Participation & Engagement Strategy 2026-30
North Ayrshire Council · 12 February 2026
Back to Integration Joint Board — 12 February 2026 and its agenda
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Integration Joint Board 12th February 2026 Subject: Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 Purpose: This report presents an updated Participation and Engagement Strategy for 2026-2030 and is seeking:- • Approval Recommendation: Approve the updated strategy, replacing the Participation and Engagement Strategy for 2022-2025, to support the delivery of the refreshed Strategic Plan for 2026-2030. Direction Required to Council, Health Board or Both Direction to :- 1. No Direction Required X 2. North Ayrshire Council 3. NHS Ayrshire & Arran 4. North Ayrshire Council and NHS Ayrshire & Arran Glossary of Terms NHS AA NHS Ayrshire and Arran HSCP Health and Social Care Partnership SMT Senior Management Team PSMT Partnership Senior Management Team APR Annual Performance Report 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The Integration Joint Board agreed its refreshed Strategic Plan on the 11th of December 2025, which updates the HSCPs priorities for delivery and long-term planning from the 1st of April 2026 to the 31st March 2030. This updated Participation and Engagement Strategy has been developed to support the delivery of the refreshed Strategic Plan’s Strategic Outcomes and outline the HSCPs approach to ensuring the participation of individuals, carers, staff, partners, and communities in shaping health and social care services. 1.2 The strategy builds on the previous 2022–2025 framework and reflects national guidance, local insights, and statutory duties. It was developed by examining the previous engagement carried out by the HSCP and identifying any gaps and priorities going forward, and it outlines an action plan for the 4-year period it covers. 1.3 The Participation and Engagement Strategy was developed with the support of Heads of Service and Senior Managers across the HSCP and was endorsed by the Strategic Planning Group on the 26th of November 2025.
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1.4 Appendix 1 presents the final Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 which will be in place from the 1st of April 2026. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Engagement is a statutory duty under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, as well as the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.COSLA published updated Planning with People Community Engagement and Participation Guidance in 2024, which outlines that ‘Individual engagement projects must be planned as part of an organisation's wider engagement strategy. It is important that community groups are involved from the earliest opportunity, and throughout the development, in the planning and decision-making process for service change.’ 2.2 The HSCP’s previous Participation and Engagement Strategy was in place from 2022- 2025 and delivered significant progress, including the development of the Care Improvement Network, a revision of the Locality Planning Process, expanded digital engagement, and diversifying the engagement methods used by the Partnership. 2.3 The updated Participation and Engagement Strategy for 2026-2030 was developed between August 2025 and January 2026. It consisted of: • Assessment of previous strategy: The commitments made in the 2022- 2025 Participation and Engagement Strategy were considered, to allow the updated strategy to reflect what was achieved and build upon our approach. • Policy Review: National legislation, statutory guidance, and best practice frameworks were reviewed to ensure that statutory participation requirements were considered, and best practice was reflected. It also considered specific groups such as service user groups or seldom heard groups to ensure considerations were included in the approach. • Engagement Insights: All engagement evidence gathered between 2022 and 2025 across all HSCP services were gathered and analysed to note methods, strengths, gaps and impact. This supported the identification of new priorities and principles, and actions that would build on previous lessons learned. • Engagement Survey: In 2024, the Partnership focused it's What Matters to You? campaign on public engagement, asking individuals how they prefer to be involved and what matters most when sharing their views with us. Key findings highlighted a strong preference for digital engagement (e.g. online surveys, email updates), regular consultation, and clearer communication about how feedback is used. • Service input: Services across the HSCP were contacted in August 2025 and asked to complete an engagement activity template for 2025 in order to gather information about who had been engaged with, how it was carried out, and what the outcomes or outputs were, as well as anything currently being planned.
