Agenda Document Pack - Community Planning Board - 04/06/2025
Moray Council · 4 June 2025
Back to Community Planning Board — 4 June 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Community Planning Board Wednesday, 04 June 2025 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Meeting of the Community Planning Board is to be held at Committee Room, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX on Wednesday, 04 June 2025 at 14:00. BUSINESS 1. Sederunt 2. Minute of the meeting held 4 March 2025 3 - 8 3. School Age Childcare 9 - 26 4. LOIP Development of Delivery Framework - Update 27 - 40 5. CPB Children Services Plan 2023-2026 - Year One Annual Report 41 - 100 6. AOCB Page 1
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THE MORAY COUNCIL Community Planning Board SEDERUNT Dr Adam Coldwells (Chair) Councillor Kathleen Robertson (Depute Chair) Mr George Burgess (Member) Ms Karen Greaves BEM (Member) Councillor Sandy Keith (Member) Councillor Scott Lawrence (Member) Ms Jackie Maclaren (Member) Mr Gavin Miles (Member) Mr Grant Moir (Member) Councillor Bridget Mustard (Member) Mr David Reid (Member) Mr Dennis Robertson (Member) Ms Claire Sim (Member) Chief Superintendent Kate Stephen (Member) Councillor John Stuart (Member) Mrs Susan Webb (Member) Ms Caroline Webster (Member) Mr Andrew Wright (Member) Councillor Amber Dunbar (Outside Body Appointee) Gp Capt Sarah Brewin (Non-Voting Member) Ms Sarah Medcraf (Non-Voting Member) Lt Col James Walker (Non-Voting Member) Clerk Name: Lindsey Robinson Clerk Telephone: 07966 120593 Clerk Email: committee.services@moray.gov.uk Page 2
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MORAY COUNCIL Minute of Meeting of the Community Planning Board Tuesday, 04 March 2025 Committee Room, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Mr George Burgess, Scottish Government; Councillor Sandy Keith, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Ms Jackie Maclaren, tsi Moray; Ms Sarah Medcraf, Moray Chamber of Commerce; Councillor Bridget Mustard, Mr David Reid, Highland and Islands Enterprise; Councillor Kathleen Robertson, Chief Superintendent Kate Stephen, Police Scotland; Mrs Susan Webb, Local Senior Officer Andrew Wright, Scottish Fire and Rescue Services. SUBSTITUTES Ms Ann Griffin attended in place of Lt Col Walker. APOLOGIES Gp Capt Sarah Brewin, RAF Lossiemouth; Dr Adam Coldwells, NHS Grampian; Councillor Amber Dunbar, Mr Gavin Miles, Cairngorms National Park Authority; Mr Grant Moir, Cairngorms National Park Authority; Mr John Mundell, Moray Council; Mr Dennis Robertson, NHS Grampian; Ms Claire Sim, Skills Development Scotland; Lt Col James Walker, 39 Engineer Regiment; Ms Caroline Webster, UHI Moray. IN ATTENDANCE The Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development); Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development; Moray Growth Deal Programme Manager; Communities Service Manager; Economic Growth and Regeneration Manager; and Lindsey Robinson, Committee Services Officer. 1. Chair In the absence of Dr Coldwells, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, as Depute Chair of the Community Planning Board, chaired the meeting. 2. Minute of meeting held 3 December 2024 The minute of the meeting of 3 December 2024 was submitted and approved as an accurate record of the meeting. 3. Community Wealth Building Strategy Action Plan The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) Moray Council, presenting the Board with an overview of the Item 2. Page 3
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Moray Community Wealth Building Strategy and Action plan (CWB) as set out in Appendix 1 to the report. During consideration Councillor Robertson sought clarification on what guidance and support was available for communities using the benefits portal. The Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development advised that there was guidance available and that this was a long-term project, so it was important to see how it develops. Councillor Keith asked if the targets were realistic or ambitious. The Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development advised that they would like to be ambitious and aim for 37%. Ms Medcraf stated that it can be difficult to businesses to sign up as they do not always see the benefit to local procurement. Mr Reid added that some legal processes for the Scottish Government may not use local procurement, and different organisations will have their own CWBs. Ms Maclaren stated that procurement can be a challenge for medium sized third sector organisations and that they welcome the chance to do more locally. Councillor Lawrence sought clarification on whether there was a formula used to provide community benefits through the portal. The Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development advised that the portal had not yet been rolled out, but that she could feed back once it had been. She also reminded the Board that this was the start of a new 10-year project. Councillor Lawrence sought clarification on whether procurement roadshows could be included as part of this project. The Acting Head of Economic Growth and Development advised that she would take it back to the procurement team for consideration. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to: i. note the content of the report; and ii. support the implementation and delivery of the CWB strategy. 4. Locality Plans Update - Buckie and New Elgin The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) Moray Council, providing the Board with an update on Locality Planning in Buckie and New Elgin and reaffirming their support for both locality plan priorities. Page 4
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During consideration Councillor Robertson queried what the ask was in relation to support, whether in kind or financial. She further sought clarification on the funding for the New Elgin project and whether it was 1 year of funding from Moray Council. The Communities Service Manager advised that the agreed process is for each Locality Group to come back with three ‘asks’ that the partnership is asked to help unblock. After the last presentation to the Board there was funding found via Moray Pathways to develop a new community hub space in New Elgin. Buckie have outgrown their current space and are looking for support in principle for their move. Mr Burgess stated that part of his responsibility is the Scottish Land Fund, and he asked that the details be passed on to the group. LSO Wright asked what the barriers were for these organisations. The Communities Service Manager advised that funding was the biggest barrier facing the Buckie group. The group are providing and resourcing a space which they are only able to do through sourcing external grant funding. At the CPOG meeting it had been noted that CPP partners also had geographical limitations and that impacted on the level of engagement varies by organisation (UHI Moray mentioned how it was easier to engage in New Elgin as they are an Elgin based organisation) Ms Medcraf sought clarification on whether there were any issues between the two hubs in terms of the support they are getting. The Communities Service manager advised that the Buckie hub felt that more support was given to the New Elgin hub, and they would like to see similar support in Buckie. The Buckie group has a strong volunteer base and the New Elgin one is trying to involve local residents to develop this same volunteer base - Ms Medcraf questioned whether there was a business plan for the Buckie hub to allow partners to look at the costs involved. The Communities Service Manager advised that a development trust had been formed which is run by volunteers and the community. One way the Chamber could help is to identify advisors with property / finance backgrounds to add business expertise to the strong community base of the Development Trust Board. Ms Medraf advised that the Chamber of Commerce would be available to provide assistance and encouraged them to reach out. Ms Mclaren advised that TSi Moray have been signposting to other organisations and have also been able to provide direct support – most recently through Just Transition funding for Buckie hub. Mrs Webb sought clarification on whether partners infrastructure teams have been involved as NHS Grampian are doing a review of their infrastructure. The Communities Service Manager advised that it would be part of the overall support, but that it would be useful to know how to make the links. Mrs Webb advised that she would make the link to Gary Kidd in the NHS review team. Page 5
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Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to note the ongoing progress being made in the two LOIP priority areas and reaffirm its commitment to promote partnership working at all levels to address the priorities in the New Elgin and Buckie locality plans as outlined in Paragraph 3.6. 5. Vary order of business The meeting agreed to vary the order of business set down on the agenda and take item 5 "Moray Growth Deal 2024 Annual Report" as the next item of business in order to allow those presenting item 4 "Children's Services Plan Annual report 2023-2024 the chance to attend the meeting. 6. Moray Growth Deal 2024 Annual Report The meeting had before it a report by the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) Moray Council, providing the Board with a draft version of the Moray Growth Deal (MGD) 2024 annual report for consideration. During consideration Councillor Robertson stated that 6 out of 8 projects were now in delivery, which was exciting and felt it would be easier to promote to the public now that there is something tangible to be seen. Mr Reid reminded the Board that there was a fantastic amount of investment happening in Moray at the moment and the Growth Deal projects are part of this bigger picture. Ms Mclaren stated that it was exciting to see things happening, but all of the different opportunities could be confusing to the public. The Growth Deal Team would need to ensure that all communications were clear. She advised that communications could also be circulated through the TSi network if needed. Ms Medcraf agreed that communications need to be right in terms of what the Growth Deal means for each community. Following consideration, the Board unanimously agreed to: i. approve the 2024 MGD Annual Report as set out in Appendix 1; and ii. delegate authority to the Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance) in consultation with the Council Leader and Chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure (EDI) Committee to approve a final iteration of the draft report, following engagement with key stakeholders and the Scottish and UK Governments. 7. Children Services Plan Annual Report 2023-2024 The meeting had before it a report by the Chief Social Work Officer/Head of Service and Chair of the GIRFEC Leadership Group asking the Board to approve the Children’s Services Plan year one progress report (2023/24). Page 6
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Due to there being no one available to present the report, it was agreed that it would be deferred to the next meeting on 4 June 2025. 8. AOCB Ms Medcraf stated that as the Moray Economic Partnership was undergoing changes that there should be a smarter way for the two organisations to link together. Councillor Robertson agreed and advised that discussions would take place off the table with areas of duplication looked at. She further advised that any ideas around this should be fed back to the clerk. Councillor Mustard sought clarification on how to get partner support into the school setting and how to get these discussions onto this agenda. It was suggested that Mrs Cross, Head of Education, should be invited to the next meeting. The Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development) reminded the Board that there was a development session scheduled for 19 May 2025 with the location still to be decided. Page 7
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REPORT TO: COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD ON 4 JUNE 2025 SUBJECT: SCHOOL AGED CHILDCARE REPORT BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND FINANCE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To provide the Community Planning Board with an update on the work of the School Aged Childcare for 5–12-year-olds project. This project is co-ordinated by the Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership (LEP) and a dedicated project officer is leading the project, with strategic leadership from the Lead Officer Progress for Parents. This project is resourced by the Child Poverty Scottish Government Grant governed by the LEP. The report seeks approval to progress new initiatives and to assist in alleviating the pressures of deficient School Age Childcare (SACC) provision throughout Moray. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Board:- (i) Consider and note the local progress made since the initial report presented in May 2024; and (ii) Consider and agree new School Age Child Care initiatives in the highest need areas named in the Moray Poverty Report 2023 which are Elgin Cathedral to Ashgrove and Pinefield, New Elgin East, Forres South West and Mannachie, Buckie Central East and Keith and Fife Keith. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 High quality childcare that is flexible, accessible and affordable plays a critical role in our society. It is vital to giving children the best possible start in life, to supporting Item 3. Page 9
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families to thrive, and to ensuring that parents and carers can work, train or study. This is the key message in the ‘Best Start: Strategic early learning and school aged childcare plan for Scotland 2022-2026’. The vision is that, through access to rich and nurturing early learning and school aged childcare experiences, children, families, and their communities are enabled to reach their full potential and the poverty-related outcomes gap narrows. 3.2 Figure 1: How the School Age Childcare policy vision and drivers contribute to the National Performance Framework outcomes. Scottish Government School Age Childcare Delivery Framework 2023. 3.3 Figure 2: School Age Childcare policy links – Scottish Government School Age Delivery Framework 2023. Page 10
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3.4 School aged childcare (SACC) services play a vital role within our communities, offering a variety of options which families can rely on to support their childcare needs before and after school, and during the holidays. Broadly speaking, SACC consists of the childcare which occurs out with the statutory provision occurring within the school day and any additional resources provided by Education via PEF funding, including before and after school care, as well as during the school holidays. SACC provision includes a wide-ranging mix of offerings, made up of childminders, breakfast clubs, after school care, activity providers, specialist ASN providers, holiday providers, friends and family, and at home childcare. In addition, many families rely on informal childcare provided via friends and family, often structuring their employment around what is locally available, to accommodate their family’s circumstances. Figure 3: Who provides School Age Childcare. Scottish Government School Age Childcare Delivery Framework 2023. 3.5 The issue of childcare availability has become an ever-increasing barrier and concern for local families. Specifically, a lack of flexible, accessible and affordable SACC. This is preventing parents from reaching their full economic potential. In turn, leading to increased unemployment and underemployment among parents who are willing and able to work. The effects predominantly being experienced by women, thus exacerbating the existing gender pay gap. Improving access to childcare can have a major impact in closing the gender pay gap. Lack of sufficient childcare prevents parents (usually the mother) from being forced into part time roles, or into leaving work altogether. In a report published in 2022, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimated that if female employees worked as much in full time roles as their male counterparts, the gender pay gap would reduce by a third. Addressing the gender pay gap matters for fairness between genders. But it has other consequences. As many families depend on a woman’s income, lower wages for female workers places them and their children at a greater disadvantage and puts them at further risk of poverty. 3.6 A Childcare Problem Statement was drafted to qualify the extent of these challenges. This was reported to Moray Economic Partnership (MEP) on 7 December 2022. The report outlined the growing challenge of childcare provision and the importance of childcare to a productive economy. The problem statement outlined the range of factors putting pressure upon existing childcare infrastructure, which included: Page 11
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• Declining interest among young people in pursuing a career in childcare, resulting in fewer students applying for childcare courses with UHI Moray. • Lack of financial viability for SACC provision locally, especially those which are newly launched. • Limited access to suitable premises within Moray for delivering childcare services. • Challenges around meeting Care Inspectorate regulations in the set up and delivery of provision. 3.7 The lack of statutory requirements for providing SACC places the burden of identifying solutions to the current childcare situation on the market to provide. It is recognised that the challenges are complex and there is a need to develop adaptable and varied solutions which may involve provision of funding, skills development, sourcing of suitable premises, transportation, and recognition that levels of demand and provision will vary across each area of Moray and may require unique area-based solutions. 3.7 The Progress for Parents project aims to support parents in our local communities to access SACC provision. SACC has been identified as a barrier preventing parents from participating in learning, training or employment opportunities. Overall, the aim of this project is to support parents into learning and work, to increase household income and ultimately reduce child poverty rates. The Progress for Parents team is funded by Scottish Government and embedded within the Employability team within Economic Growth and Regeneration. The Progress for Parents team recruited a Project Officer in January 2024 to coordinate the SACC element of the Progress for Parents project. 3.8 It was highlighted in the Moray Poverty Report 2023 that 24.1% (3849) of children in Moray are living in relative poverty (2021/22). Poverty is defined by available household income, if a child is in poverty any adult in the household is also in poverty. Estimated 20.2% (19,455) of adults living in poverty are in Moray. 3.9 The Family survey 2022/2023 highlighted that 73% of parents stated that improved or expanded childcare provision could provide them with the opportunity to take on more hours at work or change jobs. 44.43% of parents stated that their current childcare provision did not meet their needs. 26% of current childcare providers would be interested in expanding to offer SACC provision. 3.10 Tackling child poverty and enabling more people to work by supporting access to affordable childcare in Moray are both direct strategic priorities in the Corporate Plan 2024. The Corporate Plan also identifies geographical areas that are the focus for development, these areas need support to build the infrastructure to allow families to live sustainably. For example, Forres has no SACC group provision,15 childminders, but has a population of 1028 school aged children (5-12 years old). Buckie has no SACC group provision, 8 childminders, and 1023 school age children (5-12 years). 3.11 The Moray Economic Strategy, The Economic Growth and Development Service Plan and The Children’s Services Plan all identify Childcare as a priority and a barrier to progression for families in poverty. Page 12
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3.12 A mapping of SACC provision across Moray highlighted that 6.7% of the 6594 children living in Moray can currently be supported in SACC provision. Of the 445 registered childcare places for 5–12-year-olds, 148 of these places are not currently available to use. Lowering the statistic to 4.5% of Moray’s children have access to SACC provision. 3.13 The below table shows the total number of providers that are currently registered with the Care Inspectorate to deliver childcare for children aged 5-12 years old. Name of setting ASG Nature of offer Registered Nos of places RAF Lossiemouth Childcare Centre Lossiemouth HS Private provision including breakfast club, after school and holiday club 60 Max Ark Childcare Elgin HS Private provision including breakfast club, after school and holiday club 30 Max Magic Roundabout Nursery Elgin HS Private provision including breakfast club, after school and holiday club 48 Max Fochabers Nursery Milnes HS Private provision including breakfast club and after school. 30 Max Mosstodloch Early Learning & Childcare Centre Milnes HS Private provision including breakfast club. 16 Max Dyke pre-school Centre Forres A Private provision including breakfast club and after school. 20 Max Keith Play Centre Keith G Private provision including breakfast club and after school. 13 Max Earthtime Nursery Lossiemouth HS Private provision including breakfast club, after school and holiday club. 15 Max The Lossie 2-3 group Lossiemouth HS Private provision including breakfast club, after school and holiday club. 15 Max Curious Minds Education Centre Elgin A Holiday club for 5 – 10-year-olds 50 Max Rainbow Castle Elgin A Registered for SACC but not currently offering 64 Max Jack and Jill Nursery Elgin HS Registered for SACC but not currently offering (P1-P3) 60 Max The Cabin Speyside HS Registered for SACC but not currently offering 24 Max 4. EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE (ELC) UPDATE Page 13
