campbell NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde John Anderson West Dunbartonshire Leisure Trust Sharon Kelly Skills Development Scotland Nicola Moorcroft West Dunbartonshire Council Apologies: Beth Culshaw West Dunbartonshire Council Gerry Watt Scottish Prison Service Sandie Scott NHS Golden Jubilee Gillian McNamara West Dunbartonshire Council Barry Colvan Scottish Fire and Rescue ITEM 3 Page 7
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Councillor Martin Rooney in the Chair Councillor Rooney welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Community Planning west Dunbartonshire Management Board. He highlighted the departure of Damon Scott from Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce and Bart Simionis (Police Scotland) and recorded thanks for their contribution to the Community Planning Partnership and wished them well in their new roles. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST It was noted that there were no declarations of interest in any of the items of business on the agenda. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Minutes of Meeting of the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board held on 16 November 2023 were submitted and approved as a correct record. ACTION LOG The Rolling Action list for the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board was submitted for information and relevant updates were noted and agreed. COMMUNITY PLANNING EXECUTIVE GROUP A report was submitted by Peter Hessett, Chief Executive, providing an update of the outcomes reached at the most recent Community Planning Executive Group (CPEG) meeting held on 22 January 2024. After discussion and having heard Peter Hessett in further detail of the meeting and noting progress of actions and in answer to Members’ questions, the Board agreed:- (1) to note the update provided; and (2) to note the content of the Community Planning Executive Group Meeting Note, Actions and Appendix 1 of the report. CPWD PROPOSED APPROACH 2024/25 – PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION Elaine Troup, Communities Team Manager gave a presentation to examine a review of the approach to Community Planning for 2024/25. The presentation detailed the following: • What is Community Planning. Page 8
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• What more could Partnership working do to respond to findings of recent events/research. • Does the Partnership need an overarching theme for year? • The suggestion being a Pilot approach focussing on tackling poverty; West Dunbartonshire wide running parallel to a geographical focus. • Alexandria is suggested as the geographical area due to the strong Community Groups and newly formed Community Council in the area, in addition to the existing Locality Plan. After discussion focussing on the setting of objectives, which could be easily evaluated, promotion of Community Planning as a whole and events related to Poverty, the Board agreed:- (1) that there is an appetite for such a themed approach; (2) objectives need to be identified as early as possible and method of evaluation agreed; (3) that a Briefing Note is circulated highlighting the outcomes of this meeting and suggestions as to how to move forward with this project; and (4) a Working Group is established, with the Community Planning Partners, to develop ideas and promote the project. The Working Group to report to the next meeting of CPWD Management Board. COMMUNITY JUSTICE PARTNERSHIP UPDATE A report was submitted by Lesley James, Head of Children’s Health, Care and Justice and Chief Social Work Officer providing an update relating to Community Justice Partnership. The report detailed the highlights of activity and progress since the last meeting, highlighting the appointment of James Docherty to assist with and enhance the delivery of service through ‘lived’ experience. FLOURISHING DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE S A report was submitted by Peter Barry, Chief Officer – Housing and Employability providing an update on the work of the Flourishing Delivery and Improvement Group. After discussion and having heard Peter Barry in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Board agreed to note the update provided. INDEPENDENT DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE A report was submitted by Fiona Taylor, Head of Health and Community Care providing an update on the work of the Independent Delivery and Improvement Group. After discussion and having heard Fiona Taylor in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, the Board agreed to note the update provided. Page 9
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NURTURED DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE A report was submitted by Lesley James, Head of Children’s Health, Care and Criminal Justice (Chief Social Work Officer – HSCP), providing an update on the work of the Nurtured Delivery and Improvement Group. After discussion and having heard Lesley James, in further explanation of the report, highlighting the Children’s Integrated Services Plan, and in answer to Members’ questions, the Board agreed to note the update provided. EMPOWERED DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE A report was submitted by Selina Ross, West Dunbartonshire CVS providing an update on the work of the Empowered Delivery and Improvement Group. After discussion and having heard Selina Ross, in further explanation of the report, highlighting those involved in work to promote Trustees Week and The Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, being in its final year of funding allocation from Scottish Government, the Board agreed to note the update provided. SAFE DELIVERY IMPROVEMENT GROUP (DIG) UPDATE Submit a report by Inspector Jonathan Harris, Police Scotland, providing an update on the work of the Safe Delivery and Improvement Group. Having heard Inspector Roddy MacNeill in further explanation, the Board agreed to note the update provided. DATE OF NEXT MEETING It was noted that the next meeting of the CPWD Management Board would be on Thursday, 16 May 2024 at 2.00 p.m. in the Cunard Suite, West College, Scotland. The Board requested that all organisations on the Community Planning Partnership endeavour to send a representative to this meeting. The meeting closed at 3.37 p.m. Page 10
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Date Set Action Who Required by Date Status 16.11.2023 Safe DIG action plan to be completed with dates and responsible officers noted. Jon Harris/Police Scotland February 2024 – meeting in early March 2024 to complete. In Progress 16.11.2023 On conclusion of Action Plans all to be transferred onto Pentana with support from Performance and Strategy team Elaine Troup to Action February 2024 – will be completed by end of March 2024 In Progress 22.02.24 Poverty themed project: Objectives to be identified as early as possible and method of evaluation agreed; Briefing Note is circulated highlighting the outcomes of this meeting and suggestions as to how to move forward with this project. Working Group is established, with the Community Planning Partners, to develop ideas and promote the project. Elaine Troup Elaine Troup Elaine Troup + interested Community Planning partners As soon as possible In Progress Complete In Progress Outstanding ITEM 4 Page 11
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Management Board Meeting Community Planning Partnership Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY X FOR DECISION Name of Partnership Community Justice Partnership Date of report 17/04/2024 Name and email of lead contact Lesley.James@west-dunbarton.gov.uk 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting ‘Arrest Referral Scheme’ (ARS): Pilot and Learning Report. Community Justice Partnership (CJP) is working in partnership with the Alcohol & Drugs Partnership (ADP) to progress activity and build on the learning report. The CJP has created a working group comprising of staff from justice social work, specialist addiction services, adult mental health and Police Scotland. The first working group meeting was held in March, Police Scotland have indicated a national relaunch of the ARS Scheme for May 2024 and will lead on the national model. WD ARS working group members will continue to meet to establish operating protocols and ToR for the group in preparation for the national relaunch. The group will consider data and data analysis in line with CJS targeted resources recommended minimum data sets. The ‘Caledonian System’ Training is now complete, and referrals have been received from the court. The WSSS now has a full complement of staff and has successfully recruited a children’s worker. The Caledonian Working group has been established and had its first meeting in April. The group comprises: Justice ss/w; C&Fs ss/w; WSSS; CP Lead; Police Scotland PPU; Justice Services manager; CJ Co-ordinator. The group will continue to meet and identify priority areas, outcome improvement areas and data collection/analysis. The group will also be the mechanism for mitigating service generated risk and risk to victims dynamically - amending protocols to reflect the landscape. The group has created a Risk Assessment and Safety Protocol as well as a Standard Operating Protocol for stakeholder partners, development is underway and will be ratified at the CJP, VAWGP and Safe DIG. A ToR for the group is underway. CJOIP CJ (Outcome Improvement Plan) The CJ outcome improvement plan is written (draft version), including 5 year trend data analysis, and identifies key priority ITEM 8 Page 13