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• Analysis: Using the gathered evidence, new Principles of engagement were identified as well as Partnership wide priorities which support the implementation of the Strategic Outcomes identified within the refreshed Strategic Plan for 2026-2030. The draft Plan was presented to the Strategic Planning Group on the 26th of November 2025. The refreshed strategy supports the delivery of the refreshed Strategic Plan 2026–2030 Strategic Priorities: • Supporting the Improvement of Population Health • Addressing the Changing Needs of an Ageing Population • Tackling the Root Causes of Health Inequality 3. UPDATED Strategy 2026-2030 3.1 The Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 outlines a vision for a health and social care system where every voice matters, and every decision considers the lived experience of North Ayrshire’s communities. It identifies a new set of Principles of Engagement, which guide how we plan to listen, involve and act when engaging with our communities: • Equity: We actively seek to remove barriers to participation, ensuring that seldom-heard voices are included and valued. Engagement opportunities will be designed to be accessible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse needs and experiences. • Transparency: We will be open about our processes, decisions, and limitations. Communities will see how their input has shaped outcomes, with clear feedback loops and honest communication about what can and cannot be changed. • Collaboration: We will work in partnership with individuals, groups, and organisations, recognising the expertise that comes from lived experience. Co- design and shared decision-making will be central to how we plan and improve services. • Respect: We will treat all participants with dignity, recognising the time, insight, and emotional labour involved in sharing experiences. We will foster safe spaces for dialogue and uphold confidentiality and consent throughout. • Continuous Improvement: We will learn from every engagement, adapting our approaches based on feedback and evidence. We will monitor and evaluate our practices to ensure they remain meaningful, effective, and aligned with best practice. 3.2 The principles of engagement will guide the way we approach engagement to deliver our new Priorities for 2026-2030.
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The 6 new priorities for Participation and Engagement outlined within the new Strategy, are: • Build a Culture of Engagement – embedding engagement responsibilities and good practice across teams and governance structures. • Strengthen Inclusive Engagement – reaching seldom-heard groups and ensuring culturally appropriate formats. • Improve Communication and Feedback Loops – closing the loop with clear updates and accessible feedback channels. • Enhance Locality-Based Engagement – aligning with locality planning and supporting tailored, place-based approaches. • Increase Accessibility and Flexibility – offering varied formats and scheduling to meet diverse needs. • Monitor, Evaluate and Improve – using consistent reporting and shared learning to refine our methods. 4. DELIVERY AND MONITORING 4.1 An action plan has been included in the strategy, aligned to 6 newly identified priorities for participation and engagement. These show what the strategy plans to achieve over the plan period, including both practical actions such as the development of toolkits and digital spaces for sharing engagement data, and mainstreaming actions such as considering how seldom-heard groups are considered in the design process of engagement planning. 4.2 The Strategy highlights our commitment to strengthening our key continuous engagement forums, such as The Care Improvement Network, Locality Planning Model, What Matters to You? and Care Opinion, as well as identifying priority areas for strengthening engagement over the course of the strategy. 4.3 It also outlines how engagement will be built into the implementation of the Strategic Outcomes Workstreams, as identified in the Refreshed Strategic Plan 2026-2030. 4.4 Finally, the strategy outlines how success will be measured. This includes: • Development of a reporting template to allow engagement to be captured and analysed on an ongoing basis. • Implementation of an annual engagement report which will disseminate insights and good practice across the partnership. • Regular monitoring via the Strategic Planning Group, which will allow partnership engagement work to be carried out through members.
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5. PROPOSALS 5.1 It is recommended that IJB: • Approve the refreshed Participation and Engagement Strategy, which supports the delivery of the Refreshed Strategic Plan, from 2026-2030 • Note the activity to be carried out following approval of the draft plan regarding delivery and monitoring, including the development of an Annual Engagement Report • Agree the Plan will be monitored regularly via the Strategic Planning Group. 5.2 Anticipated Outcomes The alignment of the Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 to the Refreshed Strategic Plan Caring Together 2026-2030 ensures that individuals, service-users, carers and staff are involved in the long-term planning of local services in terms of anticipated future health and care needs of the population. The new Principles for Engagement aim to commit to a standard of engagement across the HSCP that will allow teams to consider how they are engaging with their communities or service-users and ensuring a standardised approach to participation across the partnership. The new Priorities outline how we plan to improve our engagement processes and ensure more people are able to be involved in a wider range of activities to be included in the decision-making process across the partnership The Action Plan outlines what we intend to deliver over the 4 years which will keep the HSCP accountable to our communities as well as outline the opportunities that people will have to be involved. This action plan will monitored via the Strategic Planning Group to ensure that delivery is carried out and our new Annual Engagement Report will highlight Best Practice examples and continue the momentum of engagement across the Partnership. It is anticipated that the new Participation and Engagement strategy will increase transparency, focus engagement on areas that are most needed, encourage increased participation and awareness of participation opportunities, and foster good relationships with North Ayrshire communities, HSCP services-users and staff, and local carers, families, and other stakeholders. 5.3 Measuring Impact The Action Plan will be monitored via the Strategic Planning group to ensure accountability, and activity will be reported via an Annual Engagement Report. Good practice will also be shared within the IJBs Annual Performance Report.