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4.1 Funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) is available for all 3 and 4 year olds in Scotland. There is also Funded ELC for eligible 2-year-olds and eligibility for funding is indicated using the following criteria/benefits. • Income Support • Income-based Job Seekers Allowance • Any income-related element of Employment and Support Allowance • Child Tax Credit but not Working Tax Credit, with an income of less than £19,995 • Both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit with income of up to £9,552 • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 • Universal Credit with a monthly earned income of not more than £796 4.2 Additionally, the free early learning and childcare is available for 2-year-olds who are, or have been at any point since their second birthday: • Looked after • Under a kinship care order • Under a guardianship order 4.3 In Moray we have a variety of different service providers for ELC including local authority nurseries, private and voluntary funded providers and childminders. Overall, there are 63 nurseries and 94 childminders with 43 of them being in contract to offer funded hours (at time of publication). 4.4 Out of the 63 nurseries 24 of these are run by the local authority and the remaining 39 are private and voluntary services in contract with Moray Council to offer funded hours. 4.5 Within each Associated Schools Group (ASG) there are a variety of services to support families with flexibility. The flexibility offered depends on the service model of a setting. 4.6 Individual partner services determine their own service model and currently within the local authority services we have 20 term time settings and 4 that offer year-round (46 weeks). There is currently a review of provision at all four nurseries that operate year- ASG Number of Nurseries Total registered capacity Number of childminders (funded) Buckie 10 316 7 (3) Elgin Academy 10 537 16 (8) Elgin High School 6 292 14 (7) Forres Academy 8 344 13 (4) Keith Grammar 6 177 6 (5) Lossiemouth High School 9 344 19 (10) Milnes High School 5 183 12 (3) Speyside High School 8 152 7 (3) Page 14
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round, considering parent/carer feedback and historic uptake. This review is part of an ongoing effort to evaluate and potentially standardise operating hours in line with term- time services. Currently we are in the confidential stages of this review/consultation which initially involves staff however consideration is being given to future wider public communication. In local authority term time setting families are entitled to up to 30 hours in a week over the 38-week period. Whereas in a year-round setting families are entitled to 25 hours a week over a 46-week period. 4.7 At January registration parents opt for the service model that best suits their needs. The term model follows similar times of day to the school day however the year round (46 week) models offer an earlier start, at 7.45am and a later finish, up to 6pm. However, families cannot have 5 days from 7.45am-6pm as this would be over their funding allocation, they must stick to the 25 hours which normally equates to 2 long days (10hrs each) and one short day (5 hours) totalling the 25. 4.8 In addition to the ELC offer within the current settings we have 28 nurseries that offer 2’s private provision and daycare/holiday clubs for a variety of age groups. 4.9 The below table shows the total number of providers that are currently registered with the Care Inspectorate to deliver ELC provision in Moray. Provider Name ASG Partner Provider / Local Authority Current Registration January 2025 Care Inspectorate (CI) Registered Capacity Registered to offer funded 2 year olds places Service Model Cullen Primary School Nursery Buckie Local Authority 40 58 Yes 46 weeks Findochty Primary School Nursery Buckie Local Authority 17 20 No Term time Lady Cathcart Nursery Buckie Local Authority 39 50 Yes 46 weeks Millbank Nursery Buckie Local Authority 38 40 No Term time Portessie Playgroup Buckie Partner Provider 26 26 Yes Term time Portgordon Primary School Nursery Buckie Local Authority 20 20 No Term time Portknockie Nursery Buckie Partner Provider 12 20 Yes Term time Rainbow Days Buckie Partner Provider 23 34 Yes Term time St. Peter's RC Primary School Nursery Buckie Local Authority 38 40 No Term time Page 15
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Teddy Bear Developmental Group Buckie Partner Provider 5 8 Yes Term time Bishopmill Pre- school Centre Elgin Academy Partner Provider 34 40 Yes Term time Curious Minds Education Centre Elgin Academy Partner Provider 46 40 Yes Term time East End School Nursery Elgin Academy Local Authority 24 24 No Term time Liberty Kids Elgin Academy Partner Provider 45 95 Yes Term time and 50 weeks Rainbow Castle Childcare Elgin Academy Partner Provider 39 85 Yes Term time Seafield Primary School Nursery Elgin Academy Local Authority 53 40 No 46 weeks St. Sylvester's Nursery Elgin Academy Partner Provider 25 44 Yes Term time Stramash Outdoor Nursery, Elgin Elgin Academy Partner Provider 55 42 Yes Term time and 50 weeks The College Nursery Elgin Academy Partner Provider 42 60 Yes Term time V.I.P. Childcare - Moray Elgin Academy Partner Provider 44 67 Yes Term time and 50 weeks Ark Childcare Ltd Elgin High Partner Provider 50 90 Yes Term time and 50 weeks Jack and Jill Nursery School Elgin High Partner Provider 44 60 Yes Term time Linkwood Nursery Elgin High Local Authority 49 56 No 46 weeks Magic Roundabout Childcare Centre Elgin High Partner Provider 42 40 No Term time Magic Roundabout Childcare Centre Elgin High Partner Provider 78 86 Yes 46 weeks Miltonduff Pre- school Group Elgin High Partner Provider 10 26 Yes Term time Page 16
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New Elgin Primary School Nursery Elgin High Local Authority 23 24 No Term time Drumduan School Forres Partner Provider 14 38 No Term time Dyke Pre-school Centre Forres Partner Provider 15 20 Yes Term time Hop, Skip & Jump Nursery Forres Partner Provider 19 34 Yes Term time Kinloss Primary School Nursery Forres Local Authority 16 16 No Term time Noah's Ark Day Care Forres Partner Provider 35 42 Yes Term time Pilmuir Primary School Nursery Forres Local Authority 57 60 Yes 46 weeks Rainbow Childcare and Education Ltd Forres Partner Provider 55 34 Yes 46 weeks Spring Kinloss Forres Partner Provider 42 100 Yes Term time and 46 weeks Flexible Childcare Services Keith Keith Partner Provider 47 63 Yes Term time, 46 and 50 weeks Keith Play Centre Nursery & Rising 3's Keith Partner Provider 24 35 Yes Term time and 46 weeks Keith Primary School Nursery Keith Local Authority 30 32 No Term time Newmill Nursery and Little Stars Keith Partner Provider 16 15 Yes Term time Rothiemay Playgroup Keith Partner Provider 10 12 No Term time St. Thomas Primary School Nursery Keith Local Authority 8 20 No Term time Burghead Primary School Nursery Lossie Local Authority 26 20 No Term time Earthtime's Forest School Nursery Lossie Partner Provider 27 50 Yes Term time East Beach Nursery Lossie Partner Provider 20 44 Yes Term time and 50 weeks Page 17
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Hopeman Primary School Nursery Lossie Local Authority 25 20 No Term time Hythehill Primary School Nursery Lossie Local Authority 23 24 No Term time Ladybird Development Group Lossie Partner Provider 8 15 Yes Term time RAF Lossiemouth Childcare Centre Lossie Partner Provider 55 131 Yes Term time and 50 weeks St. Gerardine Primary School Nursery Lossie Local Authority 25 40 No Term time The Lossie 2-3 Group Lossie Partner Provider 12 15 Yes Term time Torridon Little Learners Lossie Partner Provider 17 Term time Fochabers Nursery and Out of School Milnes Partner Provider 49 50 Yes Term time Garmouth & Kingston Pre- School Group Milnes Partner Provider 0 40 Yes Term time Lhanbryde Primary School Nursery Milnes Local Authority 30 37 Yes 46 weeks Milne's Primary School Nursery Milnes Local Authority 15 24 No Term time Mosstodloch Early Learning & Childcare Milnes Partner Provider 32 32 No Term time Aberlour and Craigellachie Pre School Speyside Partner Provider 14 24 Yes Term time Aberlour Primary Nursery School Speyside Local Authority 18 20 No Term time Busy Bee's Childcare Speyside Partner Provider 13 16 Yes 50 weeks Knockando Playgroup Speyside Partner Provider 12 14 No Term time Mortlach Primary School Nursery Speyside Local Authority 16 16 No Term time Rothes Primary School Nursery Speyside Local Authority 17 18 No Term time Page 18
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The Cabin Speyside Partner Provider 22 24 Yes Term time Tomintoul Primary School Nursery Speyside Local Authority 10 20 No Term time Total Moray 1835 2345 5. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LINKS 5.1 The Lead Officer Progress for Parents for the Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership is chairing the Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership (HIREP) Childcare Subgroup. Dates and Agenda for the Working Group are now set and admin support for the Group has been offered and agreed from Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE). Scottish Government representatives attend the Working Group, and meetings have been well attended from all partners. A fully active workforce is vital to the economic and community prosperity of the Highlands and Islands, and to alleviate child poverty. There is a need to address barriers, such as access to childcare, in a way which will allow people to reach their full economic potential. Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Convention of Highlands and Islands and the Highland and Islands Regional Economic Partnership recognises that childcare is critical for the retention of the population across the region, and our ability to attract people here. Providing childcare in rural locations is particularly challenging and current national policy is often not fit- for-purpose in ensuring a sustainable, responsive provision in certain places. Regional and national information gathered provides us with the opportunity to ensure our local plans align with strategic objectives. 5.2 Scottish Government School Aged Childcare Division are contributing to and advising on our task and finish groups and action plan. Our progress made to date and ongoing plans are described, by the team, as “innovative”. 5.3 The Scottish Government School Age Childcare Division is currently working with the Care Inspectorate on a joint feasibility study to review the current regulatory framework around school age childcare. Over the last year, feedback from the sector, and from children and their families, has highlighted some of the challenges posed by the current regulation of SACC services. The aim of the feasibility study is to better understand these challenges and look at whether there are opportunities to change regulation to enable services to operate more sustainably, and to bring a wider range of services into the scope of SACC, creating a more level playing field for service providers. The study has been exploring a range of areas including the potential for legislative change, flexibility in current requirements and considering how the sector could grow while maintaining safety and quality. The study is due to run until February 2025 and the intention is to use the evidence gathered through the study to present to Ministers a range of options for change. Local Officers have built strong links with the Scottish Government team and have contributed to the feasibility study. Page 19
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5.4 Learning, relationship building and communication is ongoing with colleagues in neighbouring Local Authorities, to gain insight and understanding of how SACC is delivered and sustained across communities similar to those found in Moray. Models of delivery, SACC policy documents, examples of learning estate leases, financial structures and breakdowns are all examples of evidence gathered to support the planning for and implementation of SACC in Moray. 6. OUT OF SCHOOL PROVISION FOR 5-12 YEAR OLDS (SACC) ACTION PLAN: 6.1 The Moray Economic Partnership (MEP) agreed that a short-life working group of key partners be created to research and develop a detailed business case setting out the scale of the issue, the economic consequences and evidence of demand and capacity issues. This group was established in January 2023 and completed its aims, highlighted in the School Aged Childcare Working group paper submitted to the Community Planning Board in May 2024. The Community Planning Board then agreed to: • note the progress to date in building an evidence base which demonstrates the scale of challenges associated with SACC provision including the activity coordinated via the HIREP Childcare Working Group which Moray Council has chaired. • note the future changes to the childcare landscape as a result of the Scottish Government’s SACC Delivery Framework. • note the new staffing resources in place via the Local Employability Partnership (LEP), the work which relevant LEP officers will be progressing on SACC over the coming year and that an update will be provided when that work has progressed further. • note that pending that update, there is no additional resource earmarked internally from which to progress actions relative to SAC. 6.2 Following on from the work highlighted in paragraph 5.1 and the Childcare Problem statement highlighted in paragraph 3.5 key factors were noted as having a detrimental impact on childcare infrastructure here in Moray. These became the focus for a strategic action plan covering short, medium and long-term actions with newly formed task and finish groups to implement the following areas of work: • SACC workforce development, the focus will be on the issues of recuritment and retention within the SACC workforce, including developing clear pathways for SACC training, entering the sector, progressing in the sector and CPD for the existing workforce. The key stakeholders meet on a 4 weekly basis and the pathway document will be completed by the end of August 2025. • SACC locality needs, the group will focus on the SACC needs of all communities across Moray, identifying priorities for growth and development, test of change projects and engagement with our communities. This will include partnership working between the public, private and third sectors, utilising the resources and provisions available. The group meets on a 4 weekly basis and a 6 month timescale was set to progress the initial test and learn project, this Page 20
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project has now started between a childcare provider and the M:Connect Service. • SACC Moray policy development, the focus of the working group will be to develop a clear and engaging local framework for SACC providers that translates National legislation and regulations. The work should also include the development of a quality assurance framework for regulated and non-regulated future provision, which will support and build capacity across the region. The group meet on a 4 weekly basis and a 6 month timescale was set. • SACC practitioner’s forum to build relationships across the sector, share practice, discuss local/national issues and develop local initiatives in collaboration with providers. 6.3 The group membership consists of officers from Education, Economic Growth and Regeneration, Lifelong Learning, Culture and Sport, and the Learning Estate. The membership extends to our local partners including NHS, Moray Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Defence (RAF & Army), UHI Moray, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), TSi Moray, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Care and Learning Alliance (CALA), Third and Private Sector providers, and Business Gateway, as well as representatives from Scottish Government. 6.4 The Project Officer meets with the Army Welfare Team on a monthly basis to progress the provision and discuss possible solutions at Kinloss Barracks. The Chamber of Commerce have regular update meetings with the Project Officer and Lead Officer for Progress for Parents. RAF Lossiemouth are progressing their plans but are also in regular communication with the Project Officer. 7. LOCAL PROGESS IN ACTION: 7.1 Childminders Grant Scheme will support the growth and sustainability of childminding in Moray. A vital model of SACC delivery, particularly in our remote and rural communities. The scheme is intended to support training, resources and business start-up costs to the sum of £750 per childminder. The indicative funding is to be approved by the Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership and is expected to be confirmed within the next 8 weeks. Moray Council Childminding Development Officer, Business Gateway and the Project Officer (SACC) will continue to work collaboratively on this scheme. 7.2 SACC Providers Grant Scheme will support existing SACC providers to upskill staff, build on current resources and grow capacity within their existing provision. Indicative funding of up to £5,000 per provider is yet to be approved by Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership. Confirmation of this is expected within the next 8 weeks. We are also working closely with Moray Chamber of Commerce to explore corporate support for SACC providers, discussions are in early stages and 40% of local employers surveyed have indicated a need to support the growth of childcare infrastructure in Moray. However, due to increased financial pressure on the private sector, no match funding has been identified yet. Page 21
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7.3 Transport project in collaboration with M-Connect, Moray Council’s Bus Revolution project. A new public transport bus route created around the Laich coastal communities (Burghead to Lossiemouth), with additional stops at Hopeman Primary School and Earthtime SACC provision at Duffus House Estate. Offering safe and affordable options for families to access breakfast club and after school care during term time and school holiday provision. This is a public transport service; therefore, children will be able to travel for free as part of the young person’s free bus travel scheme. This new bus route will commence on 1st April 2025. It is forecasted that families who currently use the privilege school bus service, may save annually up to £400 per child by using this new service. Earthtime have reported staff will have the opportunity to extend their working hours due in part to increased service demand and in part to staff having additional childcare available via this new service. Via our SACC needs analysis survey, parents have reported they now have the opportunity to re-join the workforce or increase their working hours, which will in turn increase their household income. Following this test and learn project other opportunities are being explored with a target set by the end of 2025. 7.4 The Moray Employer Recruitment Incentive (MERI) scheme, funded by Moray Pathways (LEP) has to date supported 18 parents in poverty into paid job placements during the 2023/2024 financial year, up to a maximum of £8,000 per placement. Barriers identified have been a lack of childcare for parents who would otherwise be eligible for this scheme. MERI will continue into the 2025/2026 financial year, now with a renewed focus on job placements within childcare settings (ELC & SACC). 7.5 SACC Project (Kinloss), we are working in collaboration with local and national childcare providers and key partners who have expressed an interest in setting up a new SACC provision in Kinloss. Following the sudden closure of Kinloss Crafty Cool Kids Club (due to staffing changes), the now vacant Moray Council owned building has been marketed for lease as of 05/02/2025 for a new SACC provision to be established in an area of high demand. We have been collaborating closely with key stakeholders in the community to manage the sudden change and impact following the significant loss of SACC provision and identify solutions for the future. Work will continue to manage current impact and support the re-establishment of a new provision. We anticipate this may continue for up to 12 months. 7.6 SACC needs analysis by location/school catchment. An anonymous survey to ascertain the SACC needs of each community in Moray has been distributed in partnership with Education via all primary schools. The survey will gather data on location, number of children, need for breakfast, after school and holiday provision, location of provision and parental views on impact of SACC provision. Further collaborative work with Education will support the project to reach our full demographic. This data will be shared with existing and new providers to offer supporting evidence of need for additional provision to be established. At date of writing, the survey had been circulated by 18 primary schools, with 307 submissions. Following survey closure in February 2025, results will be reported within 3 months. Page 22
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8. NEXT STEPS FOR FUTURE PROVISION 8.1 To be able to grow and develop SACC provision across Moray, there is a need to identify and secure suitable facilities in locations where there is a clear demand. A suitable space will need to provide a safe and stimulating environment with convenient and quick access to local schools. Premises should be flexible enough to contain the wide range of activities that will be offered; ideally this will include access to a large hall for running around; another room for quieter activities; kitchen space; toilets, and storage space. Access to outdoor play space is also desirable. Exclusive use of the space is ideal, but it is likely it will be shared. SACC can be in a variety of premises such as community centres, village halls and church halls but, according to the Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN), the majority, 53%, are in school premises. A very small number have their own dedicated premises with exclusive use. 8.2 The Learning Estate offers the correct infrastructure for SACC provision, alongside mitigating any need to safely transport children to an external location. As part of the Moray Estate Strategy Delivery Programme, the Learning Estate service are developing a shared use model for learning estate assets. Working closely with the Learning Estate Programme manager and team, we are reviewing spaces within identified school buildings that may be suitable for SACC provision. The test and learn project will involve working closely with the Head of Education, head teachers within identified schools, local inspectors from the Care Inspectorate, SACC providers and liaising with partners from neighbouring local authorities to learn from experience. 8.3 An initial meeting to begin the work to access space within the learning estate has taken place, challenges identified are; • Viability of schools to support. • Identification of Private or Third sector service provider. • Identification of a Responsible Person. • Establishment of an acceptable ‘lease’ option. • Long term sustainable service management function within Council (Service and Officer). 8.4 The team agreed the next steps are; • Detailed review of the viability of Pilmuir and Millbank Primary Schools. • Identify any Care Inspectorate infrastructure requirements. • Identify and share relevant policies and ‘user agreements’ from other local authorities. • Seek opinions of head Teachers at identified primary schools and liaise with Head of Education. • Determine a benchmark for ‘lease’ costs – to include insurance and wear and tear expectations. 8.5 The test and learn project will focus on developing new SACC provision in Forres and Buckie – From data gathered in the Moray Poverty Report 2023 we acknowledge that Forres and Buckie are both areas with significantly high rates of poverty. Both areas do not currently have any SACC provision available to families. An anticipated Page 23