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areas for the forth coming year. The plan has been sent to the CJP chair, Chief Officer and Justice Service’s manager for scrutiny. The plan will be shared with team leads and an Information & awareness raising session has been confirmed for the end of April to allow for team leads to comment and input into the plan where appropriate. Working groups have been established (in principle) for the deliverables attached to the CJOIP. There are 9 working groups made up of CJ Partners (Chairs) and operational staff working in the relevant domains. ToR for the groups are underway as well as reporting structures/governance and priority outcomes. These will be scrutinised by the Justice Service Manger before the next CJP meeting and then shared with staff. CJ Co-ordinator will lead on the establishment and development of working group activity. A ‘7 minute brief’ regarding the CJOIP sent to partners to help them better understand its function and overarching principles. Community Justice Scotland (CJS) Undertakings The CJ Co-ordinator had met with WD CJS Improvement Lead to review the CJOIP and data. A copy of the draft CJOIP has been sent for scrutiny and comment. CJ Co-ordinator has met with Improvement Leads who have been overseeing data collation and analysis. New targeted Resources were shared with justice services team leads and focus sessions held to garner input and comment. Focus session held with CJS to feedback on the documents and support final drafts. CJS are undertaking a review of Voluntary Throughcare and there have been consultations and information sessions. Awaiting final direction for the National TC service and how this will operate locally. WD have established a Throughcare working group that will identify and work on priority areas identified by an SNSA. ToR, reporting structures, governance and data collection/analysis are being developed for this this group. CJS and WD CJ are meeting to discuss the CSST and safeguards to ensure the tools fidelity. This will be held at the end of April. The CSST has been send round the CJP, VAWGP, and team leaders for comment and consideration. CJ HSIG LDNA Bill (Scotland) As part of CJ Health Improvement activity WD CJ was consulted and asked to comment on the new LDNA Bill as it applies justice services users – the reply was submitted at the end of March. Training; Information & Awareness Raising Sessions; & Trauma Informed Practice WD CJ will support training activity in partnership with VAWGP. Trainers from justice services will be part of the Equally Safe Training Subgroup supporting Understanding the Dynamics of Domestic Abuse; The Impact of Domestic Abuse on Children and Young People; Routine Sensitive Enquiry; DASH-Ric and DAAMH Intersectionality Training (Domestic Abuse, Addictions, and Metal Health). Page 14
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CJ has offered 4 information and awareness raising session for the forth coming year (open to partner stakeholders including Elected Members). This will be held in partnership with: WSSS, CEDAR, CARA, Rape Crisis, DDWA, CBWA, The Caledonian System and Community Justice. Events will be advertised in the next week. The CJ Co-ordinator is engaging with a TiP TTT event in April to support trauma training for the CJ workforce ensuring we meet our duties for a trauma responsive workforce. Authentic Voices Survey The first draft of the survey has been sent round the CJP and team leaders for comment and consideration. The next stage will be to amend with the inclusion and a second draft will be sent round for comment and consideration. An authentic voices survey exploring the experiences of women who use justice services in WD is being considered. This will be carried out in partnership with the WSSS and the CJ Co-ordinator. Project plan has been sent to WSSS funders who are considering financing this proposal. Links have been made with the Improvement Service; SafeLives; CJS; SPS and WD Legal team to discuss the research proposal and ethics. Restorative Justice SACRO project manager has met with justice team leads and service manager and is now in the process of establishing the Hate Crime RJ project into the locality. SACRO will provide an Information and Awareness Raising Session at the next CJP. Data reporting has still to be established. This activity will be attached to a working group – the ToR is currently under development. SPS Introduction meetings have taken place with relevant prisons to establish communication pathways and discuss considerations for custody to community pathways. WD will be part of the pre-release programme where housing and employability will work with WD residents ensuring safe and secure housing and employability opportunities prior to release. MAT standards will also be part of this activity. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed Issues or risk will be identified and assessed in the Strategic Needs and Strengths Assessments, reported to the CJP in the first instance and escalated through governance procedures where appropriate. Management of issues/risk will be identified in the CJOIP and associated delivery plans. Uncertainty around budgets and finance are an ongoing risk for all justice activity. These risks will be managed through the appropriate governance structures. There is a minimal national budget to delivery voluntary throughcare services – this will have an impact for the locality – once budgets are confirmed support will be required. Page 15
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3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting Progress reporting update in each area. 4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board to achieve the outcomes of the DIG? To support the CJP to deliver locally on the ‘National Strategy for Community Justice’ at a local level. To support the CJP with the uncertainty (nationally) regarding funding and budgets to support the local delivery of the strategy. The DIG will be required to identify funding to deliver the local CJOIP and associated activities. 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share WD has developed its first Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP) and associated delivery plans. The partnership is running effectively and partners have been overwhelmingly committed to realising the commitments of the plan. All partners have been engaged, committed and creative in regard to partnership working and supporting multi-agency integrated working arrangements. Page 16
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Management Board Meeting Development and Improvement Groups (DIGs): Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY X FOR DECISION Name of DIG Flourishing Delivery and Improvement Group (DIG). Date of report 22/04/2024 Name and email of lead contact Peter Barry 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting Regeneration Dumbarton Levelling Up Programme • Glencairn House - Clark Contracts appointed as the Principal Contractor. Works starting on site w/c 15 April. • Connecting Dumbarton - works nearly completed, artwork in the underpass remains to be installed. • Masterplan for redevelopment of the Artizan was approved by Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 1 November 23. Planning application for Phase 1 works expected in May 24. • Design Team progressing the detailed designs for the Artizan Redevelopment Masterplan, application for Planning Permission in Principle is expected in May 24. • Demolition of units to rear has been delayed due to a requirement to divert Scottish Water pipes, works expected to commence on site in May 24. Alexandria • Restoration of Smollett Fountain mostly completed, Heron was installed w/c 15 April. • Discussions on a potential Business Improvement District ongoing, the traders were successful in securing £20k of seedcorn funding from the ITEM 9 Page 17
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Scottish Government towards BID development. Officers are supporting the process as and when required. • Shared Prosperity Funded shopfront improvement grants applications being received however progress is slower than anticipated. The businesses struggle with providing the required evidence, however the guidance has been amended to make the process easier. • Alexander Street improvements project has commenced and Page & Park were appointed as a lead consultant. The project originated from the Masterplan and is part of the Green Heritage Corridors projects. It will be funded from the Place Based investment Programme fund. Clydebank Queens Quay District Heating Network • Legal and commercial discussions regarding the West College Scotland and Golden Jubilee connections ongoing • Technical exchange of information is well advanced with the Golden Jubilee and Commercial Discussions around tariff, resilience and liability issues are to be advanced. • Works to connect a further 46 Clydebank Housing Association flats on Dumbarton Road underway, with some publicity planned for the first “Heat On” anticipated before the end of the month. Town Centre • Planning application for the Clydebank Canal-side Activities Centre progressing. The delivery of the project, however, has been put on hold. Y Sort It withdrew their interest in the centre as due to funding cuts they are unable to take on premises and have decided to prioritise their core activities. We will explore opportunities for securing an alternative tenant, and look if the future centre could be advertised as a commercial let opportunity. • £20M UK Government funding from Long-Term Plan for Towns announced for Clydebank Town. A new Town Board chaired by an independent Chairperson (Liz Connolly) will have its first meeting on 10 May. A report seeking approval for the governance arrangements was approved by Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 7 February 24. Exxon • Council officers continue to seek additional funding from City Region to contribute towards the costs of the project. • Stage 2 application for Scottish Government Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for greenspace and footpaths was submitted 2023, however due to financial difficulties no funding was awarded for the coming financial year for any projects. • It is hoped that the remaining land acquisitions and/or licences to occupy will be concluded shortly to allow enabling works to begin (actual start date dependent on revised Balfour Beatty Programme). Page 18