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6. IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Financial The Participation and Engagement Strategy will support the delivery of the HSCPs Strategic Plan, which considers the HSCPs medium term financial outlook and recognises the difficult financial operating context. Budgets have been considered when outlining the Action Plan to ensure the actions are able to be carried out within existing engagement or team budgets. 6.2 Human Resources The Strategy outlines how we plan to engagement with staff as well as communities. 6.3 Legal Engagement is a statutory duty upon Local Authorities, Health Boards and IJBs and Planning for People Statutory Guidance outlines that organisations should have their own Engagement Strategies. 6.4 Equality/Socio-Economic An ECRIA has been carried out and is attached in Appendix 2. There are no adverse or negative impacts highlighted. 6.5 Risk The Strategic risk register contains demographic, equality and workforce risks. The Strategic Plan aims to support the minimisation of risks through the planning of priorities and activity for the HSCP and the Participation and Engagement Strategy aims to support this work by planning and facilitating engagement to enhance this planning. 6.6 Community Wealth Building None. 6.7 Key Priorities The Strategy supports the delivery of the 3 new Strategic Outcomes of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan. 7. CONSULTATION Between January 2023 and December 2024, the Health and Social Care Partnership conducted 47 engagement activities, reaching approximately 2,887 individuals. These activities included events, focus groups, surveys, interviews, and workshops, and were carried out for a variety of reasons. The feedback gathered has been analysed and summarised into key themes, divided into two categories: overarching issues and service-specific insights. This analysis informed the development of the Draft Strategic Plan and the development a new Participation and Engagement Strategy.
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Senior Managers were then asked to complete and engagement template outlining their activities already carried out or planned for 2025. Between these activities, engagement gaps and strengths were identified. The HSCP carried out What Matters to You? engagement in 2024 asked people how they wanted to be engaged in future, which supported the development of priorities and actions in the plan. Strategic Planning Group was presented with the draft Strategy on the 26th of November 2025, following which Senior Managers were asked for feedback on the draft plan between November 2025 and January 2026, and PSMT was presented with the draft plan in January 2026 to enable any last comments to be provided. Caroline Cameron, Director Principal Manager, Planning, Performance and Transformation: Stuart MacMillan Author: Seony Ross, Team Manager Strategic Planning and Equalities, seonyross@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Appendices • Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 • ECRIA for the Participation and Engagement Strategy
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1 North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership Participation and Engagement Strategy 2026-2030
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2 Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 4 Purpose of Strategy .................................................................................................. 4 Policy and Legislative Context ................................................................................... 5 Statutory Duties and National Requirements .......................................................... 6 Inclusive, Rights-Based Engagement ...................................................................... 6 Engaging Seldom Heard Groups ............................................................................ 7 Continuous Engagement and Feedback Loops ....................................................... 7 Accessible Communication and Empowerment ..................................................... 7 Local Alignment ................................................................................................... 8 Engagement Insights ................................................................................................ 8 How We Have Engaged 2022-2025 ......................................................................... 8 Health and Community Care Service ................................................................ 10 Children, Families and Justice Service .............................................................. 11 Mental Health Service ..................................................................................... 11 Professional Standards .................................................................................... 13 Planning, Performance and Transformation Service ........................................... 13 Commissioning Team ...................................................................................... 13 Key Engagement Methods ................................................................................... 14 Groups Reached................................................................................................. 16 Gaps.................................................................................................................. 17 What have you told us about Engagement? .......................................................... 17 Vision and Principles .............................................................................................. 19 Our Principles of Engagement .......................................................................... 19 Priorities ................................................................................................................ 20 Priority Engagement to Deliver the Strategic Plan ...................................................... 21 Action Plan ............................................................................................................ 24 Measuring Success ................................................................................................ 27 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................. 28 Appendix ............................................................................................................... 29 Appendix 1: Policies Reviewed ............................................................................. 29