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timescale for this work could be 6-12 months. Indicative funding of up to £5,000 per test and learn project is yet to be approved by Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership. Confirmation of this is expected within the next 8 weeks. 8.6 This test and learn project would provide a new model of SACC provision, which will be delivered by a private or third sector provider, with shared use of the learning estate out with education core hours. A breakfast club, after school club and school holiday club are all practical options for provision. A model for shared use, a costing structure and lease terms and conditions are needed to be able to progress this test and learn project. Continued collaboration with key Moray Council departments to plan, manage and co-ordinate this is vital. 8.7 Research has been carried out with Aberdeen City Council and Highland Council to gather information on current costs for leasing the learning estate to help support our planning. Aberdeen City Council have published a School Aged Childcare Policy which offers a standard annual charge of £500 per provider. Highland Council have a charging band structure, which ranges from £12 per day for SACC provision to £7,500 per annum for 50 weeks of the year. Both structures offer a variety of options and charges to meet flexible needs of SACC providers. 8.8 Conversations with local key stakeholders have taken place to also look at alternative buildings/spaces that may be available and suitable for SACC provision. The challenges around this, as expected, are suitability and funding to bring spaces up to standard for Care Inspectorate regulations. There are also challenges around the immediate use of these spaces, many will not be available in the short term and timescales for access cannot currently be determined. 9. CONCLUSION 9.1 The use of shared or vacant space within the learning estate, where children are already, would appear to be the most sustainable and effective way of providing SACC provision. Progress has begun to explore the viability of this model, and early-stage discussions have identified two schools which will be the focus for the initial test and learn projects. 9.2 The outcomes of the SACC project will be dependent on the establishment of new or expanded provision, which will in turn grow numbers for available childcare in our key demographic areas of Forres and Buckie. The impact of which will be seen in a growth of opportunities for families to increase their household income, which in turn will impact economic growth and decrease child poverty rates across the region. 9.3 Current resources and co-ordination for the test and learn projects can be provided by the Project Officer (School Aged Childcare) for Progress for Parents. This post is funded through the Scottish Government child poverty funding and will continue for 2025/2026. Page 24
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9.4 Longer term support to providers of SACC needs a strategic focus and this will be led by Scottish Government guidelines. Future consideration should be given to where this responsibility sits strategically across departments within the Council. Authors of Report: Emma Sharpe – Project Officer (SACC) Progress for Parents Lydia Simpson – Lead Officer Progress for Parents Amy Cruickshank – Employability Team Manager Page 25
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REPORT TO: COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD ON 4 JUNE 2025 SUBJECT: LOIP DEVELOPMENT OF DELIVERY FRAMEWORK - UPDATE BY: DEPUTE CHIEF EXECUTIVE (EDUCATION, COMMUNITIES AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT), MORAY COUNCIL 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 To update the Board on progress in developing a delivery framework to advance the priorities set out in the Partnership’s Local Outcomes Improvement Plan that was agreed by the Board on 16 September 2020. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: i) reviews and approves the plans set out in Appendices 1 to 3 in respect of 3 of the 4 Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP) priorities, which together provide a delivery framework to advance the priorities set out in the Partnership’s Local Outcomes Improvement Plan – Moray 2027 with progress to be reported half yearly; and ii) It is also recommended that the Board note that development work continues to refine the delivery plans and enhance the focus on outcomes. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The Community Planning Board on 16 September 2020 agreed the second iteration of the Partnership’s LOIP – Moray 2027 and on 28 April 2021 agreed LOIP Delivery Framework documents. The overall direction and approach of the LOIP remains as originally set. The Item 4. Page 27
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second iteration was a continuation of the existing priorities, with some refinement of wording to improve the focus of adding value, specific outcomes and achieving the priority of tacking inequalities of outcomes. 3.2 The Community Planning Board on 2 February 2022 agreed to a mid- point review of the LOIP. The review was taken forward in a number of Community Planning Partnership Development Sessions, the first held on 8 June 2023 facilitated by a Senior Leadership and Organisational Development Consultant from Kings Fund. Thereafter, a further four sessions have taken place; 9 January, 1 February, 25 June and 24 October 2024. 3.3 Work continues on strengthening the Community Planning Partnership ambition for Moray communities and an emerging picture from the development sessions of future strategic priorities of the Partnership which will inform a refocus of the LOIP and developing partnership working through a locality approach. Progress has been slower than anticipated, due to competing priorities and limited partnership resource. The Community Planning Officer Groups continues to work on this and plans to report to the Board in the autumn on the way forward. 3.4 The Partnership participated in a national self-assessment programme led by the Improvement Service. Results and improvements will contribute to the future development of the partnership. 3.5 Previous delivery framework plans defining planned work against LOIP priorities were largely complete by March 2023 and were were not formally refreshed during 2023/24 pending the outcome of the mid-point review of the LOIP. With this work taking longer than expected, in the meantime, the Strategic Group for each priority continued to advance the work of the partnership, including for example work on the Children’s Service Plan and the Community Leanring and Development Plan. This is now reflected in refreshed delivery frameworks and an annual report on progress against priorities in 2024/25 will be submitted to the meeting of the Board on 20 August 2025. 3.6 Progress against the delivery plans have been previously reported quarterly. However, with longer term priorities and ongoing challenges with resourcing, half yearly reporting is recommended as being more realistic in tracking progress. 3.7 There is reference in each delivery framework to partner strategies and plans that hold greater levels of detail. Performance monitoring reports will be brought forward so that the Board can support clear focused attention on the progress of these frameworks. 3.8 The delivery framework plans are attached at Appendices 1 to 3 for consideration and approval with Children and Young People’s to follow. Page 28
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3.9 There are a number of cross cutting areas of work within the action plans for each priority. The lead on various issues will be taken by the Group responsible for each priority, however, they will report and feedback through the lead officer to CPOG as the group with the responsibility for the LOIP overall and for the overarching Raising Aspirations responsibility. This will enable oversight of interdependencies and cross cutting issues. Lead officers will also be able to brief each other to ensure consistency and coherence of actions. 4. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS 4.1. As a performance report, there are no direct financial, workforce, equalities, policy or legal issues from this report. 5. CONCLUSION 5.1. Delivery plans are refreshed for each of the three of four priorities and the Board is asked to review and approve these. Author of Report: Louise Marshall, Strategy and Performance Manager Background Papers: CPB on 2 February 2022 – LOIP Review Preparation 2022 (item 5) CPB on 17 May 2023 – CPP Development Session (Additional Meeting Documents) Ref: Page 29
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LOCAL OUTCOMES IMPROVEMENT PLAN DELIVERY FRAMEWORK APPENDIX 1 Key Principles SMART actions delivered as a partnership Actions address inequality Outcome indicators measure progress Actions relate to and deliver intended outcomes Good governance principles for partnership working (Audit Scotland: Managing performance: are you getting it right?) Moray Outcome Empowering & connecting communities CPP Focus The end result we want is: (Milestones / LOIP Progress Measures) We will know we are making progress when: A thriving and well- connected place, where more people live well. Improved life chances for people of all ages in Moray in communities experiencing the greatest inequality of outcomes. More communities who experience the poorest outcomes become actively engaged and participate More communities and groups are supported to feel more confident in increasing the sustainability of their communities in which they live. 1.1 Increase in number of activities offered and residents engaging through the new community hub facility (The Link) located in New Elgin. 1.2 Support local volunteers to sustain the community led hub provision in Buckie whilst supporting group to explore feasibility of expanding into larger premises 1.3 Sustain/grow the number of volunteers delivering on the Locality Plans in Buckie 1.4 Case studies/ qualitative reports on activities and impacts shared Confident, skilled and self- reliant communities where expectations and aspirations are raised and Develop stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive communities Opportunities and engagement in a range of learning opportunities increases for people with the poorest outcomes. Page 31
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achieved. 2.1 Adult Learner Signposting landing page developed and maintained 2.2 Increase and then sustain number of adult learning opportunities posted by CLD partners on ALIS system 2.3 Increase in people accessing community-based adult learning opportunities. 2.4 Case studies/ qualitative reports on activities and impacts shared Related strategies Partnership Community Learning and Development Plan (2024-27) CPP Community Engagement Strategy Buckie Locality Plan 2019-29 New Elgin East Community Plan Moray Council Corporate Plan Moray Pathways Partnership Delivery Framework tsiMORAY Delivery Framework NHS Grampian – A Case for Change Health and Social Care Moray – Partners in Care Strategic Plan Children’s Services Plan HIE Strategy 2023-28 PIs As detailed below Loip Priority Key Actions Loip Outcome (CPP Focus) Loip Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting Thriving and well- connected place, where more people live well. • Using a place- based approach to improve health and wellbeing - supporting community led (L) Develop stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive communities 1.1 Increase in number of activities offered and residents engaging through the new community hub facility (The Link) located in New Develop 6- month baseline figure by end June 2025 Partnership Community Learning and Development Plan (2024-27) CPP Community Denise Whitworth Page 32
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Loip Priority Key Actions Loip Outcome (CPP Focus) Loip Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting action planning which contributes to reducing inequality in New Elgin and Buckie - the LOIP priority areas. (L) Improve life chances for people in Moray of all ages in communities experiencing the greatest inequality of outcomes Elgin. 1.2 Support local volunteers to sustain the community led hub provision in Buckie whilst supporting group to explore feasibility of expanding into larger premises. 1.3 Sustain/grow the number of volunteers delivering on the Locality Plans in Buckie and New Elgin. 1.4 Case studies/ qualitative reports on activities and impacts shared Report quarterly Annual report back to CPP board Quarterly reporting. Engagement Strategy Buckie Locality Plan 2019-29 New Elgin East Community Plan Moray Council Corporate Plan Moray Pathways Partnership Delivery Framework tsiMORAY Delivery Framework NHS Grampian – A Case for Change Health and Social Care Moray – Partners in Care Strategic Plan Confident, skilled and self-reliant communities where expectations and aspirations are • Extend approaches to promote easier access to adult learning in Moray 2.1 Adult Learner Signposting landing page developed and maintained Developed by April 2025 Denise Whitworth Page 33
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Loip Priority Key Actions Loip Outcome (CPP Focus) Loip Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting raised and achieved. 2.2 Increase and then sustain number of adult learning opportunities posted by CLD partners on ALIS system. 2.3 Increase in people accessing community-based adult learning opportunities delivered trough the CLD Strategic Partnership. 2.4 Case studies/ qualitative reports on activities and impacts shared Reviewed 6 monthly by CLDSP Annual KPI figure from CLD Strategic Partnership Quarterly reporting Children’s Services Plan HIE Strategy 2023-28 Page 34
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LOCAL OUTCOMES IMPROVEMENT PLAN DELIVERY FRAMEWORK APPENDIX 2 Key Principles SMART actions delivered as a partnership Actions address inequality Outcome indicators measure progress Actions relate to and deliver intended outcomes Good governance principles for partnership working (Audit Scotland: Managing performance: are you getting it right?) Moray Outcome Developing a diverse, inclusive and sustainable economy CPP Focus The end result we want is: (Milestones / Progress Measures) We will know we are making progress when: By the year 2030 Moray will have a sustainable and inclusive economy which generates improved opportunities for everyone, including more skilled and higher paid jobs. Increased participation, skill and pay levels with reduced gender inequality through: • Pathways to employment and higher skilled employment • Targeted approaches to those furthest from the job market • Choices for the young workforce • Apprenticeships at all levels • Decrease in the numbers of female (25 plus) Single and Parents who are claiming Universal Credit • Increase the number of underemployed women progressing and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities (targeted) • Increase the number of hours worked and salary increase for underemployed females participating in Progress for Parents project • Increase the number of 5-12 years in moray participating in new SACC provision • Increase the number of unemployed adults and parents progressing, and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities • Increase the number of hours worked and salary (Hanlon database) • Increase the number of young females participating, progressing and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities across the Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership (Targeted) • Increase the number of young females entering the workforce via our Sector Based Work Academy Programme and MERI scheme Page 35
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(paid job placements) • No of female participation in (all age) apprenticeships at all levels have increased (Funding dependent – current waiting list) Related steps/strategies Growth Deal Moray Economic Strategy Moray Social Enterprise Strategy Moray Local Development Plan Employability Strategy – (Moray Pathways Delivery Plan) Moray Skills Strategy Developing the Young Workforce Attainment Strategy SFRS Community Fire Plans PIs As detailed below LOIP Priority Key Actions LOIP Outcome (CPP Focus) LOIP Progress Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting Developing a diverse, inclusive and sustainable economy: By the year 2030 Moray will have a sustainable and inclusive economy which generates improved opportunities for everyone, including more skilled and higher paid jobs • Delivery of the progress for parents’ project, target groups include parents in poverty, unemployed and underemployed. • Improve Moray Pathways menu of opportunities and funding to support women who are underemployed. Increased participation, skill and pay levels with reduced gender inequality through: • Pathways to employment and higher skilled employment • Decrease the numbers of female (25 plus) Single and Parents who are claiming Universal Credit • Increase the number of underemployed women progressing and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities (targeted) • Increase the number of hours worked and salary increase for underemployed females participating in 5% decrease by 31 March 2026 15% increase by 31 March 2026 10% increase by 31 March 2026 Moray Economic Strategy Early Years Strategy Amy Cruickshank Local Employability Partnership Lead Page 36
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LOIP Priority Key Actions LOIP Outcome (CPP Focus) LOIP Progress Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting Progress for Parents project • School Aged Childcare (SACC) Project • Delivery of the Progress for Parents Project • Refine and evaluate the Moray Pathways menu of opportunities to meet the needs of all adults and parents. Increased participation, skill and pay levels with reduced gender inequality through: • Targeted approaches for those furthest from the job market • Increase the number of 5-12 years in moray participating in new SACC provision • Increase the number of unemployed adults and parents progressing, and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities • Increase the number of hours worked and salary (Hanlon database) 5% increase by 31 March 2026 10% increase by 31 March 2026 10% Increase by 31 March 2026 Local Employability Partnership Amy Cruickshank Local Employability Partnership Lead • Refine and evaluate the Moray Pathways Menu of opportunities to meet the needs of all targeted young people. This includes, Keyworker Support, Moray Pathways, Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), Employer Engagement actions. Increased participation, skill and pay levels with reduced gender inequality through: • Choices for the young workforce • Increase the number of young females participating, progressing and sustaining learning, training and employment opportunities across the Moray Pathways Local Employability Partnership (Targeted) • Increase the number of young females entering the workforce via our Sector Based Work 5% Increase by 31 March 2026. Local Employability Partnership Amy Cruickshank Local Employability Partnership Lead Page 37
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LOIP Priority Key Actions LOIP Outcome (CPP Focus) LOIP Progress Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting Academy Programme and MERI scheme (paid job placements) • The Local Employability Partnership to deliver on actions within the Moray Apprenticeship Strategy Increased participation, skill and pay levels with reduced gender inequality through: • Apprenticeships at all levels • Increase the number of females participating in (all age) apprenticeships at all levels have increased (Funding dependent – current waiting list) 5% Increase by 31 March 2026 Moray Economic Strategy Local Employability Partnership Amy Cruickshank Local Employability Partnership Lead Page 38
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LOCAL OUTCOMES IMPROVEMENT PLAN DELIVERY FRAMEWORK APPENDIX 3 Key Principles SMART actions delivered as a partnership Actions address inequality Outcome indicators measure progress Actions relate to and deliver intended outcomes Good governance principles for partnership working (Audit Scotland: Managing performance: are you getting it right?) Moray Outcome People are healthier and experience less harm as a result of poor health and well-being CPP Focus The end result we want is: LOIP Progress Measures We will know we are making progress when: People are healthier and experience fewer harms as a result of making well informed decisions about their health and wellbeing • People who take harmful drugs are offered evidence-based harm reduction and advice • People can access the services they need to support their recovery. • People remain in treatment for as long as they need to. • More people receive overdose awareness advice and provision of take-home naloxone • People wait no more than three weeks for specialist drug and alcohol treatment • More people have access to Residential Rehabilitation placements • Fewer people disengage from specialist drug and alcohol treatment Related strategies Scotland’s alcohol and drug strategy, Rights Respect Recovery and the Alcohol Framework 2018; Moray Alcohol and Drug Partnership Strategic Delivery Plan (2025-2028) PIs As detailed below LOIP Priority Key Actions LOIP Outcome (CPP Focus) LOIP Progress Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting People are healthier and experience fewer harms as a result of making well informed Proactively deliver harm reduction advice and support, including assertive outreach in response to People who take harmful drugs are offered evidence- based harm No. of Naloxone Supplies and Re- Supplies No target - monitoring only (increase is MADP Delivery Plan MADP Coordinator (Justin Jansen) Page 39