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• The remediation has taken longer due to further contamination found at the riverside; this has delayed the completion of the remediation by approximately a month. • A new promotional brochure for the site has been produced. Scottish Marine Technology Park • Council continuing to work with the Malin Group to support the relocation of their business to Carless and to help with the identification of additional funding for land remediation • Planning application now submitted • Work complete on the flood mitigation project, and Malin Group have appointed a designer for the Quayside, both of which are being funded by Clyde Mission and the Council, the latter being subject to a further development agreement • With support from the Council, Malin and Strathclyde University submitted a bid to the City Region Investment Zone for Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre. (further details below). Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) Grants • Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development Committee on 1 November 23 approved allocation of £471k of PBIP funds towards Community Grants • Small and Large grants have been widely advertised and we receive a total of 13 eligible applications from all across the West Dunbartonshire. £61,758k were awarded to those applicants following a public voting process. • Large grants – 26 applications were received for a total of £1.8m and were reviewed by the Council Officers w/c 19 February. The following groups were awarded funding: Project Cost 1st Glen Lusset Scout Group £ 54,550.00 Dumbarton Tennis Club £ 40,000.00 Clydebank Community Sport Hub £ 96,900.00 RSPB £ 74,437.45 Milton Village Community Group £ 90,000.00 St Augustine’s Episcopal Church £ 18,280.00 Duntocher Village Hall £ 25,000.00 TOTAL £ 399,167.45 Page 19
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• All grants have already been distributed to the grantees. We will review the progress after 3 months (for small grants) and 6 months (for large grants) Regeneration Capital Grant Fund • Regeneration Team have issued a call for Expressions of interest (EOI) for Regeneration Capital Grant Fund 25/26 in anticipation of the Scottish government announcing the fund later in the Spring. We have received 5 EOIs from the following groups: • Old Kilpatrick Food Parcels • Flourishing Faifley Community Hub (Knowes pavilion) • Glenhead Centre (Antonine Community Centre Duntocher) • Kilbowie Community heritage Centre - St Andrew’s Church (Clydebank) • RSBP Scotland visitor hub (Gartocharn) • In addition, we are aware of Westbridgend Community Centre (Dumbarton) looking to submit an application again this year (they did not get through to Stage 2 last year). • Submitted EOIs will be assessed by a panel of Council Officers and a number of eligible applications will be chosen to be supported for Stage 1 submission. Regeneration Officers will offer assistance to the prospective applicants. Business Support • During 2023/24, 200 businesses were assisted to start-up through the Business Gateway service which exceeded the annual target of 180 and 30 established businesses were assisted with development of a growth action plan (target 30). • The business grants available through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund are continuing to receive applications. The grants include a Recovery & Growth grant, Early Stage Growth grant, Working Towards Net Zero grant & Enhancing West Dunbartonshire’s Tourism Events & Attractions grant. • A Food & Drink Challenge Fund developed in partnership with the Working4Business group to provide a competitive grant to food and drink manufacturers and producers that could evidence growth projects has provided £5,000 funding to 3 local businesses (Cherry-On-Top, Tartan Rocket & Island Slice Ltd). • Working in partnership with Glasgow City Region and Strathclyde University to provide businesses with green business advice through the development of carbon baseline assessments. This support is funded through UK Shared Prosperity Fund. A process is in now in place to refer local businesses with 4 businesses being referred to date. • Business Support team in partnership with Procurement colleagues have booked a stand at the Supplier Development Programme’s Meet the Buyer 2024 event on 5th June at Hampden Park to promote tender opportunities. Page 20
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City Region/Scottish Government/UK Levelling Up • Glasgow City Region will be one of two Investment Zones in Scotland and as a result will benefit from a package of funding and tax relief measures estimated to be worth £160M over 10 years. The details of the offer will be co-produced by City Region and Member Authorities, Scottish Government and UK Govt (DHLUC). Phase two closed at the end of March and involved an open call for detailed project applications from businesses and organisations in the following ‘Priority Clusters’ - Advanced Manufacturing, Health & Life Sciences, and Digital & Enabling Technology. • Malin and Strathclyde University with support from the Council have submitted a Phase 2 bid to support the development of a Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre at Carless site. Employability/Learning/Income Maximisation – • Working4U is responsible for delivering services that help people to address the barriers that prevent them from considering work as an option; improve their skill sets and secure employment. This rests on input from employability (Work), community learning and development (Learn) and debt/benefit support (Money) services. • Collectively these services are addressing poverty and disadvantage by supporting people to increase income through work and benefit entitlement, reduce their cost of living and address barriers to work and learning opportunities. • In 2023/2024 Working4U provided work, learning and money support for 8,597 people. Of those: o 362 people were supported through apprenticeships and in work progression; o 1,064 to enter education or training; o 867 people were supported to gain a qualification; o 439 people secured employment. • Community learning and development services contributed to this success by providing access to community-based learning that focussed on the most marginalised people/families in our community. This included support for: o Adult/Youth Literacies; o Community-based vocational courses; o Digital Learning; o ESOL; and o Family Learning. • The Working4U debt and benefit support services assisted residents to: o Manage £1.27m of debt; o Secure £8.3m of benefit entitlements. • More information about Working4U and partner services is provided in Annex A Page 21
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• West Dunbartonshire Council is the lead agency for the management and delivering services. Grants have been distributed to private and Third sector organisations to support the No One Left Behind and UK Shared Prosperity aims. • In the forthcoming period we will continue to work with partners through the Local Employability Strategic group, Adult Learning Partnership and Information and Advice partnership to co-ordinate activities that will support people to maximise income, reduce costs and overcome barriers to opportunity. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed Regeneration Inflation and rising costs are a challenge in project delivery. We are looking at adjusting scope to make projects affordable, or seeking additional funding where possible. Tight timescales associated with external funding pose a challenge to project delivery. We are seeking support from external consultants where appropriate, and work collaboratively with other teams to identify solutions. We also continue to engage with the funders. Towns Fund for Clydebank is a new approach to delivery with limited control and engagement from the Council, we are liaising with the Chair as well as our DLUHC contacts to understand how the guidance should be implemented and what will work in Clydebank context. Business Support A delay in finalising the Extend Plus grant agreement with Strathclyde University led to a delay in referring businesses for carbon baseline assessments. A business referral process is now in place which will allow the team to promote to local businesses. Employability The risks for the employability service centres on the ability to secure reliable external training providers capable of delivering services in the local area. We are managing this by providing each grant recipient with a key contact and providing them with the opportunity to identify delivery challenges at an early stage. In addition, late notification of grant awards, which are now a common feature of eternal funding, are causing delays and uncertainty among service providers. Page 22
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3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting Regeneration • Alexandria, Alexander Street – public engagement completed, Stage 3 design underway. • Clydebank, Activity Centre – planning permission anticipated. An alternative delivery plan agreed. • Clydebank, Long-Term Plan for Towns – first Board meeting held, community engagement and development of Investment Plan underway. • Dumbarton, Artizan – demolition contract underway • Dumbarton, Artizan – Stage 3 design completed, planning application for Phase 1 works and for Planning Permission in Principle (PPIP for the Masterplan) submitted. • 25/26 RCGF Stage 1 applications submitted by selected community groups and external organisations (subject to Scottish Government timescales) • Exxon enabling works commenced on site Business Support • Increase the number of business referrals to Strathclyde University to receive carbon baseline assessments. • Promote and deliver the business grant support programmes within the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. • Continue to provide Business Gateway service to start-ups and established local businesses. • Attend Meet the Buyer event to promote tender opportunities • Receive feedback from Glasgow City Region regarding Phase 2 Investment Zone bid for Maritime Supply Chain Innovation Centre Employability • Working4U has continued to manage grant support services and deliver Work, Learn, Money activities and over the course of 2023/24 we have assisted 8,597 people: Of these we have o Assisted 362 people through apprenticeships and in-work progression; o Supported 1,064 into education and training; o 867 have gained a qualification; o 439 have secured employment. • In addition we have: o Assisted people to secure £8.3m of additional benefits; and o Manage £1.27m of debt. • As such, we have achieved the targets for these activities and are currently planning our priorities for the forthcoming year. Page 23