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3 Foreword At North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, we believe that the voices of our communities are not just valuable, they are vital. This Participation and Engagement Strategy sets out our commitment to listening, learning, and acting together with the people we serve. It is both a roadmap and a promise to embed meaningful involvement across all aspects of our work, ensuring that services are shaped by those who use them. We are proud to build on the principles of Planning with People and the Health and Social Care Standards, translating national guidance into local action. This strategy reflects the insights of individuals, families, carers, staff, and partners who have generously shared their experiences and ideas. Their contributions have helped us identify what matters most and how we can work better together. Participation is not a one-off event, it is a continuous, evolving relationship. Whether through our Locality Planning model, service redesign in our Transformation agenda, or everyday conversations, we are committed to creating spaces where people feel heard, respected, and empowered. We recognise that some voices are seldom heard, and we are determined to change that by removing barriers and fostering trust. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this strategy and who continues to champion inclusive engagement across North Ayrshire. Together, we can build a health and social care system that is transparent, responsive, and rooted in the lived realities of our communities. Caroline Cameron Caroline Cameron, Director, North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Chief Officer, North Ayrshire Integration Joint Board
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4 Introduction North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (NAHSCP) is one of 31 Partnerships established under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. This legislation introduced integrated health and social care partnerships across Scotland to reduce organisational barriers and improve outcomes for people receiving care and support. Each partnership is responsible for delivering services delegated by their Local Authority and regional Health Board, in line with a locally agreed Integration Scheme. NAHSCP brings together services from North Ayrshire Council and NHS Ayrshire and Arran to provide joined up, person centred support for individuals, families and communities across North Ayrshire. Our integrated approach enables us to respond more effectively to people’s needs, promote wellbeing and support people to live independently. We are committed to working in partnership with our communities, staff, carers and stakeholders to shape services that reflect what matters most to the people who use them. Participation and engagement are central to this commitment. By listening to lived experience and involving people in decision making, we aim to build services that are inclusive, transparent and continuously improving. This strategy outlines how we will strengthen participation and engagement across our HSCP services, in line with our strategic goals. It outlines our purpose, principles, and priorities, and describes how we will build on national guidance, local insights and community feedback to strengthen public involvement in health and social care planning and delivery. Purpose of Strategy This strategy defines how NAHSCP will involve individuals, communities, staff, carers, and partners in shaping the design, delivery, and improvement of health and social care services. It supports our statutory duties under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, which requires Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to develop a Strategic Plan for the integrated functions and budgets under their control. Our strategic priorities are outlined in the refreshed IJB Strategic Plan, Caring Together 2026–2029. These are: Supporting the Improvement of Population Health Addressing the Changing Needs of an Ageing Population Tackling the Root Causes of Health Inequality
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5 These priorities aim to address future demand on services and the underlying causes of poor health by gathering evidence for long term planning. HSCP strategies will align with these goals, and decision-making will take these priorities and their impacts into account when implementing change. How we listen to and include people as equal partners will be key to achieving these priorities and ensuring that outcomes improve over the duration of the plan. In addition to the strategic priorities, there are six service delivery priorities that reflect how services will be designed and delivered to meet the health and care needs of our population. These are: - Prevention - Community Based Services - Life Stages - Whole Person Approach - Accessibility and Communication - Evidence and Performance These priorities are informed by data, national policy, service user engagement, and frontline insight. Each service area is responsible for embedding engagement in its planning and delivery, ensuring that participation is not sought only after decisions are made, but is a core part of how we work. A clear strategy provides a shared framework for meaningful engagement, strengthens accountability, and helps us build a culture where every voice contributes to shaping health and care services across North Ayrshire. Policy and Legislative Context To ensure this strategy reflects current expectations and delivers meaningful, inclusive engagement, a detailed review of national legislation, statutory guidance, and best practice frameworks was undertaken. This process helped identify the legal duties, strategic priorities, and quality standards that must shape how North Ayrshire HSCP involves people and communities in service planning and decision-making. The policies were analysed thematically, covering statutory participation requirements, inclusive communication, children’s rights, co-production, and community empowerment. Specialist guidance was also considered to strengthen engagement with groups who face barriers to participation, including older adults, unpaid carers, children and young people, and communities affected by poverty, discrimination, or social isolation. The policies were grouped into the following headings, and provide a baseline for our Partnership wide principles.