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LOIP Priority Key Actions LOIP Outcome (CPP Focus) LOIP Progress Measures Completion Target Partnership Strategy/Plans supporting priority Lead Officer for updates / reporting decisions about their health and wellbeing non-fatal overdose. reduction and advice positive) Provide direct access to drug and alcohol services through Moray’s integrated support and treatment pathway People can access the services they need to support their recovery. % people waiting no more than three weeks between referral to a specialist drug and alcohol service and commencement of treatment 90% (National Target) MADP Delivery Plan (in draft) MADP Coordinator (Justin Jansen) Establish and promote a local approach for referring people to residential rehabilitation, which recognises the geographical and financial barriers for people living in Moray. No. of people completing residential rehab placements No target - monitoring only (increase is positive) MADP Delivery Plan (in draft) MADP Coordinator (Justin Jansen) Work in partnership to monitor un-planned discharges and promote re- engagement People remain in treatment for as long as they need to. No. of people disengaging from specialist drug and alcohol services (unplanned discharge) No target - monitoring only (decrease is positive) MADP Delivery Plan (in draft) MADP Coordinator (Justin Jansen) Page 40
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REPORT TO: COMMUNITY PLANNING BOARD ON 4 JUNE 2025 SUBJECT: CHILDREN’S SERVICE PLAN (CSP) 2023-26, YEAR ONE ANNUAL REPORT BY: JIM LYON, INTERIM CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER/HEAD OF SERVICE AND CHAIR OF THE GIRFEC LEADERSHIP GROUP 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1. To ask the Community Planning Board to approve the Children’s Services Plan year one progress report (2023/24) at Appendix 1. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: i) approves the finalised Children’s Services Plan (CSP) 2023-26 year one annual report; and ii) allow submission to the Moray Council Communications Team for review of the final draft to ensure all corporate branding requirements will be met. 3. STATUTORY CONTEXT 3.1. Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 places a statutory duty on the local authority and its relevant health board to prepare a Children’s Services Plan for the area of the local authority, in respect of each three-year period. It is expected that they will work collaboratively with other members of the Community Planning Partnership (CPP), as well as with children, young people, and their families at various stages of the plan’s development and review. 3.2. Part 3 of the Act seeks to improve outcomes for all children and young people in Scotland by ensuring that local planning and delivery of services is integrated, focused on securing quality and value through preventative approaches, and dedicated to safeguarding, supporting, and promoting child wellbeing. It aims to ensure that any action to meet need is taken at the earliest appropriate time and that, where appropriate, this is taken to prevent need arising. Item 5. Page 41
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3.3. Moray Children’s Services Plan 2023-26 incorporates the following statutory plans to simplify reporting: • Child Poverty Plan • Corporate Parenting Plan • Children’s Right and Participation Plan In addition, it was agreed to incorporate the Promise Plan and the Child Protection Improvement Plan. The Improvement Plan developed following the inspection of the Children’s Services Partnership in 2023 is an additional plan formed later. 3.4 The Children’s Services plan 2023-26 was approved at the Corporate Planning Board on 17 May 2023. 3.5 The Scottish Government reviews all Children’s Services Plans within 6 months of submission against 15 statutory criteria. Moray’s review was we required no further updates and had fully met 14/15 criteria used to assess the plan 4. 2023/24 Update 4.1. The annual report follows the same structure of the Children’s Services Plan, with progress updates against the outcomes within the 8 priority areas. Priority areas where reporting have been incorporated are more detailed. 4.2. The first year includes the forming and reshaping of the governance structure outlined in the Children’s Services Plan. 4.3. They key areas of progress to note are: Priority Area Progress Hearing children and young people’s voices Increase in young people’s voice in commissioning processes, evidence available on how young people are shaping service design and Participatory Budgeting processes to distribute £310K of funding. Tackling child poverty Establishing a Moray Poverty dataset to be able to set performance indicators in relation to improvement work and to target resources. Increased the frequency of financial enquiries with families with early years children to promote access to support early. Improving mental and emotional wellbeing Evidenced a gap in support, completed test for change and created new parent support service Working to develop a system approach to MHWB with open door approach to smooth transitions between services. Trailing social prescribing approaches with young people. Keeping children and young people safe Work included children’s inspection. Updated child protection processes in line with new guidance and Page 42
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delivered assessment-based training. Completed a yearlong partnership-based internet safety campaign included workshops reaching 2389 young people. Overcoming challenges experienced by those with a disability or neurodiversity Improved access to sports and introduced ASN specific clubs. Widened opportunities to deliver alternative education curriculums to support needs. Undertaking the Education ASN review and associated changes. Strengthening support for families Continued the update of the child planning documentation and guidance and rolled out refreshed solution-oriented training, undertaken exploratory work to prepare for system change of family support including piloting community hub approaches and joint adult/child family support service approach. Increased the family learning opportunities in early years Improving outcomes for our looked after and care experienced children Created a virtual headteacher role to improve educational attainment, commissioned a children rights service, increased the number and range of placements available within Moray. Acquired funding to develop a maintaining relationship policy and introduced the Education Scotland Promise Award. Supporting our workforce Developed a multi-agency learning and development strategy and recruited a Learning & Development Co-ordinator to manage a multi-agency training programme. Working in partnership Adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment completed. Developed the governance structure to deliver the CSP and made a number of successful partnership- based funding bids. 4.4. The Children’s Services Plan incorporates the national wellbeing dataset. Baseline data was included in the Children’s Services Plan (page 7). An update will be provided in the next annual report following the completion of the Children Health & Wellbeing Survey in the final quarter of 2024. Education has committed to complete the survey bi-annually. The survey is the main source of data to update the wellbeing dataset. 5. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS 5.2. There is a statutory duty to produce a 3-year Children’s Services Plan and to provide an annual progress report to the Scottish Government. The Children’s Services Plan and subsequent progress reports should be published on the Community Planning website. There is a risk of reputational damage if these duties are not met. Page 43
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5.3. The Children’s Services Plan Annual Report meets our statutory reporting responsibilities in relation to Children’s Services Planning, Child Poverty, Children’s Rights and Corporate Parenting reporting. 5.4. Although very well received, the Children’s Services Plan 2023-2026 has been noted as very ambitious, an exercise will be completed to focus work after the mid-way point to ensure changing capacity and relevant financial restraints is reflected in the prioritisation of improvement work. Author of Report: Lindsay Nelson, Improvement Officer (Wellbeing), completed on behalf of the GIRFEC and PROMISE Lead Officer and Chair of CSP. Background Papers: Ref: Page 44
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Appendix 1 Page 45
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2 Table of Content Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Strategic Outcomes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Voice…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9 Family……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 Tackling Child Poverty 12 Improving the mental and emotional well-being of children young people and their families 20 Keeping children and young people safe 26 Supporting children and families who experience challenges due to disability or neurodiversity 28 Strengthening family support 31 Care………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37 People………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………43 Scaffolding………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..44 Measuring Progress…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….47 Appendix 1 Whole Family Wellbeing Report …………………………………………………………………………………48 Appendix 2 photo Gallery………………………………………………………………………………………………………….53 Page 46
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3 Introduction Welcome to Moray’s Children's Services Plan, Our Promise to the Children of Moray, annual report for 2023 -2024. Moray’s Children Services Plan and reporting also incorporates the other key partnership plans that have an exclusive focus on children, young people and their families. They are: • Child Poverty Plan • Children's Rights and Participation Plan • Corporate Parenting Plan • Child Protection Improvement Plan Moray formally launched our Promise to the Children of Moray in October 2023, showcasing the various priorities to an audience of 220 people, accompanied by a marketplace of 25+ local organisations who work within the area of family support. Our plan was introduced by the NHS Grampians’ s Children’s Commissioner accompanied by parents from the Our Lines, Oor Anne Project, supported by Children 1st Moray. The parents highlighted the importance of working with respect for parents, ensure that they feel heard, are taken seriously and that support is to be available at all stages, including if their children are no longer living with them. The plan was warmly received, described as comprehensive, clear and easy to read. There was an agreement that the priorities reflected the areas they wished to see improve. Attendees fed back they wanted to hear the progress, therefore we have made the event an annual occasion to share progress and hear if together we are making a difference. The first year of our plan coincides with some key challenges felt both locally and nationally that families are facing: • Reduced school attendance • Increased violence and aggression both within and outside the school community. • Ongoing impact of COVID, especially evident in specific age groups • The struggles of neurodiverse parents and children • Rise in both poverty and child poverty and the cost-of-living crisis Page 47
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4 Our action plans are structured around the five foundations of The Promise with children’s rights underpinning every foundation. Voice Explains how we will seek out and act on the voice of children, young people and their families Family Details the actions we will take to; tackle child poverty, improve the mental wellbeing of children, young people and families, keep children and young people safe from harm, strengthen support for families and meet the challenges children, young people and families face due to disability and neurodiversity Care Outlines how we will support our looked after and care experienced children and young people to reach their full potential People Describes how we will support the workforce to listen and be compassionate in their decision making, develop trusting relationships with our children, young people and families and deliver the services and supports they need Scaffolding Outlines the key actions strategic leaders will take together to ensure that the ‘system’ supports the delivery of improvements outlined within this plan. Our strategic outcomes are outlined below, followed by individual progress reports for each of the 9 priority areas. Page 48
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5 PRIORITY AREAS Voice Hearing children’s voice • The voice of children and young people is evident in all things that impact on them. • Adults successfully seek out and hear the voices of children and young people of all levels of ability. • Engagement activities are more co-ordinated, minimising the risk of children and young people being over consulted. Family Tackling Child Poverty • Parents claim all of the welfare benefits they are entitled to and do not feel stigmatised when seeking support. • The impact of poverty on children, young people and their families is minimised. • Young adults and parents experience no poverty related barriers to entering and sustaining training and employment Improving Mental Wellbeing of Families • Parents are confident and able to support their child(ren) to sustain good mental wellbeing. • The right mental health and wellbeing support is available to children, young people and their parents as soon as they need it. • Community based mental wellbeing support is strengthened. • Children, young people and their parents experience a smooth transition between support services, including transition to adult services Keeping Children Safe • Workers are confident and supported to identify and understand risk. • Children, young people and families are empowered to participate in child protection processes. • Children and young people develop healthy relationships with peers, online and in the community. • Children and young people are safer because risks have been identified early and responded to effectively. • Children and young people at risk of or who come into conflict with the law are supported with compassion and care. • Children and young people are supported through recovery and do not experience further trauma. Page 49
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6 Overcoming Challenges Experienced by Children with Disability or Neurodiversity • Children and young people’s education and care needs are met, regardless of need. • Parents and young people with neurodiversity challenges can access early help and support. • Children, young people and families with additional support needs have improved access to support, leisure and community-based activities. • Families can access a neurodiversity diagnosis in a timely way. • Children with additional support needs experience a smooth transition to adult services. Strengthening Family Support • Children’s and families’ needs are addressed early through implementation of effective child’s planning processes. • There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray. • Children’s transition into Nursery is consistently good. • Parents are supported and enabled to be the best parents they can be. Care Improving Outcomes for Care Experienced Young People • The gap in educational outcomes of looked after and care experienced young people is reduced. • Looked after and care experienced young people enter and sustain education, training or employment after leaving school. • The health needs of looked after children and young people are met. • Looked after and care experienced young people, and their parents/carer feel their voice has been heard through the provision of independent advocacy. • The number and range of placements available meets the needs of children and young people in need of care. • Transitions feel and are experienced as integrated, with maintaining relationships being paramount. • Siblings are supported to maintain positive relationships with one another. • Children and young people seeking asylum are fully integrated into school and community life. • Looked after and care experienced young people are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system. • Our improvement activity is shaped by the voice of our looked after and care experienced young people. People Page 50
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7 Supporting our Workforce • Integrated working practice is enhanced through joint development opportunities that support our shared vision, core principles and values. • Staff facilitate and enable the relationships, networks and connections that support our children, young people and families Scaffolding Working in Partnership • As a partnership, we are aware of the changing needs of children, young people and their families. • As a partnership, we maximise all opportunities to lever in additional funding and work together to ensure it supports the delivery of our shared priorities. • The risk of silo working across children and adult services minimised. • We more consistently and effectively measure the impact of the actions we are taking to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. • The co-ordination of continuous improvement activity improves Page 51
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8 The voice of the child is more than seeking their views, it is about enabling children and young people to take as active role as possible in making decisions about things which affect them Voice: Hearing children and young people’s voices Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The voice of children and young people is evident in all things that impact on them. “When we went to the meeting, the school listened to you, it made a huge difference and the improvements to my grandson’s timetable and how we are treated has totally changed. Thank you so much.” Parent (Nov 2023) “First time in 2 years we feel we have been listened to and progress was made at the CPM for our daughter thanks to your services input.” Parent (Jan 2024) All strategic groups report on how they are engaging with children and young people. At the beginning of this reporting period, they jointly contributed to the Children’s Rights statutory report 2020-2203 Moray Children's Rights Report 2020-2023 Below is a range of examples of some of the ways young people’s voice has had an impact in 2023/24: Impacted service design & development including commissioning • 8 Young people were part of commissioning the new Children’s Rights Service • Young people shaped the school counselling service’s new digital platform, looking at language and content and suggesting new themes. A survey of young people evidenced that being listened to by adults with the time and space to do so was the support they wanted most for their mental wellbeing • Approaches of family mediation and functional family therapy have been introduced within new services, both approaches hold the child/young person’s voice at the centre of support and assessing impact Influencing policy • Children living in the CALA children house were part of the process of refreshing the service delivery plan along with their families • Supported the policy team to look at the language used in child protection processes and procedures and designing information leaflets Sharing their views: • A single point of contact was developed in housing in response to care experienced young people expressing they felt housing officers didn’t understand their challenges • 6 care experienced young adults shared their views on receiving mental health support Page 52
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9 Voice: Hearing children and young people’s voices Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress • Young people produced a film on the positive/negatives of living in Burghead from their perspective and suggested improvements - https://vimeo.com/903878755/a9ee8f143e?share=copy • Champion Board members made a video introducing Moray and met with Care Inspectorate inspectors when they visited • Young people influenced the development of a petition policy to be able to have their views presented • Young people co-produced the guides for practitioners to experience better meetings, its success in hearing meetings has led to plans to expand the work to cover all types of meeting going forward Decision Making and Funding Participatory budgeting (PB) approaches are enabling young people to share their views and be decision makers on issues that impact them, examples this year include: • Deciding Pupil Equity Funding spending, outcomes include creating new sensory areas in classrooms and installing water fountains • Developing more inclusive community provision to include those struggling with their mental wellbeing (10K of community mental health funding distributed across 8 projects) • £240K of funding to develop children’s play activities and youth activities improved 4 play areas, including a skate park. Communities working together additional raised £25K to upscale these projects • Allocating £33K of Just Transition funding to children and youth focused projects to support the ambition of net zero across 14 projects We continue to promote children’s rights with 48 out of 52 schools in Moray being registered for UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award and 85% having now achieved an award. We have a lead teacher for UNCRC with pupil participation groups and children rights groups supported by youth work in place. More schools are evidencing how children and families are part of developing school improvement plans. Engagement activities are more co-ordinated, minimising the risk of There is a delay to this work, a proposal has been outlined and options explored. However, in the current financial situation it has been decided to halt this work. All strategic groups are reporting on their engagement work regularly to the oversight group so there remains opportunities to explore what we can achieve during this period. Page 53