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4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board to achieve the outcomes of the DIG? Placemaking Good placemaking will continue to underpin the regeneration, development and improvement work in the town centres as we aim to align funding and resources, with Council, DIG partners and external funding, to achieve our ambitions. Business Support The on-going commitment and support from the community partners will help to maximise the impacts of the business support activity being developed and implemented through the Flourishing DIG. This will assist with reinforcing our efforts to develop a strong local economy that will provide access to opportunity for all in West Dunbartonshire. Employability We will continue to deliver the NOLB, Parental Employability support programmes and UK Shared prosperity activity. We will continue to work in partnership through the Adult Learning Partnership and local employability partnership. We ask the partners to continue with their contribution to the local employability group by attending or sending representation where appropriate to the strategic group; the creative design group (service providers) and the frontline community of interest. These groups are making a positive contribution to identifying and addressing challenges in West Dunbartonshire. In addition, we will be updating our Community Learning and Development Plan and Annual Child Poverty Report. We ask that partners give consideration into their contribution to these processes and associated services. 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share N/A Page 24
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H&E W4U Progress 2023-24 H/EDSTRATEGY/6 Entering employment PI Latest Note Latest Note Date Trend Chart H&E/W4U/010 Number of local people entering employment through Working 4U During the year employability service provision have transitioned from ESF activity to a combination of NOLB and UKSPF. This transition is being lead by Working4U and supported by partners that include SDS, SQA, Education Services, West College Scotland and local service providers. This transition has sharpened the focus on specific target groups such as: parents from families affected by poverty and disadvantage; the economically inactive and vulnerable young people. In quarter 4, Working4U, along with input from delivery partners, has supported 126 people into employment. Over the course of the year we have supported 439 people into jobs. This surpasses our anticipated target of 407. In the forthcoming quarter we will consolidate our employability service and establish grant opportunities for employability specialist providers. Through the use of the resources key workers will continue to be a central feature of the service, offering 1-1 support to people seeking support to individuals from target groups. This will include support to address a range of barriers through the provision of specialist employability services. This will be complemented by local service providers providing specialist training where necessary. The available support will help to match people seeking employment with fair and sustainable employment opportunities that meets their needs and the needs of local businesses. 19-Apr-2024 H/EDSTRATEGY/7 Entering education/training ITEM 9 - APPENDIX 1 Page 25
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PI Latest Note Latest Note Date Trend Chart H&E/W4U/005 Number of local people entering education or training Over the course of the year we have supported 1,064 people to enter education or training. This surpasses the figure of 783 that we anticipated that we would support. This has been achieved by input from a number of teams bringing specialist support that leads to progression. Including, for example, the Adult Learning Team supporting learners through vocational programmes, ESOL in partnership with West College Scotland and the direct delivery of family learning with an emphasis on health and wellbeing. In addition our Youth Employability and Learning Team has established a good infrastructure for the delivery of learning support that has led to progression. This includes support through the SQA Accredited learning centre that provided support for apprentices and those seeking employment. 19-Apr-2024 H/EDSTRATEGY/9 Gaining a Qualification PI Latest Note Latest Note Date Trend Chart H&E/W4U/007 Number of local people gaining an accredited qualification Over the course of 2023/24 we supported 867 people to secure a full qualification. This surpassed our anticipated target of 561. We achieved this in a number of including through the provision of support for community-based learners by our adult learning team. We have also utilised No One Left Behind and UK Shared Prosperity funding to support people to gain qualifications that will assist them to secure a job or progress within the workplace. Working4U now offers a range of qualifications supporting young people to improve their employability. Modern Apprenticeship qualifications at SCQF level 5,6,7 and 8 are available. The Foundation apprenticeships at SCQF Level 5 and 6 are offered to school pupils in their 5th/6th year. Other qualifications are built into a wider confidence building and barrier removal programme and include John Muir award; REHIS; PX2; Hi5' and SQA Customer Service and Volunteering Units. Add to this, the work of the W4U training team who deliver a broad range of courses in Personal Development; Employability Awards; Customer Service and Volunteering and we have a comprehensive set of resources to support people to secure qualifications. 19-Apr-2024 H/EDSTRATEGY/2 Number supported Page 26
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PI Latest Note Latest Note Date Trend Chart H&E/W4U/001 Number of local people receiving support through Working 4U We anticipated that using resources available that we would assist approximately 5,527 people over the course of the year. However, through the combination of service reviews and addition of specialist support through No One Left Behind and UK Shared Prosperity resources we have exceeded that target. In 2023/2024 we supported 8,597 people with Work. Learn and Money support. 19-Apr-2024 PI Latest Note Latest Note Date Trend Chart H&E/W4U/019 Total Value (£) of Income Generated From April 2023 to March 2024 the Working4U Money team surpassed the anticipated target of supporting people to secure £5.2m of additional income, and supported individuals referred to the service to generate additional income of £8,229,424 through benefit claims and debt write-offs 19-Apr-2024 H&E/W4U/032 Value (£) of debt managed We anticipated that, with the available resources, we would support residents to manage £1.22million of debt. Over the course of the year we achieved a figure of £1.21. This has been achieved through the provision of support for people managing housing and council tax debts, consumer debts and personal debts. Our focus has been placed on those most in need and we are now engaging more intensively with residents who are using social and housing (homelessness) services. 19-Apr-2024 Page 27
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Management Board Meeting Development and Improvement Groups (DIGs): Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY X FOR DECISION Name of DIG Nurture Date of report 19th April 2024 Name and email of lead contact Lesley.James@West-Dunbarton.gov.uk 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting The Nurture DIG Partnership implementation group focuses on the delivery and implementation of the Statutory Integrated Children’s Services Plan (ICSP) for West Dunbartonshire. This 2023-26 Plan was submitted to Scottish Government on the 27th of July 23 and is attached. A development session of the Nurture DIG was held on1st March 2024, and was well attended by all relevant partners. A ‘world café style event took place with each of the workstreams within Children’s services planning providing and overview of the work that is taking place. This included; Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing • GIRFEC • Children’s Rights/ UNCRC • Family Wellbeing. • The Promise Group • Child Poverty Each of the subgroup chairs presented an overview of their activity and gave those in attendance the opportunity to learn about the work that is taken place across the partnership. An overview of community planning arrangements, as well as a focus on our local data in relation to current measurable outcomes was included. The session considered more broadly the use of data in order to demonstrate impact and an overview of Pentana and how the work could be reported going forward was considered. Closer alignment with Child Protection Committee (CPC) is required to ensure a joined-up approach across children’s services strategic planning is in place. West Dunbartonshire is currently recruiting for a new independent Chair for the CPC The lead officer for Child Protection was in attendance and to ensure links are ITEM 11 Page 29