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6 This policy foundation ensures the strategy is not only compliant with national requirements but also responsive to the lived experiences of local people. It supports the delivery of North Ayrshire HSCP’s strategic priorities and national health and wellbeing outcomes through co-produced, rights-based, and continuous, engagement. A full list of policies reviewed is provided in Appendix 1. Statutory Duties and National Requirements The Partnership has a statutory participatory duty to involve a range of people in developing and delivering services. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 establishes the legal requirement for IJBs to involve service users, carers, staff and community partners in the development of the Strategic Plan and any other significant decisions affecting service delivery. This includes both permanent and temporary changes to services, even when these fall outside the scope of the Strategic Plan. The Act requires that such decisions are informed by the views of the Strategic Planning Group and wider stakeholders. The Planning with People: Community Engagement and Participation Guidance (2024), jointly issued by the Scottish Government and COSLA, reinforces this duty. It sets out expectations for early, proportionate, and ongoing engagement in all aspects of care service planning and development that fall within the scope of delegated health services. The guidance emphasises that engagement must be embedded in governance and decision-making processes, with clear evidence of how public input has influenced outcomes. The National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes further highlight the importance of participation, stating that people should have positive experiences of care and that staff should be supported to continuously improve services through engagement. Inclusive, Rights-Based Engagement The Health and Social Care Standards: My Support, My Life (2017) establish a rights- based framework for care and support. They affirm that people must be fully involved in decisions about their care, receive information in accessible formats, and be supported to participate in service improvement. These principles underpin this strategy’s commitment to inclusive, person-centred engagement, as set out in the following sections. Children’s rights are embedded through alignment with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Scottish Government’s Children’s Human Rights Guidance. These frameworks require that children and young people are meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them, with appropriate support and safeguards in place. This strategy commits to using Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments
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7 (CRWIAs), where relevant, to ensure compliance with the UNCRC and Scottish Government guidance. The Principles of Inclusive Communication guide the HSCP in ensuring that all engagement materials and processes are accessible to people with communication support needs. This includes providing information in multiple formats and training staff to recognise and respond to diverse communication requirements. Engaging Seldom Heard Groups The Scottish Government’s Seldom Heard Groups Action Plan calls for inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally competent engagement. It recognises that people affected by poverty, discrimination, disability, and social isolation often face barriers to participation. This strategy commits to addressing these barriers and co-producing engagement tools and service designs with people who have lived experience. The ALLIANCE Scotland Toolkit provides practical guidance for engaging structurally excluded communities. It emphasises the importance of trust-building, intersectionality, and partnership working with community organisations. These principles are reflected in this strategy’s approach to reaching underrepresented groups. The National Standards for Community Engagement offer a structured framework for planning, delivering, and evaluating engagement. They support the HSCP in ensuring that participation is inclusive, meaningful, and outcome focused. Continuous Engagement and Feedback Loops The Quality Framework for Community Engagement and Participation, developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate, provides a national benchmark for assessing and improving engagement practice. It supports continuous improvement through regular self-evaluation and reporting, focusing on outcomes, process, and leadership. Planning with People reinforces the need for sustained engagement beyond one-off consultations. It requires Integration Authorities to demonstrate how engagement has influenced decisions and to maintain transparent feedback loops that show how public input has been used. Accessible Communication and Empowerment Inclusive communication is a core component of this strategy. The HSCP will apply the Principles of Inclusive Communication across all engagement activities, ensuring that information is made available in formats that meet the needs of diverse communities. This includes Easy Read, BSL, large print, and translated materials.