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10 Voice: Hearing children and young people’s voices Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress children and young people being over consulted Adults successfully seek out and hear the voices of children and young people of all levels of ability. Aberlour Options Voice.pdf During the recent Children Services inspection, responses by children and young people to the care inspectorates survey showed that: • 78% of children reported that their worker had listened to them • 76% of children reported their rights had been explained to them • 78% of children reported they had someone who could help them express their views The records audit undertaken showed that 56% of records were rated as good or better with regards how the professionals had listened, heard and involved the child. 78% of records stating the child contributed to initial meetings. We have a range of work in development: • Expanding the use of the “Better Meetings” guides to all practitioners and meetings • A toolkit of resources for hearing voice is to be launched with new child planning guidance in September 2024. • Introduced active listening training alongside mental wellbeing training and beginning to introduce an emotional distress assessment tool with pastoral staff to help them feel more confident in conversations with young people around mental wellbeing • Continuing to develop child friendly complaints, (aligned to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman model) and Child Protection Procedures by co-designing more child friendly materials • Highlighting good practice- Aberlour Options have presented to a wide range of professionals this year on how they are successfully capturing the voice of those with disabilities or are non-verbal. • Moray will introduce the voice of the infant toolkit developed in Aberdeenshire in Autumn 2024, with the aim to increase the evidence of the voice of babies in records and reports by 80%. Page 54
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11 Poverty impacts on the health and wellbeing of the whole family and for children it can have long term effects on outcomes in adulthood. Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress What poverty look like in Moray is understood by all Moray has made significant progress through the development of a localised dataset in enhancing our understanding of child poverty. The national Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) measures have been combined with local analysis to provide an accurate internal picture of Moray, using mainly 2021-2023 data (latest SIMD data available is from 2020). The national picture shows Moray having a child poverty rate of 24.1% in comparison to the national rate of 24.5%. This is a rise of 2.8% on the data included in our Children Services Plan. Moray’s poverty ranking (based on the Child Poverty After Housing Costs data) has seen significant change. Since 2014 Moray’s position was static at 20th out of the 32 local authorities. However over last few years’ Moray has risen to 11th and has varied since, sitting between 14th and 16th. When placed next to the 8 comparative areas to Moray, we are rated second highest. Our internal picture shows the complexity of child poverty in Moray: • More people in Moray (41.3%) live in rural areas compared to the national average of 17%. • 26% of children living in urban areas are in poverty, in contrast to 21% who live rurally • 48% of the 66% of the children experiencing poverty are living in urban areas and living in just 30% of the most deprived areas (as opposed to the 14.5% identified if we use the SIMD ranking system only). 85.5% of children in Moray live outwith the most deprived areas. • the level of poverty experienced ranges from 0% to 64.8% in different areas of Moray. The scale of child poverty in Moray: • There are 3, 849 children experiencing relative poverty, this is a rise of 470 children (14%) since 2020 • The largest increase seen in an area was 12.1% (equates to 88 children) • The highest and lowest ranked intermediate zones are both in Elgin Page 55
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12 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress What poverty look like in Moray is understood by all (cont.) We now have all 126 zoned areas (with populations between 500-1000) rated using poverty/financial vulnerability factors from highest to lowest, when focusing on the areas rated the highest, 20/25 areas show increase in child poverty and in 5 areas a decrease. Factors impacting poverty in Moray: Recent evidence shows good levels of employment. However, the Moray average working week is longer than the national one and the average full time weekly wage is lower (£647.20 compared to £702.80), showing Moray primarily has a low-income economy. Other factors include: • Increased public transport costs and access challenges • Increased food prices in more rural areas • Access to mains gas and cost of alternative fuel • A higher proportion of rural properties are less well insulated Our next steps are to use the dataset to create accurate baselines and performance indicators and to continue to develop, incorporating other types of poverty including digital poverty, food security and hygiene poverty. Parents claim all the welfare benefits they are entitled to and do not feel stigmatised when seeking support. Moray Council provided all households with a copy of the ‘Worrying About Money’ leaflet, which was co-developed in partnership with the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), alongside their council tax bill in April 2023. The leaflet focuses on promoting cash-first support options in Moray. The leaflet incorporated the content of the previous Locality Network developed poverty conversation toolkit, which included additional community-based supports. Three training events on the cash first options were delivered in partnership with IFAN this year, with 1 focused on school-based staff. The before and after training surveys showed an average increase in ratings around knowledge and confidence from 1.56 to 4.1 on a 5-point scale. Hits on the online version of the worrying about Money site increased following training dates, with a 33% increase evident after the first training session. Page 56
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13 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Parents claim all the welfare benefits they are entitled to and do not feel stigmatised when seeking support (cont.) We continue to use the Grampian developed Financial Inclusion Pathway and the newer Infant Feeding Crisis Pathway. Additional training has focused on health visitors and midwifes with a recent test for change looking at 2 areas teams showing that 94% of families were asked about financial supports. The support available across Moray has expanded this year. • The Moray Baby Bank charity has combined with a new pre-loved charity to expand the range of free items available for families • The Infant Formula in a Crisis Pathway have been expanded to consider food insecurity and includes income maximisation. • Moray Community Foundation, launched in April 2023, to address personal emergencies which have been compounded by the cost-of-living crisis. • A financial wellbeing worker is part of the support included in the newly commissioned intensive family support service, Families Together (Children 1st) • Increased family learning opportunities that offer support on budgeting and numeracy-based skills has been coordinated through Community Learning and Development (CLD) • The Fairer Moray Forum Action Group has undertaken a mapping exercise to identify the variety of supports on offer throughout Moray to improve awareness of their availability. • Moray continues to contribute to the annual Challenge Poverty week to raise awareness of support The impact of poverty on children, young people and their families is minimised, whilst opportunities for wellbeing and attainment are maximised Pupil and Strategic Equity funding (SEF) is used in a range of ways across our school estate with a common theme being the employment of Home School Link Workers and youth workers to support family engagement. • 38 of the 43 PEF plans available focused on health and wellbeing, examples included breakfast clubs, nurture-based support and outdoor learning • 15 schools focused on families and communities. Examples of projects include developing hub spaces for families to access, family learning, developing clothes and swap shops, book groups and cooking sessions • 4 larger scale school projects were funded using SEF, 3 in areas meeting SIMD 5-6 criteria and a third in an area where low income and pockets of poverty are an issue Page 57
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14 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The impact of poverty on children, young people and their families is minimised, whilst opportunities for wellbeing and attainment are maximised (cont.) Examples of good practice developed using the funding Elgin High School managed to combine elements of its PEF funding with over £1700 of funding successfully acquired from community sources to run a Breakfast Club. They received a further £1000 Kellogg’s grant who they partnered with to share good practice and are a current test school for Kellogg’s new secondary school welcome pack. 20-25 pupils attend daily, with 64% of pupils fitting PEF criteria. Provision includes monthly cooked breakfast and hot chocolate Fridays. The school also ran a whole school “Scottish Big Breakfast” in support of the STV Children’s Appeal which included fruit tasting, making fruit smoothies using pedal power and a school band providing music. Due to the success, they now run the whole school breakfast once every school term. Buckie Associated School Group received £275,855 in PEF funding, and additional SEF funding was used focus on children between P5-S1 from across the schools in the ASG areas identifying pupils through a data analysis looking at attendance, poverty related attainment, social and emotional based concerns and those achieving lower than their potential attainment. A hub and spoke model were adopted with a range of support provided including additional literacy and numeracy support, working on alternative awards to build confidence, developing safe spaces within school, weekly parent contact and whole family activities. Outcomes have included: • Increases in attendance, (rising 7.5% to 85.1% and 5.7% to 86.2% in the second cohort) • All pupils had increased scores on the Glasgow Mental Wellbeing Profile and were evidenced seeking less support from other school staff by the end of the first term. • A target of 20% improvement was set in relation to attainment for those identified as not working at their age/stage. Results post support showed 44% had reached the expected writing level, 55% their reading level and 33% their numeracy level.12 of the lowest attaining pupils also completed Hi5 Awards Summer holiday support Page 58
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15 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The impact of poverty on children, young people and their families is minimised, whilst opportunities for wellbeing and attainment are maximised (cont.) School holidays are a challenge for families experiencing poverty or with low income. Last summer we were able to distribute £67, 935 between 21 providers to provide additional childcare and activities, targeting those on low incomes. Provision included holiday playschemes, sport camps and enhancement to planned provision to involve meals and to organisations working with vulnerable families. For example our Drugs & Alcohol Service and Moray Women’s Aid. We also worked to increase the number of free accessible family activities available through the summer, examples being coding lessons and Lego build sessions. Improving home efficiency and minimising fuel poverty • To date the Moray Energy Efficiency scheme has supported 228 council and privately own properties to increase home efficiency • A new Eco 4 flex scheme, designed to improve heating efficiency, is due to be launch in May 2024 focused on those living in private housing occupied by low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households. • Additional support to families continues to be provided through cash first options and through vouchers provided by our 3rd sector partners, an example being Aberlour Childcare Trust’s urgent assist fund which can be accessed to manage fuel costs. In this coming year we plan to audit the cost of the school day approach across schools, including assessing more closely the uptake of free school meals, free travel and the education maintenance allowance. Young adults and parents experience no poverty related barriers to entering and sustaining training and employment. Our Local Employment Pathway is named Moray Pathways, • It is comprised of over 50 support organisations and local employers, with the aim of supporting local people into fair and sustainable employment. • The pathway utilises No One Left Behind and Child Poverty Employability funding to provide a key worker support service for young people and for parents. Page 59
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16 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Young adults and parents experience no poverty related barriers to entering and sustaining training and employment (cont.) • In total, 763 people were referred to the Moray Pathway partners this year, including 185 young adults and 60 parents, of which 45 have been care experienced. Outcomes of Moray Pathways A total 326 Outcomes were recorded with young people achieved the following: • 27 moved on to employment, with 17 securing 6 month paid placements with the pathway funded Moray Employer Recruitment Incentive (MERI) (10 parents also used this scheme) • 40 completed vocational based activity • 30 entered further/higher education • 61 worked on barriers to employment, these included personal development, their health & wellbeing, and creative and life skills (includes mentoring) • 15 are at the engagement phase (newest referrals) Examples of young people’s support provided are; The annual summer programme for those leaving school offered to young people who may be at risk of not progressing to their identified positive destination (24 young people took part this summer) Mentoring Young Talent matches care experienced young people and young people 16+ that are not in employment, education and training to a volunteer mentor for a year. 34 young people were supported this year. Progress for Parents The Progress for Parents service within Moray Pathways (parent employability scheme) focuses on the 6 identified priority family groupings by, Page 60
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17 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Young adults and parents experience no poverty related barriers to entering and sustaining training and employment (cont.) • Partnering with organisations to provide place-based support in areas identified with most need. This has been undertaken through working together with the family nursing partnership, the resettlement team, schools and the justice team amongst other partners. • Joining family sessions and attending community-based activities like community lunches and schools to raise awareness of service • 1-1 key workers support parents with personal development, barrier removal and skills development to create opportunities to enter the workforce or secure improved career options • Project Officers focusing on school age childcare and families with disabilities. Outcomes of Progress for Parents In total 60 new parents were referred in 23/24, with 76 parents continuing to be supported from the previous year. All parents are offered a referral to the Money Advice Team as part of an initial financial health check. Of the 60 referrals this year: • 13 parents continue to work 1:1 with a keyworker to address barriers to employment and on personal development, • 1 parent has been supported to start volunteering, • 2 have gone into education, • 25 have entered employment, • 6 have progressed into training, • 13 have disengaged for various reasons. Barriers to employment for parents School Age Childcare 2 parent focused surveys identified that the cost and availability of childcare for school age children is a major barrier to parents entering the workforce. Page 61
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18 Family: Tackling Poverty Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Young adults and parents experience no poverty related barriers to entering and sustaining training and employment (cont.) Both a local working group and a Highland and Islands Regional Economic Subgroup are jointly looking at the issue with a range of stakeholders, including Scottish Government representation. A Project Officer started in post in January 2024, initially focusing on establishing relationships with local childcare providers, both mapping current provision and exploring barriers to expanding local provision. An example of good practice in this area locally has been a partnership between Moray Business Gateway, Moray Council’s Childminder Development Officer, Moray UHI and Moray Pathways. Funding and support were provided to create a free bespoke two-week childminding training course for six participants. Two of the attendees have gone on to be registered childminders with places available. Families with disabilities Moray made a successful application to the Child Poverty Accelerator fund to work with families with disabilities to improve income maximisation and develop a local group to continue to support families. Engagement events with families have taken place, with feedback being used to develop the project to meet need. Page 62
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19 Positive mental wellbeing greatly improves the experience of growing up and provides a solid foundation upon which a person’s lifelong health and wellbeing outcomes Family: Improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Parents are confident and able to support their children to sustain good mental wellbeing “The practical tips in the sessions give me more optimism that there is something that I can do” “Comparing what makes me stressed to what makes my son stressed help me realise that I can dismiss him at times” I'll notice myself doing it from now on and try to do better” “I want to understand self- harm more and how I can help him” Quotes taken from parents We identified a gap in local support for training that parents to access themselves (without their child) to learn more about supporting their child’s mental wellbeing. A parent pilot was developed and tested in partnership with Therapeutic Counselling Services offering parents the following choices: • Online or face-to-face workshops covering anxiety, stress, self-esteem and self-harm. These are designed around psychoeducation, personal development and skills and resources • 1-hour wellbeing consultations for the parent or carer to assess their resilience, identify their child(ren)’s struggles and create a plan of action together, including providing resources • 1-2-1 support, focusing on listening and validating concerns, facilitating parents to develop insight, identifying strengths, offering tools, discussions of boundaries, demonstrations of resources and activities provided and psychoeducation about teenage development Key successes of the pilot included: • 98% parent self-referral rate • 85% measured increase in self- confidence to support their child’s mental wellbeing • 98% reported increased knowledge of mental wellbeing related issues and understanding of young people’s needs • Parents reported a 70% sustained improvement and application of their knowledge 8 weeks after receiving support. • Parents willingness to open up about other concerns. For example, 29 parents shared they were experiencing financial struggles and 19% of parents shared their own mental wellbeing struggles. Page 63
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20 Family: Improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Moray Parent Project Report.pdf The pilot has been so successful and popular with parents that we have committed to its continuation with increased focus on attracting Dad’s and kinship carers, and improving access for parents into adult based mental health and wellbeing services. The pilot will be incorporated into the support available through the community/family hubs being developed through our Strategic Equity and Whole Family Wellbeing Funding. The right support is available at the right time A Mental Health & Wellbeing Services (MHWB) Development Group has been established, consisting of the 4 main MHWB services so far. The group is focused on: • Working to improve coordinated support plans, • Smoothing transitions between services, • Increasing early intervention uptake and reducing redirected referral numbers. Progress to date includes: • Development of case discussion meetings. 19 children & young people have benefitted to date with the following impacts seen of the approach: - Improved collaborative working that ensures the right amount of support is available from the most appropriate service - Joint risk management discussions in relation to suicide and self-harm concerns. - Some cases have been escalated to CAMHS - Staff are reporting their practice is developing through increased knowledge through engagement with more highly trained Mental Health specialists. - Next step is to consider how to support those waiting for more specialist support and how to support those leaving CAMHS transition into community provision Page 64
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21 Family: Improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The right support is available at the right time (cont.) • Smoothing transitions between the services, all the commissioned MHWB services are now agreed referrers to CAMHS, making case discussions more effective and increasing the quality of information in referrals • Jointly developed a service information leaflet shared to all schools and the wider Children Services sector, as part of work to promote early intervention provision and reduce redirected referral levels The Improvement Officer (Mental Wellbeing) works closely with the services to improve data collection, evidencing the impact of support and service development, this has led to: • The development of a mental wellbeing dataset to help inform service development, identify gaps in provision and emerging trends • Addressed an emerging trend of an increase in redirected referrals to school counselling, leading to training for guidance pastoral teams on assessing emotional distress • Supporting our community MHWB service to measure impact more consistently and work together to reduce the waiting time which has reduced from 12 weeks to 5-6 weeks Young people have: • Co-developed with the counselling service their digital platform, shaping content and testing its usability • Tested new ways of experiencing support, trying out mind movement taster sessions within two high schools We have explored different support and capacity building opportunities by: • Piloting attaching a young person’s community mental wellbeing practitioner to 2 of our children houses. Initial results show an increased uptake of 1-1 support in comparison to the children’s house not in the trial (control). • ‘Waiting Well’ through phone check-ins when on waiting list for community MHWB services Page 65