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established to ensure that strategically the continuum of needs form early intervention to children at risk of harm is understood. Feedback form the event has been considered and it is clear there is an appetite for a further development session to broaden third sector representation and focus in more detail our current plan and the impact measures within it. Oversight of Integrated Children Services funding form SG is required to understand how this is aligned to agreed planning priorities and actions to ensure there is shared oversight of the budget aligned to service delivery is progressing. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed Dates for partners to meet as a Nurture DIG have being set for 2024. A further development day is being finalised movement of chair responsibilities has seen a change in the senior officer to report to Scottish government and provide the annual report and return. This is a gap in advance of planned recruitment of a GIRFEC Integrated |children’s services planning lead. The development of a child poverty strategy requires further consideration aligned to a wider poverty strategy as a key priority across all implementation groupings. 3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting Partnership reporting on activities is in place. The partnership needs to evidence impact and a review of associated measures. Ongoing work to develop the family Hub offer is taking place as is sector leading work in relation to Brothers and sisters reporting and auditing activity through the work of the Promise. Children and Families social work services have launched a 5 year strategy and associated financial planning to support shifting the balance of care with planned disinvestments and investment form external care providers to increased intensive support for families in line with the Promise underpinning approach. 4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board to achieve the outcomes of the DIG? A commitment to prioritise the work of integrated children’s services planning and to develop clear measure aligned to the Integrated children’s service plan will be progressed to ensure the impact of our collective activity is understood. 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share The family well- being hubs are open 3 days per week and services are being developed utilising this approach. The ambition is to develop a range of multi- Page 30
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agency services that families most need to access early help and support. A full evaluation is aligned to implementation. Services for children on the edges of care have been strengthened with Includem being commissioned from Whole Family wellbeing funding, and having now recruited a staff team a are fully operational in supporting young people aged 12+ to remain at home. Ther service is accessible 7 days, has a support line and works intensively with young people and their carers to keep children out of care. Again, an evaluation of the impact of the service is in place and will be reported on a 6 monthly basis. The Promise has been successful in a bid and awarded 160K in October 2023 to develop a participation and engagement worker and data insights lead to support West Dunbartonshire to keep the Promise. Our Promise keeper has recently reported to the national Promise team with a comprehensive update (Appendix 1) and presented to the Promise National conference in February 2024 regarding the excellent work being progressed in West Dunbartonshire. Page 31
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 1 What progress has been made to date with your organisation’s work to keep the Promise? (including what has worked well and what hasn’t) West Dunbartonshire has a wide range of activities on-going in relation to our ambition to keep the promise, and we have attempted to capture what has been working well, where we have experienced challenges, and our hopes for going forward within this report. There are additional updates from Education and Working4U attached within the e-mail, as well as the reports and summaries of work referenced within this report. Between the publication of The Promise and May 2022 West Dunbartonshire had begun awareness raising around the Promise, as well as some focussed work around implementing The Promise. This was without any additional resource, and the Promise lead also having a full-time operational role. Work was done around the adoption of “Shannon’s box” providing a nurturing welcome box when children and young people come into care. Two local foster carers also set up their own charity “Bags full of love”, providing rucksacks full of personal and practical items to support a child or young person coming into care. Additional funding was allocated to recruit 10 new foster carers, with a view to recruiting carers who could support sibling groups. Additional funding was allocated to allow all of our Children’s Houses staff to benefit from Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy training. This has been received very well by staff, and has been embedded within the practice of our Children’s Houses. A language campaign was also launched by young people within one of our Children’s Houses; “Words Matter Campaign”, around supporting people to reflect on the language of the care system. Over this time there was a focus on re-starting or re-configuring work that had been impacted by the pandemic. In May 2022 the Lead Officer for The Promise took up post, funded by Promise Partnership Corra Funding (matched by West Dunbartonshire Council) . This post is dedicated to support the implementation of The Promise across West Dunbartonshire. This funding will end in May 2024, but will be made permanent, allowing this work to continue and reflecting West Dunbartonshire’s commitment to The Promise A Keeping the Promise sub-group was created in July 2022, which reports to our Children’s Services Partnership, the Nurtured Delivery Improvement Group (DIG). This group has representation from 23 different services, including Children and Families social work, education, health, Police, Residential child care, Youth Justice, Family Placement team, SCRA, CHS, Who Cares Scotland?, Partners in Advocacy, Further Education, Welfare Rights, Health Improvement, Elected Members, local kinship carers group, Y-Sort It (local 3rd sector organisation) and The Promise Scotland. This group is very well attended and engaged with; members are committed and passionate about the work around The Promise. This has been a great way to increase awareness of The Promise, with members acting as champions and sharing updates with their respective teams, as well as feeding in information from their colleagues and the community they work with. The role of this group is to support and drive forward the recommendations of The Promise, and meets quarterly. Short working life groups were established from the Keeping the Promise group to look at specific issues in more detail and enlist membership from relevant parties. The three initial working groups were for Continuing Care (Moving on), Brothers and Sisters and Language. They report progress to the Keeping the Promise Group, and take action to progress these priority areas. ITEM 11 - APPENDIX 1 Page 32
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 2 The “Moving On” group focussed on how we can have a more consistent and clear approach around the implementation of Continuing care. This has hinged on the creation of a Continuing Care policy for West Dunbartonshire, which is in the final stages of completion. A plan around implementation of this will follow to ensure the policy is widely understood and used. The Language group has gone through a journey, similar to many other local authorities and organisations, where we’ve identified words our children, young people and families don’t like and tried to create alternatives. When reviewed we have found that the words used to describe people’s lives are really personal, and that our goal should really be around following certain principles around language (strengths based, easy to understand)to influence practice and personalise language for our care experienced children and young people wherever possible. The summary of our Language work is attached, and is currently on-going. The Brothers and Sisters group began in March 2023 by gathering our local data to establish a baseline for how we are doing in keeping brothers and sisters together, alongside efforts to establish how decisions and being made, and how we are supporting on-going relationships when siblings are separated. A Brothers and Sisters plan was created with the findings of this data. A repeat gathering of this will be done in March 2024 to consider our progress in this area. The summary of our Brothers and Sisters work is attached, and is also currently on-going. We are in the progress of establishing the next areas of priority that we will look at within Promise activity, and areas that have repeatedly come up are around Voice, Right to Education and Workforce Support. Four Independent Reviewing Officers were appointed in May 2023. This is a new role for West Dunbartonshire. They conduct all reviews for looked after and accommodated children within West Dunbartonshire. This has brought increased accountability, consistency and independence to these reviews, and supported improving the experience of children and families in making meetings more accessible and child friendly. We have seen the uptake of independent advocacy provided by Who Cares Scotland? and Partners in Advocacy increase significantly over the past year for our care experienced children and young people. One potential reason for this could be the introduction of our Independent Reviewing Co- Ordinators, who now consider advocacy at every review meeting. We are in the process of increasing our advocacy provision to ensure that every care experienced child and young person has the opportunity to access advocacy. We currently use Viewpoint, a software tool to gather children and young people’s views to inform their care planning. We are also about to launch a pilot with our foster carers around the use of the Viewpoint app, which has a “My Story” section; a function to upload photographs and videos accompanied by narrative. We are hoping that this leads to a more consistent collection and storage of photos/materials to support care experienced children’s life story, contributing to a coherent narrative around their time in care, now and in the future. An area identified within our Promise work has been around infant voice and how we promote infant mental health. Within our wider agenda of ensuring the voice of those with lived experience of care is embedded within our planning and delivery of services, ensuring we are equipped to hear and act upon the voices of our youngest is essential. We are looking at how we can incorporate the recommendations within the Keeping the Promise to Infants (NSPCC,2023) report as well as using the Scottish Government’s Voice of the Infant: best practice guidelines and infant pledge as a basis for this work. Page 33