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8 The strategy also draws on guidance from Age UK and international research on engaging older adults and informal carers. These sources highlight the importance of empowering carers, volunteers, and frontline staff to shape services and contribute to continuous improvement. Local Alignment As a Community Planning Partner, North Ayrshire HSCP works collaboratively with a wide range of public sector organisations — including North Ayrshire Council, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and Scottish Enterprise — to ensure that engagement is joined-up, inclusive, and responsive to community needs. We also work closely with North Ayrshire’s Third Sector Interface - Arran CVS and The Ayrshire Community Trust - to enable engagement with the local third and community sector organisations that support people in the community. Engagement activities will be aligned with both the North Ayrshire HSCP Strategic Plan and the North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership Participation and Engagement Framework, supporting the delivery of national health and wellbeing outcomes and shared local priorities. Engagement Insights How We Have Engaged 2022-2025 Between 2022 and 2025, North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership undertook a wide range of engagement activities across our core service areas. These efforts were designed to ensure that people with lived experience, carers, staff, and community partners could contribute meaningfully to service planning, redesign, and improvement. To strengthen our engagement reporting, we asked services across the Partnership to record and share their activity, helping to build organisation-wide insights. Engagement has been delivered across all our operational services — Mental Health, Health and Community Care, and Children, Families and Justice — as well as by many of our wider support teams, including Planning, Performance & Transformation, Commissioning, and Professional Standards. This section provides an overview of how engagement was delivered during this period. It outlines the approaches used, key forums and networks involved, the scale and reach of activity, and the groups we connected with. It also identifies gaps and areas for improvement, helping us build a more inclusive and responsive approach going forward. Below are the commitments of our previous Participation and Engagement 2022-2025 strategy, and evidence of the Partnership delivering against these commitments.
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9 2022-2025 NAHSCP Participation and Engagement Strategy Commitment Evidence of Delivery Continue to develop platforms and pathways to engage that are meaningful, flexible, accessible, and open to everyone across the community. • Development and refresh of the Care Improvement Network • Launched and promoted of the Partnership Eventbrite page for public engagement opportunities • Use of multiple formats including surveys, Conversation Cafés, drop-ins, and lived experience panels • Expansion of digital and paper-based feedback options available across North Ayrshire, working in partnership with our libraries and GPs • Creation of new mental health Carers Forum • Locality Planning Microsoft Forms Survey which remained open all year round Continue to develop our presence on social media and develop relatable, informative content. • Increased use of the NAHSCP Facebook page to promote surveys, events and updates on a wide range of services and public health topics, including targeted campaigns during WMTY 2024 and locality engagement periods • Increased cross promotion of health and social care engagement opportunities, service information and public health messaging on partner or service specific Facebook accounts - including NAC, Youth Services, Housing, Corporate Parenting, Community Link Workers and a range of NHS accounts - to extend our digital reach. • Continued to grow our NAHSCP YouTube channel by adding video content on a range of topics and services • Launched a dedicated Fostering website in Partnership with CAN (Council Advertising Network) in November 2024 to drive Foster Care recruitment. • Gained access to post content on a wide range of Child Protection themes directly onto all NAC Youth Services platforms, allowing us to digitally reach a demographic that is difficult to reach on Facebook or X. • Continued promotion of Care Opinion on the NAHCP Facebook page to encourage anonymous feedback, both positive and negative, through the platform.
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10 Work closely with our service users, staff, locality networks, third sector organisations and community partners to ensure that we are working together on shared priorities. • Refreshed Locality Planning Model with biannual Locality Conversations • HSCP representation on CPP Locality Partnerships • Collaboration with third sector partners on targeted engagement e.g. Equalities • The development of Pan-Ayrshire suicide prevention campaigns for social media to ensure consistent messaging across all Ayrshire partners Develop clearer governance between the Strategic Planning Group and Locality Planning Structures • Strategic Planning Group now provides governance for Locality Planning • Locality Conversation feedback formally escalated to SPG and IJB for action Health and Community Care Service The Health and Community Care Service has delivered a range of engagement activities, including drop-in events, online and paper surveys, co-design workshops, and 1:1 sessions. These engagements have involved: - Service Users and the General Public – Contributing to the option appraisal for Montrose House on the Isle of Arran and shaping proposals for a new day care service. - Individuals with Lived Experience of Neurological Conditions, and their Families and Carers – Helping to establish a care network, identify priority areas for support, and share learning. Participants also co-created a patient story for use in conferences and training. Feedback informed improvements across wards in line with national guidelines, including the creation of a care network and the introduction of ward-based exercise classes. - Women Experiencing Substance Misuse – Supporting a new funding bid and identifying potential support from occupational therapy services. - Physiotherapy Teams – Providing service feedback and contributing to outcome development across rehabilitation centres. - Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Staff – Assessing staff knowledge and skills to inform the development of a service plan. In addition to this targeted engagement, a significant number of information sessions and engagement scoping exercises have been carried out in alignment with the Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland (CHES) Pilot, of which North Ayrshire is a participating area.