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22 Family: Improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The right support is available at the right time (cont.) • A trial of an under-10s counselling offer has been running in 3 primary schools with 34 spaces, this is currently being evaluated • identified gaps in peer-based support within the peri-natal parent stage, a series of recommendations are currently being considered to explore in the upcoming year Developed and resourced 2 suicide prevention pilots planned in response to an identified training gap. The pilot is designed to explore how we create suicide safe schools and includes partners of SAMH, CAMHS and CRUSE bereavement service. Outcomes • There has been a 39% increase in referrals to community-based MH services, a 9% rise to school counselling services and a 7% fall seen in CAMHS referrals during this year. We hope to maintain this shift towards early intervention going forward. • Through additional support provided, our community mental wellbeing service average improvement rate has increased from lows of 48% to consistently being between 80-90%. • The average confidence rate of parents in relation to supporting their child’s mental wellbeing who received 1-1 support within our parent pilot rose from 50% to 88%. Community based mental wellbeing support is strengthened “I didn’t want change, I was quite happy the way my life was, I never went anywhere without my mum except school, I’m proud of myself for all the changes I’ve made, I'm happier now and my A social-prescribing based pilot was undertaken to understand why young people were engaging less in community provision which was impacting the outcome of the work of our mental health support services Young people were supported to identify and address barriers to accessing provision available. The insights gained were used to work with community providers to increase inclusion for young people struggling with their mental wellbeing. A social prescribing model was developed outlining the level of support young people needed to use this approach successfully A Participatory Budgeting (PB) opportunity was developed by the young people who had taken part in the project based on their shared experiences to design and run a funding process which they themed around inclusivity Page 66
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23 Family: Improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress mum trusts me too” Young person 13 yrs “Having a fit life card has opened up my daughter’s world, she loves going to the gym, becoming more confident with every visit” – Parent “I wanted friends, I struggle cos I don’t understand people, they say one thing and it means something completely different. It’s much better at school I can say hi to or smile to people as we pass each other going to our classes and have someone to hang out with who thinks like me” Young Person 14 yrs feedback on what they gained from the pilot” • 26 referrals were received for young people 12 years and over who had been receiving mental wellbeing- based support. • 17 young people went on to achieve their community-based goals, examples included joining gym classes, joining a local youth club, getting a part time job and joining school-based clubs. • 3 young people who were not attending school returned to school • All participants showed an increase in school attendance. • The social prescribing model developed will now be evaluated alongside our adult models to identify how to develop a social prescribing approach in Moray fit for all £10K of our Children & Young People’s Community Mental Wellbeing Funding was used to run the process across two areas. A total of 23 applications were received. 494 votes were cast by young people across the 2 school ASG areas. 8 projects were successful. The successful projects ranged from providing lunch time sports activities, equipment for scout groups, increased access to outdoor learning opportunities, supporting military children, funding to support a diversity & inclusion group to gain the LGBT Educational Charter and support to enable a new role-playing games club developed by parents for neurodiverse children to afford premises during a pilot phase. Example of young person’s feedback “Designing everything took time, it was good to hear what others on the panel had to say about everything, and we could agree on most things. I liked how everyone’s voices were heard; everyone got our activity and idea on our poster.” Young Person Page 67
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24 To be safe means growing up in an environment where a child or young person feels secure, nurtured, listened to and enabled to develop to their full potential Family: Keeping Children and young people safe Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Workers are supported to identify and understand risk This work is linked to the People priority within our CSP. A new Multi-agency Learning Development Strategy and training program has been developed, informed by a training needs assessment completed by 145 staff members. New roles have been created; a Partnership Learning and Development Co-ordinator and a Trauma Informed Development officer who is already in post. http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file153710.pdf During the reporting period: • 85 multiagency staff completed Child Protection Basic Awareness training • 34 staff completed Understanding Neglect training. • Staff attended a series of briefings to share the new Child Protection National Guidance, and all training materials have been updated to reflect the guidance • Participation and trauma informed practice themes have been incorporated into our training and development. • A review and refresh have taken place of multi-agency chronologies and child protection procedures across the partnership within the last year 404 frontline staff completed the Care Inspectorate survey in August 2023 as part of our inspection. • 90% agreed that the learning and training they participated in has increased their confidence and skills when working with children and young people at risk of harm • 97% reported they were confident to recognise and report signs of child abuse, neglect and exploitation. Staff who have undertaken recent training reported: • 96% knew the standards of practice expected of them • 89% agreeing that they had the guidance and supervision in place to meet those expectations. Page 68
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25 Family: Keeping Children and young people safe Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Moray also created its Moray Protects website, which provides a public platform for engagement and awareness raising initiatives, alongside information and guidance for practitioners on public protection. Children and Families are empowered to participate in Child Protection Processes “I felt listened to because some of the outcomes I asked for were upheld and (the professional named here) listened to me and took my thoughts into account” (young person”, 12 years old). A solution orientated approach to Child Protection Planning Meetings has been implemented with evidence of the approach evident in 100% of the meetings that were examined in recent quality assurance reviews. Parents attended child protection meeting in 95% of cases. 107 staff have attended solution orientated training in the last year. Feedback since these changes were introduced include that professionals and families feel that risks are fully explored but in a more positive way, with a clearer focus applied. 98 parents completing the care inspectorate survey confirmed that children, young people, parents and carers felt their views were considered during decision making. We are working to ensure children understand the child protection processes by: • Introducing a children’s section with child friendly advice on the processes on the recently launched Moray Protects website. • Testing how child friendly our complaints process through a new child feedback form introduced Our focus going forward is: • The continued roll out of solution-oriented core group meetings • Continued use of the complaints child feedback form to identify areas of learning • To quality assure the changes made to the child protection processes to see how well the child voice is being heard • Develop a young person support and protection procedure, outlining the approach practitioners should follow when working alongside individuals aged 16-18 (or to 26 if care experienced). Children and young people develop healthy relationships with peers, Moray’s Child Protection Committee and NSPCC Scotland worked together to develop the ‘Let’s Chat Online Safety’ campaign beginning in 2023. The aim of the campaign has been to raise awareness of online harm and offer solutions and guidance to tackle risks early. The campaign to date has included: Page 69
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26 Family: Keeping Children and young people safe Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress online and in the community. Children and young people develop healthy relationships with peers, online and in the community (cont.) “Good focus on solutions and what we can start doing to help kids today” – Parent who attended online safety classes • 18 parent sessions attended by 256 parent/carers, • 4506 online safety leaflets being distributed • 359 families engaged at a range of community events • Workshops delivered in schools to 2389 young people The focus of content was designed in response to parents and frontline staff requests, covering topics including, gaming, grooming, mental health and wellbeing, online bullying, friendship, pornography, parental controls, persuasive design, sharing nudes and social media. All the FAQs responses across all the topics have been shared on the Moray Protects website. The Safer Schools Scotland app has also been re-launched locally to promote access to up-to-date advice and jointly promoted with the campaign. Children and young people are safer because risks have been identified early and responded to effectively. Those who come into conflict with the law are supported with compassion and care and children are supported through recover and do not experience further trauma. Moray continues to invest in the assessment tools used and the development of our child protection processes. • 138 staff received Graded Care Profile 2 training • 154 staff have received Safe and Together training via the joint working undertaken by the Moray Violence Against Women and Girls partnership and Social Work. Safe and Together language related changes are now being evidenced in report and file audits. We continue to regularly quality assure the components of our process, our recent inspection highlighting the quality of our IRDs (Interagency Referral Discussions) and SCIMs (Scottish Child Interviewing Model) processes as a strength. 92% of Joint Interviews are carried out using the SCIM method far exceeding our initial target of 60%. Moray has increased the availability of intensive family support interventions to where risk is identified that may impact the stability of the family including when children in conflict with the law. Family functioning therapy and family group decision making form the approaches being used. Moray’s Protection from Serious Harm Protocol was developed within this reporting period with a view to managing the risk of harm posed to a young person and/or to other people Page 70
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27 Children with disability and neurodiversity and their families will receive the support they need to enable the children to reach their potential Family: Supporting children and families who experience challenges due to disability and neurodiversity Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Children and young people’s education and care needs are met, regardless of need. A large-scale Additional Support Needs (ASN) Education Review is underway looking at alternative curriculums, resource allocation, policy guidance and review, training and development and the ASN provision arrangements across Moray. This work incorporates reviewing options to extend nursery provision for children with complex needs. The process involves significant staff and parent consultation, and staff change management processes. The progress to date has been: • A new procurement framework designed to make it easier for voluntary and third sector organisations to support the delivery of alternative education curriculums • Moderation completed across all schools in Moray to understand need and a new formula agreed to allocate resources • Staff change management and new provision planning underway • New induction training programme planned for School Pupil Support Assistants to better meet the needs of children with ASN Work outlined in the strengthening family priority regarding nursery transition is also contributing to meeting early years children with more complex ASN related needs. Work looking at the use of part-time timetables in education has begun, with new procedures regarding their introduction and tracking now in place. Next year we will be investigating how this approach is working for children with neurodiversity-based needs. Parents and young people with neurodiversity challenges can access early help and support Parents and young people with neurodiversity Access to peer support Several projects have developed in this area, • Parents and carers have developed a social media community group which has 848 members • ICON (Informing & Connecting Our Neurodivergent families in Moray) is a group for both parents and professionals to meet, share experiences, services or skills and access to advice • The locality networks are exploring the option of developing a physical drop-in hub for parents regarding any support need, this will be developed in partnership with numerous services. Page 71
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28 Family: Supporting children and families who experience challenges due to disability and neurodiversity Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress challenges can access early help and support (cont.) Access to support Funding has been secured from the Scottish Government Accelerator Fund to run a pilot over the next year. This will explore the effectiveness of the current financial system of support for families with disabled children. We will be designing and testing improvements to these systems to maximise the income of those families. A social work led disability pod for children with complex needs was established in response to consultation with parents and workers which evidenced a need to feel support was more connected. Work is ongoing to outline a clear pathway of support from universal services through to social work. A total of 89 children/young people were open to the pod at the end of March 2024, including 27 care experienced/looked after young people. The pod is enabling workers to share skills as well as knowledge of scarce resources and ensuring greater equity and consistency so that children and young people can receive the appropriate resources and services Access to sport Active Schools and the Sports Development Team are leading on developing an ASN and disability sport friendly provision across Moray. When comparing the same term in 2022/23 to 2023/2024 they’re has been: • 70% increase in disabled access • 26% increase of children with ASN accessing the Active Schools sport-based sessions. • The team have introduced ASN specific extra-curricular clubs in two schools this year. A targeted ASN cycling programme was developed with funding acquired from Scottish Cycling, • 32 sessions were provided across 8 schools, with 104 young people taking part. • 65 disabled adults included. New ASN friendly sessions have been introduced at the Moray Leisure Centre and within libraries both during term and holiday times for activities like ice skating, swimming and learning based activities. Page 72
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29 Family: Supporting children and families who experience challenges due to disability and neurodiversity Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress A Disability Sport Hub is being developed with the purpose of supporting sports clubs across Moray to respond and meet the needs of young people with disabilities and ASN. The Hub aims to develop a community of shared practice, support, training and education and in-turn improve access to the clubs through inclusion of self- directed support opportunities. Key partners from the start of this proposal have included Scottish Disability Sport and the Moray ASN Parent Action Group. Families can access a neurodiversity diagnosis in a timely way Progress on the development of the Grampian neurodevelopmental pathway stalled in 2022/2023. Moray decided to reinstate the ADAPT process previously used for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder while awaiting progress of the pathway. A Fast-track option has been developed and prioritisation agreed for those due to leave school. Processes have been developed in consultation with the Moray ASN Parent Action Group. 32 diagnoses have been made, of which 21 were fast tracked. This is a temporary reinstatement of ADAPT as the pathway work is now underway. Children with additional support needs experience a smooth transition to adult services. 3 areas of work are developing: • A multidisciplinary transition group focused on young people who will require a high care package when they transition to adult services. This group’s work connects to that of the disability pod that has been developing • A pan-Grampian transition group has been formed to look at pathways from a health perspective. The focus is specifically on children with complex needs or multiple diagnoses. The aim is to develop transition frameworks in relation to young people’s health needs as they become adults. • A local Task and Finish group has been established to explore the various transitions young people are experiencing and outlined within our Children Services Plan, an area focus will be those with less complex needs who will automatically transition to adult services. Page 73
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30 We want to make sure families can access the help they need, where and when they need it. Family: Strengthening family support Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Children and their family’s needs are addressed early through implementation of effective child’s planning processes We are enhancing the Child Planning Process in Moray to improve families’ access to support. We are doing this by: • Updating the Child Plan documentation and guidance for practitioners with test pilot areas planned • Increasing the availability of solution orientated meeting training, with 107 practitioners trained over the last year • Developing a toolkit of resources for hearing and gathering the voices of children and young people that will accompany the guidance when fully introduced • A GIRFEC website, including a central repository drawn from the ALISS platform has been financed. The aim is to have one place that will support both the named person and families directly to understand processes they may be experiencing e.g. child planning and the support available to them • Wellbeing Co-ordinators role development has included coaching and supporting the Named Person and Team Around the Child, including attending 228 child planning meetings (including 52 review meetings) this year. • Going forward we will redesign the role of both the Multi-Agency Support Hub and Multi-Agency Performance Hub to lead on developing a self-evaluation calendar for child planning to ensure the process is meeting the needs of families. There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray and parents are supported to be the best parents they can. Work is ongoing to develop the local family support pathway. We have continued to deepen our understanding of families’ needs, enhancing current support and developing new intensive family support provision. Work undertaken includes: • Completing families journey mapping work in partnership with Children 1st and Quarriers Arrows (Drugs and Alcohol support service) alongside considering the recommendations of the research of Children 1st Moray (part funded locally) which focused on supporting birth parents who no longer have care of their children Our Lives, Oor Anne Summary Report Page 74
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31 Family: Strengthening family support Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray and parents are supported to be the best parents they can (cont.) Feedback from parents on what they like about PEEP: “My children have become a lot more confident” “Learnt something new about your child development at every session and the time with other mums” “Catching up with other mums and socialising my wee one” • Utilising CORRA funding to contract Aberlour Trust to complete an assessment of Moray’s current family support provision. Through engagement that included 24 families and 80+ professionals’, recommendations were formed. Key themes are to improve the accessibility of support available and the co-ordination of support when families need assistance from multiple agencies. • Key learning is being taken forward in the continue development of the wellbeing coordinator’s role, (part of our locality planning model) The following new intensive support provision and enhancements of current provision on the pathway have taken place: Developing prevention/early intervention family support for early years families PEEP is a family learning programme designed to help parents understand their child’s development and how they as a parent can create everyday opportunities to support their child’s development. We are developing a universal PEEP pathway for families with children 0-5 years. Work to date has included: • Increasing PEEP activity by growing the number of groups running from 6 to 12 over the year • Introduced ante-natal PEEP groups in Moray through partnership working between health and early years • Introduced targeted individual family PEEP sessions delivered by our Scottish Government funded Equality & Excellent Leads within our Early Years Intervention Team • Our partnership model has developed to include 8 member organisations • We have been confirmed as 1 of 10 local authorities taking part in the Scottish Government Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Family Learning Together programme with PEEPLE (training planned for next year) AB56 (a targeted family support service for families with at least one child under 5 years) has continued to develop using both parenting and cognitive behaviour therapy-based approaches to support the wider wellbeing of Page 75