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 3 The HSCP was successful in obtaining Promise Partnership funding in October 2023 to create a Participation Lead and a Data and Insights Lead posts. This service has been commissioned to a 3rd sector provider who will provide a participation Lead and a data analyst. A Project summary is attached to give fuller detail around this work. We have had difficulties in re-establishing our Champions Board. Our Champions Board and Corporate Parenting Manager left their post in 2023, which has impacted on our participation work with care experienced children and young people. This has been recognised as an area of required attention, and steps have been taken to ensure we are in a better position this coming year. We are currently in negotiations about commissioning a service to support our Champions Board, as well as increasing our Advocacy provision. The creation of the Participation Lead and Data and Insights Lead should make a considerable difference to how well we can create meaningful opportunities for participation and co-design with our children, young people, parents/carers and adults with care experience. These posts will support participation across the full range of children and young people, from those accessing early, preventative family support, to those on the edges of care and those with care experience – across the full spectrum of those affected by work around The Promise. Better links have also been made with those involved in wider participation work with children and young people in West Dunbartonshire, for example our Youth Council, Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament. More joined up working within young people’s participation should increase visibility of The Promise and support wider engagement around the issues important to children and young people. Links have also been created with those working alongside adults with lived experience, particularly in areas like Recovery. We are also about to embark on work alongside NSPCC Scotland’s Local Campaign’s team which will support a group of care experienced young people run a campaign on an issue that is important to them. Supporting young people to express their voices, feel empowered while gaining valuable skills and experience. Our Whole Family Wellbeing work is being led by Education with a multi-agency working group supporting this. Following wide scale consultation with parents/carers and children and young people via surveys and focus groups, WD For Families Hubs have been established. These are three bases within the local community where people can access a wide range of supports including parenting groups, outreach support, attend a specialist clinics provided by range of support agencies. Consultation had shown that people wanted a “one stop shop” where they could easily access a range of supports, but were most acutely in need of financial support, support around neurodiversity and accessing support that felt non-stigmatising. It emerged that people did not feel they knew what supports were available, and a Family Support resource directory was also created, which is an accessible website signposting to a wide range of local and national supports, and can be accessed here www.wdwellbeing.info We are at the start of a 5 year re-design of Children’s Services: Improving Lives with Children and Families in West Dunbartonshire- What would it take? This is about creating better outcomes for our children and their families, and is very closely aligned with The Promise, GIRFEC, UNCRC and Trauma Informed Practice. We have recently employed a Programme Lead for Trauma Informed Practice, who will work across the local authority to promote training and implementation of trauma informed practice. In 2023 a Scottish Trauma Informed Leaders Training session was held in West Dunbartonshire, with Page 34
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 4 representation of leaders from across Children’s Services and Justice Services, and involved learning as well as planning how to take this work forward. This be continued this year. A Better Hearings group is being re-established in West Dunbartonshire, involving SCRA, CHS and the local authority, and will look at how to improve the experience of children, young people and their families relating to Children’s Hearings, as well as looking ahead towards implementing changes as recommended within the Children’s Hearings Redesign. Some of the challenges experienced by SCRA locally have been around their own staffing shortages, and around the increase in the level of unallocated cases (related to social work capacity). This has an impact on reports being completed, social work attendance at Hearings, and the ability of Panels to make decisions in the absence of crucial information. A system has been put in place to increase social work attendance at Children’s Panels for unallocated cases with basic updates so decisions can be made. Whilst far from ideal, this should allow better use of time and resources, decreasing the need for Hearings to be re-arranged. This is a direct impact of the pressure on the Children and Families Area Teams at present, and is unlikely to improve until the teams have more capacity. Our workforce, particularly within Children and Families social work, continue to experience staffing difficulties. Recruitment and retention of social workers is a significant issue nationally, and is felt within West Dunbartonshire. Supporting existing staff whilst attracting new staff to West Dunbartonshire is a priority for us. Police Scotland have nationally introduced the Not At Home (NAH) process as well as the Philomena protocol in all children’s care homes, with the desired outcome of reducing the disproportionate criminalisation of care experienced children and young people. Within West Dunbartonshire, this has been introduced into each of the children’s houses in the area. The NAH process has helped to reduce the stigma attached to children within children’s houses with unnecessary police involvement when the children fail to return home for a certain time. This is an attempt to create a more “family” orientated home. This had teething problems in its introduction, however so far it is working well. The focus for our local Police officers relating to The Promise in the coming year is to introduce a further process within the children’s houses. This process would be at the return of a child who was reported as missing to the police. Part of the police investigation is to conduct a return interview with the child in order to ascertain their whereabouts during their period of being missing and if they were the victim of any crime. However it has been recognised that these interviews having been conducted by the police aren’t beneficial. It is being considered that staff within the children’s houses conduct these interviews on behalf of the police as they are the best people and again reduces the police involvement with the children. A number of key documents have been reviewed and re-designed, heavily informed by the aspirations of The Promise. One of these is our new “My Assessment and Plan”, and accompanying guide, which aims to ensure The Promise impacts on reports for children and young people. The guidance highlights that workers must: - Remember who assessments are for, considering the impact of words and narratives on children and young people, both now and in the future - Avoid stigmatising, system-led language - Use plain, child-friendly, strengths based language - Limit the use of technical terms, jargon, references to theory and policy - Use first person perspective new Creation of new Assessment and Plan There has been a drive to ensure there is a basic level of awareness amongst workers in West Dunbartonshire. Awareness raising sessions across 2022- 2023 reached over 100 people. There are Page 35