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11 Children, Families and Justice Service Our Children, Families and Justice Service has engaged with a wide range of service users throughout the duration of the previous strategy, using methods such as conferences, focus groups, workshops, and questionnaires. We have engaged with: - Care-Experienced Young People – through our Champions Boards across secondary schools, the co-development of an app for care-experienced young people and our Annual Promise Conference (which highlighted recommendations for social workers and partners on how to keep The Promise). - Parents and Carers – including those caring for children with neurodevelopmental differences, who contributed to the development of our new neurodevelopmental pathway. We also engaged with mothers involved in breastfeeding support groups to evaluate and improve our support services. - Justice-Experienced Individuals – to better understand their experiences, improve support services, track potential referrals to other services, and identify what is working well. These engagements have influenced a range of service changes, from the development of new pathways to the revision of documentation language to ensure it is more relevant and accessible to service users. In addition to planned engagement activities, the service hosts a variety of regular groups for service users, including Dad Groups for single parents with young children, Perinatal Patter groups, and breastfeeding support groups to build confidence among new mothers. For justice-experienced individuals, we offer guitar, sport, and cooking groups to support community integration and develop practical skills. Mental Health Service Our Mental Health Service has undertaken significant engagement activity, not only within North Ayrshire but across Ayrshire, as the Lead Partnership for mental health services for Ayrshire and Arran. Engagement methods have included focus groups with service users, surveys, in-person and telephone interviews, stalls, and co-design workshops. These activities have involved: - Service Users with Co-Occurring Mental Health and Addiction Issues – To identify service improvement areas for individuals experiencing both mental health, alcohol and/ or drug issues, accessing Health and Social Care Services and how an agreed pathway of support should ensure the right care, at the right time, by the right person. - Service Users of the Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) – To contribute to the development of the ADP Strategic Plan and co-develop harm reduction packs. - Young People – To raise awareness and education around substance use and identify emerging risks, or areas of support.
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12 - People with Learning Disabilities – To co-create a mutual learning tool in the form of a game, promoting digital inclusion and technology use, and to inform “What Makes a Good Life”, part of the Learning Disability (LD) Learning Plan. - People in the Gypsy/traveller community – engagement with members of the community and partners to develop a culturally appropriate mental health and suicide prevention leaflet to improve engagement in the future. - Family Carers Supported by North Ayrshire Intensive Support Team and wider Unscheduled Care Mental Health Service – To inform a learning report and guide future service development. - Learning Disability Staff – To contribute to the options appraisal process for the future of LD assessment and treatment services. - Children and Families with Disabilities Staff and Adult Social Work – To support service redesign in relation to service user transition from children to adult services. - Carers and Families of Individuals with Lived Experience of Mental Health – To co-design a carers survey for inpatient and addiction services, streamline engagement data across Ayrshire, and establish a carers forum that regularly collects feedback for clinical teams. - ACORN Service Users and Trainees – To identify required service changes and redesign the patient leaflet, webpage, and communications. - Staff in the Adult Community Mental Health Service Unscheduled Care Team and External Stakeholders – To review service strengths and barriers, contributing to the annual service review. Feedback is shaping updates to the website, leaflets, and posters. - Potential users and staff of new and emerging services – engagement was carried out for the development or redesign of an Infant Mental Health Service, Early Intervention Psychosis Service, Perinatal Mental Health Service, and Maternity and Neonatal Mental Health Service. - Individuals with Lived Experience of Mental Health – Through an open online survey, feedback is gathered and shared with clinical teams for consideration. In addition to these engagement activities, which often inform service design and improvement, we host the North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival in partnership with the North Ayrshire Council Arts and Culture team on an annual basis. The festival is run as part of the wider national programme run by the Mental Health Foundation, and features over 20 events coordinated by community groups and partners, all aimed at promoting awareness, reducing stigma, and signposting to local groups and services.