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32 Family: Strengthening family support Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray and parents are supported to be the best parents they can (cont.) “Emma has changed my life, from a parent struggling to cope with his behaviour that happened nearly daily to maybe one, twice a week!” Parent Parent feedback to Locality Networks reference increases activities in area: 'Great to see organised activities to for me and me 2- year-old as travelling to access these is not an option for me. 'Regular weekly opportunity to get out with my child and meet other parents in Buckie is great. families. They continue to work with 30 families at a time, with 50 families supported over the last year. (Funded through Moray Council Early Years team) Increasing early intervention support available and at the right time by: Wellbeing Co-ordinators (key roles central to the development of our family support pathway) have worked alongside social work and the named person to develop family support packages through the child planning process. The co-ordinators are identifying families where we feel an enhanced support provision could prevent social work-based intervention. Family/community hubs have been developing within schools in 4 school areas (utilising both PEF/SEF funding), using a hub and spoke model they are developing to reflect the uniqueness of the locality and the families within those areas. The next step is to introduce a further 3 community hubs and extend the support available through the 4 hubs, utilising components of our Whole Family Wellbeing Fund An example of a hub is outlined within the poverty priority Our children & families locality networks have continued to develop, highlights this year include: • The introduction of paid 3rd sector chairs, • Engagement shaped around the priority areas of our CSP, collating the lived experiences of families and front-line professionals to further inform how the plan is delivered and consider the impact of work as its undertaken. This ensures all the children’s workforce, but especially the 3rd sector, is central to the progress of the CSP • Attendance is continuing to increase, bringing in a more diverse range of services/organisations ensuring effective communication and reach • Supported the develop of solutions to emerging community-based issues, for example the rise of anti- social behaviour by both bringing together evidence of the issue and supporting partnership working. An example in practice was facilitating a multi-agency response in one locality led to a temporary youth Page 76
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33 Family: Strengthening family support Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray and parents are supported to be the best parents they can (cont.) “Having the family meeting was really helpful. It gave other people in the family an opportunity to talk about their concerns.” Family Aug 2023 “It has been good to hear the kids views and to be able to talk to them about what they had said” Parent October 2023 “I feel like finally our family is on the path to a place we want to be” July 2023 space being developed and 55 young people were engaged with, forming part of the actions that lead to a decrease in anti-social behaviour in that specific area • Bringing in £1,8000 of funding to support the continuation of early years provisions like Active Start • Gathering Feedback from parents attending the activities to share to wider forums Locality Networks remain key to ensuring we are identifying emerging issues, often prior to data and wider intelligence being available so we can response swiftly through early intervention and prevention to limit them escalating. We also have key areas of focus outlined in the CSP for the networks to explore partnership-based solutions to address at the earlier stages, examples being addressing low-level anxiety and looking for gaps or locality specific issues requiring family support. Developed intensive family support offers through: the commissioning of two intensive family support services and trial extension of a drugs & alcoholic based family recovery • Families Together provided by Children 1st includes whole family support and a financial wellbeing provision, in operation since May 2023 they have worked with 44 families. Families showed financial gain of over £10,000 and £103k of debt was managed. Families received support of income maximisation and help with energy bills. 72% of the families receiving family support reported feeling safer, with 75% reported improved wellbeing. • Functional Family Therapy provided by Action for Children, is support for families with children over 11 years where a risk has been identified to the stability of family life. The aim is to prevent care placements, improve school attendance, reduce offending and improve family dynamics by working with families in their home. 45 families have been working with the service since its launch, with reports available outlining how the families are doing better on a range of factors covering family dynamics, level of family conflict and parenting capacity. Page 77
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34 Family: Strengthening family support Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress There is a clear pathway of non-stigmatised support available to parents throughout Moray and parents are supported to be the best parents they can (cont.) • Arrows Drug & Alcohol Service Children & Families Recovery Team An intensive whole family approach was trialled during this year using Whole Family Wellbeing Funding to work with families with a member receiving support for drugs & alcohol use. Support was provided to other adults impacted, to children & young people through intensive family support, 1-1 work and group work. Holiday based activities were also provided to the families. 86 families were supported over the year and 60 new referrals were received. Additionally, we have looked to resource three addition roles to develop practice across our children’s workforce: • A trauma informed practice workforce development role (filled at the end of this reporting period) • A multi-agency learning & development co-ordinator to ensure a workforce wide approach is taken to training (recruited post this reporting period) • Family Wellbeing Manager role is to manage and continue to develop the family support pathway and to address any barriers to access to services in communities (still to be recruited) Children’s transition into Nursery is consistently good I personally feel it has had a significant impact; it gives us a much greater insight into the family’s background.” A Moray Nursery Manager Work was needed to improve the planning for and meeting of children’s needs when transitioning to nurseries, especially when there was early evidence of developmental delays, possible neurodiversity or those with disability. A protocol for information sharing between Health Visitors and Early Years settings has been developed and tested in one associated school group (ASG) area. A second test of change is planned at the next nursery entry point. “We have a child whose parents had behavioural concerns and had approached the HV…….. once he started with us we began to pick up on areas, where he required further support, largely emotional regulation. The information sharing has supported us to implement support strategies including Zones of Regulation and Emotion Coaching…….. The child has responded positively in nursery, knowing that ELC and Family are sharing information and working together.” A Moray Nursery Manager Page 78
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35 Case Study from the Arrows Family Recovery Team When R initially began attending the parent support group facilitated by Arrows children and family’s team, she admitted that she was only attending because she had to, to get social work off her back. However, she remained coming to the group and through this R has developed more confidence in her parenting skills and has a greater awareness of the affect her own and her partners substance use had on her ability to parent her children. She is developing strategies to help her children deal with their emotions and she is more interested the work I do 1-1 with her children to explore their emotions following a traumatic period. Through the group, R has also offered peer support to other s and built new connections and friendships with people who have had similar experiences as her. It is noticeable at child planning meetings now that R is confident in her ability to advocate her children’s needs and opinions, and she has more awareness of her children’s developmental successes Page 79
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36 As Corporate Parents we are committed to working together in partnership to ensure our children and young people with experience of care receive the right support to reach their full potential and can be all they want to be Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress The gap in educational outcomes of looked after and care experienced young people is reduced. Scottish Attainment Challenge Funding has been used to recruit a Virtual School Head Teacher to drive forward improvements. Moray’s Virtual School Head Teacher took up the post in August 2023. Key improvements include the: • Development of a robust data set to identify and track all care experienced children and young people • Corporate Parenting Leads identified in all Moray schools • Development of a self-evaluation toolkit for Corporate Parenting Leads to quality assure all aspects of education for care experienced children and young people. This includes attendance, attainment, exclusions and child planning processes • Development of a trauma informed support plan for children and young people • Introduction of Education Scotland Promise Award. Our local data continues to evidence gaps between care experienced children and young people and their non- care experienced peers. The data shows that we are not yet closing the attainment gap. More focused work and commitment is needed to ensure we get it right for our care experienced children & young people. Looked after and care experienced young people enter and sustain education, training, or employment after leaving school. The Moray Pathways (local employment partnership) received 45 referrals for care experienced young people to support positive post school destinations, ensuring our care experienced young people have the same lifelong opportunities as their non-cared for peers. Over the last year our Mentoring Young Talent Programme re-launched across schools, supported by our Virtual Head Teacher, to target care experience young people who would benefit from the programme. Outcomes include: • 100% of the school leavers involved with the programme have moved into a positive destination. • A total of 16 school leavers are still maintaining a supportive relationship with their mentor. Page 80
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37 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress • In total 28 care experienced young people who have participated in the mentoring programme voiced that this support has improved their wellbeing and helped them gain valuable skills needed to for their future. • Data evidences an increase in attendance for care experienced young people matched with a mentor Examples of young people’s feedback on receiving mentoring: “She has been great; she listens and gives me the best advice & she also enjoys baking. She has helped me through college during the lows. She helped me job search for a little Saturday job and I now work in a kitchen which has been really great for my confidence and giving me experience in catering”. (Young Person) “He has made me feel more confident & independent & I realise that I can achieve my goals. He supports me and is helping me put a business plan together, he believes in me.” (Young Person) The health needs of looked after children and young people are met. Every child and young person who becomes looked after receives an Initial Health Assessment. An audit of those Initial Health Assessments which have not been completed within agreed timescales has led to the following improvements being introduced: • School Nurse teams introduced a single point of contact for all Initial Health Assessment Referrals. • Strengths and Difficulties assessment tool training has been delivered to all staff. • Annual Information sessions in relation to Health Assessments for Looked After Children has been delivered to relevant teams. This has resulted in an increase in the number of children receiving their Health Assessment within 4 weeks from 47% to 56% and within 8 weeks from 75% to 88%. Looked after and care experienced young people, and their parents/carer feel their voice has been heard through the provision of independent advocacy. Care experienced young people were involved in the commissioning of a new single service advocacy provider in Moray for children and families. As part of the commissioning process young people from Moray Champions Board: • Evaluated the applications and provided feedback • Were involved in shaping the service design, method of delivery and created a logo for the service Page 81
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38 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress • Participated in the recruitment process of Children’s Rights Workers. Moray Children’s Rights Service launched in October 2023. Since launch 62 Care Experienced Young People and 14 members of their family have been referred to the service. Looked after and care experienced young people, and their parents/carer feel their voice has been heard through the provision of independent advocacy (cont.) The Better Meetings Practitioners Guides have been implemented across Social Work as a tool to support children and young people to fully participate in their meetings and hearings, the guides have now formed part of the Social Work Induction for all new social workers. “The Better Meetings Guides supports the meeting to remain child centred and allows the child to voice who they want at their meeting, it’s a great tool”. (Social Worker) “Great reminder that you don’t need to be formal”. (Panel Member) “My meeting was easier because there wasn’t so many issues to talk about and they were talking to me more and I spoke more than I usually do”. (Young Person) The number and range of placements available meets the needs of children and young people in need of care The carers recruitment campaign has been active over the last year. We have worked with current foster carers to co-design an online social media campaign and ran targeted information sessions focused on the positive experiences of fostering. • During the last year we have increased the number of fostering households from 34 to 37 (8.87%) households. • The carer recruitment campaign for foster carers and supported lodgings has continued to broaden placement options and reduced the need for agency/out of area placements. • In Kinship Care the number of kinship households has increased from 28 to 30 (7%) • In supported lodgings the number of households has increased from 4 to 7 • In continuing care, the number of placements has increased from 7 to 9 a rise of (28%) providing young people with stability and continuity as they transitioned into adulthood. Page 82
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39 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Transitions feel and are experienced as integrated, with maintaining relationships being paramount. We successfully gained funding from the Corra Foundation following engagement work with young people to explore how we can better support them to sustain relationships with the people who are important to them. • Our care experienced young people identified this as their top priority area for improvement. • They shaped the funding bid and will lead this improvement project going into 2024-2025, being fully involved in the development of a local Maintaining Relationships policy. Our Through Care and After Care team have recently introduced a new pathway planning tool, ‘My Future, My Plan,’ which looks holistically at young people’s needs throughout their journey and into adulthood. Young people have shaped the development of a new ‘Care Leavers Housing Protocol’ and the introduction of 2 new (CEYP) Housing Support Officers to help young people with the transition from care and be a single point of contact for young people living in their own tenancy. Action For Children have introduced the role of ‘Transition Worker’ to support care experienced children and young people and those on the edge of care to overcome barriers and experience successful transitions. During the last year 21 young people have been supported. • 9 young people living in a residential children’s house have been supported with their transition both into and from care. • 12 young people have been supported in the community. Support includes transitioning from school into training and employment and transitioning into their own tenancy. Siblings are supported to maintain positive relationships with one another. The rolling out and embedding of the Together or Apart Assessment for siblings within Social Work has led to improved practice and recording. Keeping brother and sister groups together safely is a priority and recent reporting has evidenced that in foster care placements 9 out of 10 (90%) brother and sister groups are kept together, which is an improvement from the previous year of (68%). Page 83
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40 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress We have seen a rise in the number of care experienced children and young people accessing independent advocacy in relation to their sibling rights, this evidences children becoming increasingly aware of their rights to sibling relationships. Children and young people seeking asylum are fully integrated into school and community life. Moray is part of The National Transfer Scheme and during the last year has supported 15 unaccompanied asylum- seeking young people who have arrived in Moray without their parents/carers. All children and young people who have come to stay in Moray are living in dual occupancy accommodation or supported lodgings and where appropriate are accessing education. We have developed new processes to ensure all children and young people arriving in Moray have timely access to Health and Wellbeing support and transition into Education and training. Looked after and care experienced young people are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system We have continued to embed a whole systems approach to reduce the number of care experienced young people entering the criminal justice system. Over the last year we have: • Continued to deliver Scottish Fire and Rescue Youth Scheme for young people in Moray, • Police Scotland Youth Volunteers Programme - targeting care experienced young people. • Our Youth Justice Team have delivered a range of early and preventative approaches, interventions and used an open-door relational approach for young people at risk of re-offending. • Police Scotland Harm and Reduction Officer continues to provide a single point of contact for our local children’s houses including bespoke development sessions with foster and kinship carers. • currently (8%) of open cases within justice social work and youth justice care experienced young people, this is a slight decrease from (10.4%) the previous year. As we continue to uphold children’s rights and strive towards a reduction in the use of restraint and seclusion we have continued to roll out and embed trauma informed practice alongside robust monitoring on its use. Over the last year our local children’s home has seen a 100% reduction in the use of restraint. Next steps include the roll out of a new Safer Working Policy across the Health and Social Care Partnership. Our improvement activity is shaped by the voice of our Moray Champions Board continues to thrive and during the last year has been the driving force behind events which have enabled young people to connect with their peers, develop new and valuable skills, and be involved in the co-production and decision making of services. Key achievements include: Page 84
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41 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress looked after and care experienced young people. • Care Leavers Event supported by 15 Corporate Parents from across the partnership. • Care Day Celebrations hosted by 10 care experienced young people and attended by 50 Corporate Parents. • Participation in Moray Council Recruitment Process. • 8 young people hosted a Summer BBQ which provided peer support opportunities for young care experienced children. • Co-produced a new Care Leavers Housing Protocol and introduction of two Housing Needs Support Officers as single points of contact for care experienced young people. • 3 young people created and launched a video addressing stigma in Education. • 8 young people supported the joint inspection of children’s services by developing a welcome video for inspections and hosting an engagement event with young inspectors from the Care Inspectorate. • Moray Champions Board took a lead role in the commissioning including service design and delivery of the new advocacy provider for Moray. • 5 young people worked with Morays Promise Team to co-produce and submit a successful funding bid to Corra, to develop a local maintaining relationships project. We have developed a network of 45 Promise Keepers from across the partnership, including Health, Education, Social Work, Police and 3rd sector organisations. The Promise Keeper’s role is to support and report on Promise improvement activity within their department or organisation and coordinate the involvement of children and families in improvements to service design and delivery. The Promise Keepers network has supported a wide range of improvement projects including: • Looked after children and young people involved in the service delivery plan for our local Children’s home. • Recruitment of staff. • Development of tools to gather the voice of care experienced young people. • The use of stigmatising language across the care system. Page 85