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 5 plans for 2024 to roll out the Promise Badge in Education, developed by the West Partnership, which consists of attending training on The Promise. Building on the work of other local authorities, including Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, there are also plans to introduce an online module on The Promise which can be accessed on a much wider basis, promoted within the Council, private businesses, other organisations and members of the community. Having a dedicated post to Keeping The Promise has allowed the space and time required to do this work. Considering how strained capacity is within the wider workforce, having this responsibility sit alongside other operational roles would be very challenging. The support received from our Promise Delivery Partner, Laura Sharpe, at The Promise Scotland has been invaluable. Laura has supported our work around The Promise by attending our Keeping the Promise group, supporting development sessions, providing guidance and highlighting developments occurring nationally. She has facilitated a Regional Promise group for the areas that she supports, where the Promise leads from these local authorities meet regularly, sharing ideas, developments and practice related to the Promise. This has promoted a more rapid sharing of good ideas and approaches and developed supportive relationships across authorities. We are fortunate in West Dunbartonshire to have a very active and committed community support group, Kinship Carers of West Dunbartonshire, who are part of the wider Kinship Care Alliance group. Their role is to provide peer support to fellow kinship carers, and this group has grown significantly over the past two years. They now have their own larger premise, are supporting over 100 local kinship carers and their families, and providing additional groups and support in relation to children’s mental health and carer’s emotional and physical health. They have joined our Keeping the Promise group, and are able to bring the voices of kinship carers to the forefront. What will be the focus in the coming year, and what are the challenges in doing so? - Workforce support Recruitment and retention of staff is a priority in relation to being able to keep the Promise. This is probably most acutely felt within our Children and Families social work staff and also within foster carers. Considering how we can attract people to these posts, and then ensure we are supporting them, offering training and development opportunities, ensuring manageable workloads and that they feel valued for the work they do is crucial. This will require creativity, resource and ensuring we learn from those who are already working with us, and those who have left, to better understand how we can improve this area. - Right to Education We have work to do ensuring that our care experienced children and young people are known, valued and nurtured within education. Reducing the rate of exclusion for care experienced children and young people is an important part of this, alongside ensuring we have the additional supports in place to achieve this. - Understanding our data and voices of experience – and acting upon this The work we have planned alongside our Participation Lead and Data and Insights Lead means that this work will have a significant level of capacity attached to it, and we are hopeful that great strides can be made this year. Ensuring we have a sustainable model of participation and co-design Page 36
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 6 embedded within our systems should help to make meaningful change. Co-creating a remuneration policy will feature within this work, to ensure that we are valuing and recognising lived experience as expertise, and that the remuneration works best for them. - Improving Lives with Children and Families in West Dunbartonshire: What would it take? (5 year re-design) The strategy to deliver sustainable services and better outcomes for children, young people and their families within Children and Families social work. This includes safely reducing the number of children looked after away from home, and ensuring families are central to decision making and planning for their children. This re-design is based upon the principles of GIRFEC, UNCRC and The Promise, and will involve addressing some of the key areas identified within the Promise, like foster carer recruitment, support to kinship carers, enhancing family support, and ensuring our workforce are nurtured. - Getting our own Promise plan finalised, knowing the outcomes and indicators we will be using to ensure we can evidence our progress. We are in the process of finalising our Promise plan, considering local indicators we have identified as well as incorporating indicators being suggested by COSLA via their work with local authorities and the Improvement Service (though these indicators not yet finalised). What is needed to make sure your organisation can make the contribution it needs to keep the promise? National support around workforce support – how do we make Children and families social work a more attractive area of work and study? Can there be incentives? A campaign to reframe the narrative around this type of work? This needs to be large scale and national. Without a resilient and robust Children and Families social work workforce keeping the promise is not a reality. National support around foster carer recruitment – More sharing and opportunity to scale up innovation – what is working nationally? How can we, more rapidly, share learning and then move to implement on a wider basis? More opportunities to share learning - Rapid learning of what is working nationally, what is not. Increased networking around themes. Some of the changes to The Promise Scotland’s support offer may assist with this given their national overview and the more intensive support offers on particularly areas/locations. Page 37
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West Dunbartonshire Promise Update 7 More support around ideas like “follow the money” – how we shift money to preventative support whilst “keeping the show on the road”. Tangible support and learning around the ideas about de- investing and reinvesting would be valuable. On-going funding opportunities – Promise Partnership funding to continue to support ideas that just would not be possible otherwise. Thank you for taking the time to read about our work to keep The Promise in West Dunbartonshire. We look forward to further discussions and opportunities to shape the next part of the Plan over the coming months. Page 38
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Management Board Meeting Development and Improvement Groups (DIGs): Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY X FOR DECISION Name of DIG Empowered Date of report 16 April 2024 Name and email of lead contact Selina Ross selina@wdcvs.com 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting All due actions from the 2023/4 plan have been completed as scheduled. Highlights to draw to the attention of the Board are: Walk Friendly West Dunbartonshire All activity is supported by a cross-sector forum, which meets quarterly, to collaboratively support and promote the development of health walks and physical activity across the authority area. In addition to taking forward the production and promotion of accessible walk route maps, the group have led on local activity underpinning the national ‘Walk This May’ promotional campaign. This will be launched in the w/c 29th April 2024. Volunteer Strategy Implementation of the CPWD Volunteering Strategy has progressed well with a number of actions achieved including: • 12% increase in the number of available volunteering opportunities • 16% increase in number of local residents starting a volunteering journey (from 22/23 figures) • Increased levels of Employer Supported Volunteering enquiries • 65% return rate for the Volunteer Managers Survey • 30% increase in take up of local accreditation schemes. Work is ongoing, via the InVOLve Forum, to establish priorities for the coming year. These are likely to include: • Increasing the number of Volunteer Involving Organisations who provide travel expenses • Creation of a dedicated volunteer managers skills development programme • Supporting the roll-out of the new PVG legislation requirements • Guide to Volunteering in West Dunbartonshire ITEM 12 Page 39
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Inclusive Volunteering A key 23/24 action has been establishing activities required to make volunteering more inclusive and accessible to all residents of West Dunbartonshire. A short life working group has completed a full sector consultation exercise, the results of which have provided a number of keys actions for the 24/5 period. These include: • Development and roll-out of an inclusive volunteering toolkit for volunteering organisations • Development of a shared induction programme • Structured support for organisations seeking external funding to support accessibility • Programme of guest speakers on EDI issues to attend third sector forum meetings. Digital Engagement There remains a digital divide across West Dunbartonshire. Mapping has suggested that over-65s and disabled people remain less connected and often lacking the technology to get online. With more services moving online it is important that we maintain focus on ensuring everyone, whatever their age, location or situation can benefit from the opportunities digital brings. Feedback suggests the need for a single access guide that signposts local residents to resources and support to help them overcome digital barriers. Working is now underway on this bringing together information on assistive technology; digital skills and skills courses; broadband and mobile connectivity; and advice about staying safe online. Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund As previously noted, the 2023/4 fund of £265,000 was awarded in February 2024. Grant administration processes are now complete, and the full list of awardees are: Antonine Sports Centre – Exercise Buddying Scheme £ 9,950 Awestruck Academy – Community Access Sessions £ 24,400 Clifftop Projects – Adult Art Classes £ 3,298 DACA – Service Workshops £ 16,738 Flourishing Faifley - Development of Men’s Group £13,947 Kinship Carers WD - Holiday Caravan Provision £10,200 Mentor Scotland – Peer Support Programme £24,500 MECOPP – Gypsy Traveller Support programme £ 9,900 OK Food Parcels - Cost of Living/Isolation project £10,000 Quarriers - Carers Support Programme £ 9,380 Relaxation and Therapy Group – Activity Programme £ 6,025 Stepping Stones - Men’s Group £ 9,860 Vale of Leven Football Club – Pitch Fees £ 5,000 WDEMA – Drop In and Therapies £ 4,200 WDMHF – Networking Forum and Coffee & Chat £17,050 Glasgow Rape Crisis - Additional Service Sessions £ 7,200 BiPolar Scotland – Peer Support £ 4,720 Clyde Shopmobility – Health and Wellbeing Sessions £ 8,650 Community Links Scotland – Healthy Pathways £10,475 Vale of Leven Trust – Activity and Staff Costs £24,500 Families Outside – Prison Family Support Project £ 9,823 Page 40