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42 Care: Improving Outcomes for looked After and Care Experienced Children and Young People Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress • The creation of a Promise wall in our short breaks service to strengthen our communication with children and young people who are non-verbal We have strengthened the voice of care experienced children and young people within our Corporate Parenting Strategic Group with the development of our Corporate Parenting and Promise Communication Plan and participation model. Page 86
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43 Our workforce includes all volunteers, carers and employees who have a role in improving the wellbeing of children, young people and their families People: Supporting Our Workforce Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress Integrated working practice is enhanced through joint development opportunities that supports our shared vision, core principles and values. A multi-agency learning and development strategy has been produced along with a training needs analysis undertaken with staff from across the workforce. A Learning & Development Coordinator job description was finalised, and the role has been recruited with a start date beyond this reporting period. Staff facilitate and enable the relationships, networks and connections that support our children, young people and families A Trauma Informed Development Officer role has been developed and recruited, starting in the next reporting year. All our multi-agency training has been evaluated to ensure it is strength based and relational Page 87
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44 We will strive to ensure that our governance, culture, systems and processed empower our paid and voluntary workforce and local communities to deliver the improvements children and young people have told us matter most to them Scaffolding: Working in Partnership Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress As a partnership, we are aware of the changing needs of children, young people and their families. This year we have produced our adult Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and began the process of updating the children’s JSNA. We have identified a resource to do this and have published the 2023 version alongside our CSP 2023-2026 plan. We have a wider insight into the needs of our families and have used learning reviews to sharpen that understanding where we have identified a need for deeper insight. Examples of our responses to changes identified have included the introduction of Sudden Infant death awareness and safe sleep training across our workforce. We are currently joint working to develop an all-age Suicide Prevention Delivery Plan which includes new work to develop suicide safe school communities. We have established the strategic structure and governance to oversee the delivery of the various priorities within our Children Services Plan. There is work underway in most areas to develop datasets that will sit under our JSNA and ensure we are able to demonstrate the outcomes and differences being made. As part of keeping the voice of children and young people at the centre of our approach and ensuring we are continuing our understanding of the impact of change on Moray’s children we have committed to repeat the Children’s Health & Wellbeing Survey every 2 years. This will also provide a valuable insight into if the work we are progressing is making the intended difference to the experiences of our children and families As a partnership, we maximise all opportunities to lever in additional funding and work together to ensure it supports the The partnership is making progress leveraging in additional funding to deliver our shared priorities. Examples during this year include: • A successful bid to the Child Poverty Accelerator fund (£43,000) to explore the effectiveness of the current system of support for those affected by financial hardship, and maximise the number of families in receipt of Income Maximisation support Page 88
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45 Scaffolding: Working in Partnership Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress delivery of our shared priorities. • Successful Corra Foundation bid (£150K) to explore better support to care experienced young people to sustain the relationships that are important to them. This includes the development of a local Maintaining Relationships Policy. • Our 3rd sector partners have been securing funding to increase the capacity of children’s mental health services in response to demand through the Willamson Grant Foundation, and in peri-natal mental, through Inspiring Scotland funding • The locality networks have worked with smaller providers to secure £2300 of funding focused on community based early years activities to address locality-based gaps in provision outlined by parents in that area • The YPZONE is a young people’s drugs & alcohol service within Moray, this is currently in its 3rd year of funding, this has been developed through our locality networks and is funded though match funding from a range of local sectors e.g. Education, Health, ADP, Social Work and matched by Corra. A review of all Scottish Government funding streams issues to single agencies and partnerships groups has been completed. We are committed to align our spending to the CSP priorities. Moray is successful at acquiring funding in but continues to experience recruitment issues in securing suitably skilled staff and to have the capacity to coordinate and report on these additional sources efficiently. The risk of silo working across children and adult services minimised. We have in place a clear governance structure devolved from the Community Planning Partnership to produce and deliver the CSP with the GIRFEC Leadership Group in place. The group is made up of senior decision makers from both the public and 3rd sector. Members of the strategic groups are from across our partnership, and we have clear terms of reference for each strategic group which are aligned to the various priorities. The GIRFEC Leadership Group has scheduled regular developments session to focus on the progress of the delivery of the Children Services Plan and there are quarterly Chairs Partnership meetings to ensure connection and to minimise silo working. Improvement Officers resourced from across the Children Services Partnership work across the priorities to reduce silo working and support the pace of progress. We more consistently and effectively measure impact of the actions we are taking Within our CSP we have considered how we will know if we have made a difference by delivering the outcomes. Work is ongoing to establish datasets across the priorities to ensure we can evidence that difference and establish performance measures. Page 89
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46 Scaffolding: Working in Partnership Our focus for improvement Our actions and progress to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. We have a series of surveys and engagement work outlined in the plan to progress in year 2 and 3 to see if children and families feel we are having an impact in specific areas. Following our successful CSP launch we have committed to providing a public progress engagement event each year with both the workforce and families invited together to share their views. The next one is planned for September 2024. The co-ordination of continuous improvement activity improves Due to staff capacity and absences, we have only managed to complete a high-level performance framework in this first year, although we have identified a performance and self-evaluation framework to develop and embed. As outlined above in this first year we have: • Established a new governance structure with strategic groups focused on each of the priority area • Developed progress reporting processes in consultation with the chairs of the strategic groups • Established Partnership Chairs Meeting to ensure the intersectionality across our thematic priorities is well evidenced and work is co-ordinated. Page 90
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47 Measuring Progress The progress made this year has been the following: • Agreed that the Children and families Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) will be updated annually, secured a resource with this work ongoing • The adult JSNA has been completed. There is now a holistic picture available of needs within Moray. This will help the identification of key areas where joint working between adult & children services will have the most impact • Identified a performance management and self-evaluation framework we plan to embed across the partnership • Our new governance structure is established with the different strategic groups developing priority-based datasets. These strands of work will come together to form a robust process for the collection and analysis of useful data and provide a set of data that will help inform the JSNA going forward • A source of data has been identified for all the wellbeing indicators which includes a commitment to run the Health & Wellbeing survey across Moray schools every 2 years. The survey is scheduled to run again in the autumn/winter term this year. We aim to increase the percentage of young people completing the surveys, especially within our senior phase school population. • Identified specific measures that demonstrate the 8 SHANARRI wellbeing indicators we will track. See http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file150784.pdf Page 91
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48 Appendix I Moray’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund Update Question 1. Activity Title and description Question 2: During this year, how has this activity contributed (or expected to contribute) toward one or more short term, intermediate or long term WFWF logic model outcome(s) identified in your WFWF initial plan. Question 3. Estimate of percentage of WFWF funding spent on this activity to date and estimate of percentage of this activity out of total WFWF budget Activities Undertaken Activity 1: build on the successes of the locality planning model as highlighted through the external evaluation of the pilot model Extension of the wellbeing co-ordinator’s post and further develop remit Roles have been extended for 2 years and the work has been developed to include more coaching and supporting of the named person and the Team Around the Child (TAC). This includes focusing on hearing and understanding children and family’s needs and voice and co-ordinating support packages and managing access to the early year’s based whole family support provision. Working with the social work access team to identify families not needing statutory intervention to coordinate support plans to meet their needs. These specific roles are: • Contributing to removing barriers to existing support, • Improving access to specific parts of our developing system which is resulting in increasing the number of families receiving support. • The role is focused on ensuring the right support is identified and accessed. • A total of 228 child planning meetings were attended in this reporting year compared to 40 in the previous year (470% increase) and there was a 4% increase in referrals received from social work Costs: £115,780 Year 23/24 (22% of annual funding) Activity 2: build on the successes of the locality planning model as highlighted Investment in 3rd sector to lead the locality networks. The networks are made-up of community organisations and frontline practitioners who have a remit to improve outcomes for children and families within the individual communities which make up Moray. Costs: £13,265 Yr 23/24, (2.4% of funding, expected to rise to 8.8% of next year’s funding) Page 92
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49 through the external evaluation of the pilot model The work of the locality networks is outlined in the strengthening families update. This has been positively impacted by the availability of 3rd sector chairs now that paid contracts have been established. The paid roles have been confirmed for a further year. There has been an increase in third sector and community group membership of the networks. Next steps of the networks are to focus on finding partnership-based solutions to low level needs identified within the CSP or to any emerging need coming through. Outcomes: 3rd sector partners are leading the networks, having a key role in the development of support at early stages. The increase in membership of the locality networks evidence more collaborative working developing Activity 3: Build capacity in the system to design and deliver holistic family support Recruit a senior manager to coordinate system design/re-design and implementation We have continued to experience challenges in capacity to move this forward, with some of our mitigating actions also impacted by staff absence. Work was outsourced to Aberlour Trust to continue progress looking at current provision and systems in place and to development the intensive support elements of our pathway. (Combined CORRA funding, community MHWB funding to complete this). We are still to recruit to this role which will be part of considering the sustainability of our progress going forward and post the funding period. Outcomes: Built on earlier family engagement work to understand need, the provider engaged with 24 families and 88 professionals working with families. This builds on the work by Arrows and Children 1st described in the strengthening family’s priority update. This work has been led by a 3rd sector organisation ensuring they have taken a lead role in the development of holistic family support. Our strengthening family strategic group is in place and has overseen the work to date in this area. Delays in recruitment to role, mitigated by funding the 3rd sector by CORRA funding to undertake work Page 93
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50 Activity 4: build capacity in the system to design and deliver holistic family support Recruit a learning and development coordinator A coordinator has been recruited and is due to start post in the next reporting period. A Multi- agency Learning and Development Strategy including a training programme has been developed to support the coordination of training. The multi-agency learning and development group is established. Financial costs of this role will be within 24/25 years onwards (10.9% of budget) Activity 5: development of intensive family support provision Investment in design and delivery of intensive holistic family support testing with families affected by substance use Quarriers Arrows drugs and alcohol service have piloted a whole family support service as part of their recovery service. Highlights of the services are outlined in the family priority update. Evaluation continues of the test of an intensive support offer for families affected by substance abuse provided by through an adult focused service. Outcomes: We should establish through evaluation of impact how we can combine adult /child focus services together, in turn informing both adult and children service delivery going forward. This represents 25% of the WFWF annual budget. £135K in Yr 2023/24 Activity 6: NEW development of prevention/early intervention family support Investment in 3rd sector to expand the provision of PEEP and contribute to development of universal pathway Within the reporting period we have committed to this and began the procurement process. Since the reporting period we have agreed a contract with Action for Children. Outcomes: Parent surveys have evidenced how strongly parents value PEEP opportunities. Through the work we will be increasing access until we reach a universal offer for all families with children up to 5 years delivered within their communities. We have plans to work with the 3rd sector provider to sustain the provision through accessing other external funding sources going forward. Financial commitment has been made in this financial year will costs accruing from next financial year. Cost (n/a in 23/24), 90K for 24/25 and 25/26, 17% of yearly budget Page 94
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51 Activity 7: NEW development of early intervention support relating to family mental wellbeing Procurement of provision to support parents to understand and best support their child’s mental wellbeing including exploring their own mental wellbeing resilience Working with one of our MHWB providers we have developed an approach that enables parents to directly access support and advice on mental wellbeing issues which are impacting their family. The work includes supporting parents to self-evaluate their own mental wellbeing and resilience as part of the support provided. A pilot of this work was undertaken this year and is outlined in the mental wellbeing priority section, including a link to the report. In total 235 parents were involved in the pilot. The pilot is being extended for up to 2 years and will develop to include more rural based families, kinship parents and fathers in the support. We will be developing links into adult MHWB services so we can establish an open-door approach to accessing support. Outcomes: Parents are shaping this provision to direct where the focus is and to develop this new type of support that incorporates the parent and child needs through the parents’ perspective and experience. Next steps include integrating this into the community hubs to widen access routes. Costs n/a for 23/24, forecast 60K in both 24/25 and 25/26 ,11% of yearly budget Question 4: Overview of progress to date Progress remains slower than anticipated due to local capacity issues, recruitment challenges and significant leadership change. Recommendations from the external evaluation of the locality planning model have been taken forward. Tendering process have been planned to invite the 3rd sector to lead on the development and coordination of Moray’s universal offer of PEEP to all families as part of our prevention and early intervention offer and a successful pilot looking MHWB through a holistic family lens has been so successful other areas are approaching our provider to work with them. We have a family support pathway emerging from our exploratory work and pilot activity (PEEP test for change work, Drugs and alcohol-based family support, 3rd sector based system design project completed applying a system design approach) and have identified our next steps in that redesign. It’s important we take our time and pause where needed to collate our learning to ensure this remains a joint up partnership-based process. The flexibility in the WFWF funding criteria and Page 95
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52 timelines for spending are supporting this approach. We are utilising other funding streams alongside the WFWF in a bid to make changes more sustainable which results in our funding being allocated more progressively. Progress of our initial plans are detailed in question one and two above. The advancement on those activities includes the development of community hub and spoke models within 3 of our locality areas exploring using schools as the hub and reaching out into the community and other settings. We are now investing in family link workers to support the model to continue to develop further. Question 5. main successes to delivery and factors enabling nice successes Our successes to date have been our partnership commitment and working which includes several of our 3rd sector partners. The 3rd sector has been contracted to lead on parts of the designing/redesigning work to date. The embedding of our revised governance structure including the multi-agency strengthening family’s strategic work. We have tried 3 variations on the hub and spoke model in different localities enabling three sources of intelligence to help shape our redesign further. The wellbeing coordinators roles continue to develop in response to the redesign and are central to ensuring our developing pathway feels connected. Question 6: main challenges to delivery and plans to mitigate Capacity to coordinate and recruit the right staff to undertake this work remains a key challenge. We have been experiencing and continue to experience: • Senior leadership change across our partnership which takes time to embed, being a small local authority we have fewer leadership positions making this extent of change highly significant • A lack of capacity in our current staff provision which is being further impacted by staff absences in key roles to lead this work but also in our day-to-day service delivery. Most senior staff hold a wide remit which leaves little capacity to cover absences • Our larger 3rd sector providers also experiencing substantial senior management change which impacts there readiest to undertake new work or approaches which has limited its mitigating impact Mitigating factors going forward are that our new leadership team is now fully in place (although temporary) and that leadership team is committed to our children services plan. Our close partnerships with our 3rd sector colleagues mean we should be able to move forward quickly when they have stabilised Page 96
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53 Despite the challenges we have managed to progress key projects due to our partnership approach which has provided further intelligence and insight into need and access to support which we can now integrate into the developing pathway. Question 7: how have the activities and outcomes in section 1 have been informed by different stakeholders Our 3rd sector partners have been key to our progress so far support journey mapping and engaging families directly and we now have 2 further providers now contracted to provide support through our WFWF. The Intensive family support offer within our emerging pathway has significantly grown in the last year, it is not reliant on this funding stream but has been informed by the work undertaken and through benchmarking models in other areas. Any other comments The flexibility to carry over funding is crucial in the current environment and enables time to fully utilise service design and quality improvement methodology to develop theory of changes and apply them. Page 97
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54 Appendix II Photo Gallery Care Day Celebration- raising the flag ceremony Employability post school summer programme Elgin high School- Big Breakfast with STV Children Appeal Engagement at Children’s Services Plan Launch Event Page 98
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