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Outside the Box - Migrant Womens Support £ 9353 WD Athletics Club - Expanding physical activity £ 2,200 PAMIS – Profound and Multiple Disability Activity £ 4,677 Thera Trust/Equal Futures – Learning Disability Network £ 9,237 Notification has been received from Scottish Government of funding for a fourth year of the Fund. Indications are that the grant will be of a similar value to the 2023/4 award. This will go live in early Autumn 2024. Community Soup The Community Soup Model of Local Democracy continues to be rolled-out across West Dunbartonshire by the Communities Team. Community Soups are crowd funding events that brings together local people to provide financial support for projects and ideas which benefit communities and groups. Local groups present their ideas at the Soup event and those attending vote for the idea they think should receive the available funding. It has proved is a useful event for engaging those we don’t often hear from as discussion feels natural as people gather to enjoy a meal together. Old Kilpatrick Community Council successfully delivered their first Community Soup event on 15 March with support from the Communities Team and the Soup Toolkit. Over 65 people attended and a number of local groups pitching their projects to win the funding. The next planned Soup is being hosted by Golden Friendships in April. Old Kilpatrick Community Soup was the 7th organised within WDC since 2020 with a further two planned for the near future. This project is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Locality Plans Three locality plans are close to completion and will be presented to CPWD in August. These cover the Leven, Dumbarton and Clydebank Waterfront localities and have included significant community engagement that has ensured meaningful local influence. This has included engaging with over 200 people at a number of local events and securing over 170 responses to an on-line survey. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed No current issues or risks to report. 3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting The DIG members will meet to consider the 24/25 action plan, to be presented to the Management Board for approval. 4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board to achieve the outcomes of the DIG? Page 41
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No current requests 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share Page 42
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Empowered DIG Action Plan 1 Delivery and Improvement Group: Empowered DIG Action Plan 2023-5 Local Outcome: We live in engaged and cohesive communities Title Due Date Assigned to Milestones Milestone Due Status Actions on poverty, food and fuel insecurity are well coordinated and sustainable across WD (Sustainability/Wellbeing/Empowerment) March 2024 Stephen Brooks/ Elaine Troup (WDC) Financial scam awareness promoted Nov 2023 Complete Increase dedicated Benefit Maximisation activity for carers and those they care for Dec 2023 Complete Map existing provision of community based free period products Jan 2024 Complete Work with partners to increase community-based premises stocking free period products Mar 2024 Complete Financial scam awareness session publicised and delivered Mar 2024 Complete Title Due Date Assigned to Milestones Milestone Due Status Work with communities to establish a comprehensive health walk network (Wellbeing/Empowerment) June 2024 Daren Borzynski (WDCVS)/ WFWD Forum Working with WFWD Forum map existing provisions Nov 2023 Complete Identify and target options to fill gaps March 2024 Complete Produce and promote accessible provision maps June 2024 Ongoing Title Due Date Assigned to Milestones Milestone Due Status Work with VIOs across all sectors to support increased number of high June 2024 WDCVS /InVOLve Scope inclusive volunteering in WD setting Sept 2023 Complete Establish inclusive volunteering working group Nov 2023 Complete ITEM 12 - APPENDIX 1 Page 43
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Empowered DIG Action Plan 2 quality, inclusive volunteering opportunities they offer (Wellbeing/Empowerment) Forum Produce inclusive volunteering action plan Feb 2024 Complete Review Actions and determine 2024/5 actions April 2024 Ongoing Local Outcome: Citizens are confident, resilient and responsible Title Due Date Assigned to Milestone Milestone Due Status Deliver the Year 3 Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund programme (Wellbeing/Empowerment) Mar 2024 David Robertson (WDCVS) Open fund for applications and awareness raising sessions delivered Sept 2023 Complete Application stage 1 assessments complete Dec 2023 Complete Panel decisions notified to successful applicants Feb 2024 Complete Title Due Date Assigned to Milestone Milestone Due Status Improve opportunities for community participation and influence (Sustainability, Empowerment) June 2024 Gordon Harrower (WDCVS)/ Elaine Troup (WDC) Explore barriers to digital engagement Nov 2023 Complete Increase awareness of digital training and device access Jan 2024 Complete Wider use of LinkUp West Dunbartonshire community portal to share informal opportunities Feb 2024 Complete Work in partnership to increase awareness of Participatory Budgeting March 2024 Complete Work in partnership to increase opportunities for community representation/participation across WD June 2024 Ongoing Increase citizen awareness of and engagement with opportunities to volunteer in the civic life of WD June 2024 Ongoing Title Due Date Assigned to Milestone Milestone Due Status Page 44
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Empowered DIG Action Plan 3 Extend the availability of and access to self-management activity to improve quality of life for residents living with long term health conditions (Wellbeing/Empowerment) June 2024 WDCVS Establish linkages with national intermediaries Dec 2023 Complete Promote 2024 calendar of Dementia Friendly WD awareness sessions Dec 2023 Complete Raise awareness of the Ask ACCESS hub service Jan 2024 Complete Create a self-management service directory Feb 2024 Complete Hold assembly session May 2024 Ongoing Local Outcome: Carers are supported to address their needs Title Due Date Assigned to Milestones Milestone Due Status Explore and develop an Age Friendly West Dunbartonshire strategy (Empowerment) June 2024 David Robertson (WDCVS)/ Age Well Forum Scoping and direction-setting sessions held Sept 2023 Complete Action areas identified and agreed Dec 2023 Complete Consultation survey completed March 2024 Ongoing Publication of draft strategy May 2024 Ongoing Page 45
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Management Board Meeting Development and Improvement Groups (DIGs): Highlights and Issues Report FOR INFORMATION ONLY x FOR DECISION Name of DIG Safe DIG Date of report 22/04/2024 Name and email of lead contact Supt Jon Harris Jonathan.harris@scotland.police.uk 1 Highlights of activity and progress since last meeting On the 6/3/2024 the Safe DIG met for the first time under the chair of Supt Jon Harris. The previous action plan was reviewed and measures were clarified for all of the activities retained. The ownership for each action was ascribed to one of the existing groups currently sitting across West Dunbartonshire to prevent duplication of effort or reporting. This will provide a natural flow of information and tasking through the meeting hierarchy to the CPWD Executive group. These actions will be agreed at another SafeDIG on the 7/5/2024 prior to the next CPWD meeting, bringing the meetings back into sequence. In an effort to prevent duplication of work and reporting the actions currently undertaken by the VAWG group, currently chaired by Det. Supt Alan Somerville will continue to report into the PPCOG and will no longer also report into the SafeDIG. Following the May SafeDIG the actions will be uploaded to Pentana to allow easy identification of actions and progression towards milestones. The new Chief Constable in PS has now made her pledge which includes partnership working being very high up on her agenda. Operation Ballaton has been initiated for spring/summer 2024 covering Balloch and surrounding area. The purpose of the operation is to provide an appropriate multi- agency response to ensure the annual increase in numbers attending Balloch and the surrounding areas are policed and facilitated allowing a safe and enjoyable visit to the area. The deployments are gauged against weather, events and any other impact factors that may cause an increase in visitor numbers. Weekly multi-agency meetings commenced at the end of this reporting period. ITEM 13 Page 47
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OFFICIAL OFFICIAL The Clydebank Community Team, supported by response policing and partners in WDC, BTP and public transport provision has deployed an ongoing policing matrix to best provide the Chalmers Street and Clydebank Shopping Centre areas with a police presence as often as possible. These areas have been highlighted as ‘hot-spots’ for youth disorder. Officers are engaging and speaking with youths and parents when required to provide some context around the issues and negative impact ASB has on both the public and retailers alike. The Road Safety events with input and advice from Police Scotland, SFRS and Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has been designed and a test of concept completed. The events will now begin to be scheduled for West Dunbartonshire in the coming year. A more holistic approach to Water Safety alongside SFRS, Coastguard and National Park is being proposed to allow more effective information and good practice sharing. 2 Outline of any issues/risks and how these are being managed The current action plan has been written with cognisance to the prevailing financial landscape, however it is recognized that this is a time of uncertainty and certain levels of funding may reduce or be removed throughout the period of the actions rendering them unachievable. It is therefore incumbent on the SafeDIG to be realistic with the actions and adjust them as required. 3 Outline of the main outputs expected before next meeting Agreement of actions and ownership at next meeting. 4 What are your requirements of partners in the Community Planning Management Board? None, other than the continued support provided by all partners. 5 Please outline any good news story you wish to share None for this meeting. Page 48