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13 Professional Standards The Professional Standards Service has delivered a range of engagement activities, including surveys, focus groups, lived experience panels, and events. These have involved: - Self-Directed Support (SDS) Users and Organisational Representatives – Reviewing the FAQ section of the SDS website and participating in user testing ahead of its initial launch. - Unpaid Carers and Carers Gateway – Contributing insights to shape the new Carers Strategy and streamline questions within the new Adult Carer Support Plan. - Social Workers in HSCP – Reflecting on practice and professional identity as part of World Social Work Day activities. - Individuals with Lived Experience across Services – Informing learning and development activities, training materials, and interview processes for relevant courses. In addition to targeted engagement, the Professional Standards Service also hosts regular information sessions for HSCP staff, partners, and the public. These sessions promote development opportunities, recruitment events, and available supports offered by the HSCP. Planning, Performance and Transformation Service Our Planning, Performance and Transformation Service has delivered a range of engagement activities, including Microsoft Forms surveys, Conversation Cafés, and facilitated group sessions supported by tailored facilitator packs. These activities have focused on: - Young People – As part of the Locality Planning Model, young people shared their views on what matters most in their locality, the barriers they face, and their ideas for improvement. This engagement will directly inform the HSCP Locality Plans and the refresh of the Children’s Services Plan in 2026. - Equalities Groups – Exploring the unique barriers faced by individuals with protected characteristics when accessing HSCP services. Insights from this engagement directly shaped the 2025-2029 HSCP Equalities Outcomes. Commissioning Team The Partnership Commissioning team have also engaged with service users via surveys, 1:2:1s and focus groups. Their engagement took place with: - Adult Community Support Providers and Network – Reviewing the tender process, reshaping the provider forum hosted by NAHSCP, and fostering
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14 collaboration to share insights, address challenges, and identify opportunities for service improvement in adult community support. - Care-Experienced Young People – Engaging young people living in our children’s houses to inform the service specification for Transitional Supported Living. Key Engagement Methods We use a range of key engagement forums and service-level activities to ensure that participation is embedded across all areas of service design, delivery, and improvement. Across our services, engagement has been delivered through a blended mix of formats, including: • Locality-based conversations across all six areas. • Surveys and feedback cards (digital and paper) for quick, accessible input • 1:1 interviews and listening events (e.g. Conversation Cafés) for personal storytelling. • Focus groups, workshops, and co-design sessions to explore ideas collaboratively. • Lived Experience Panels and Forums for ongoing dialogue and service shaping. • Creative and informal formats such as arts festivals, walking groups, and drop- ins. • Digital engagement via Teams, email, social media, and newsletters. • Communication networks to share updates and opportunities. • Public events like Mental Health & Wellbeing Connects, featuring stalls, speakers, and interactive sessions. This blended approach ensures that engagement is flexible, inclusive, and responsive to the communities we serve. Locality Planning Model Locality Planning is a core engagement mechanism that enables communities to shape services based on local needs and priorities. Each locality hosts scheduled periods of Locality Conversations where members of the community can share their views, raise concerns, and help set priorities for service improvement. These conversations are designed to be inclusive, place-based, and part of an ongoing dialogue that builds trust, strengthens relationships, and gives opportunity for discussion. Feedback from Locality Conversations is reviewed by the Strategic Planning Group and may be escalated to the IJB for action. This ensures that local voices directly inform strategic decision-making and service development.
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15 Insights gathered through these conversations are used to inform service delivery and will support the development of Locality Plans for each area, helping the Partnership respond to the unique needs, challenges, and opportunities within different geographic communities. These plans will guide service design and improvement at a local level, ensuring that resources are targeted where they are needed most. Care Improvement Network The Care Improvement Network is a flexible engagement platform that enables individuals, carers, and community members to share their views in ways that suit them. Participants can engage through online meetings, phone calls, face-to-face discussions, or surveys, depending on their preferences. By joining the Network, people can indicate which service areas matter most to them— such as adult health and community care, alcohol and drug services, or justice services—and receive tailored updates about opportunities to get involved. Communications typically include links to upcoming events, consultations, and feedback channels, allowing participants to choose how and when they engage. The Partnership continues to promote and expand the Care Improvement Network, encouraging services across NAHSCP to use it as a core tool for inclusive and responsive engagement. What Matters to You? (WMTY) What Matters to You? is a national initiative that encourages meaningful conversations between health and social care services and the people they support. North Ayrshire HSCP has embedded WMTY into its strategic engagement approach since 2017, using it to gather insights that shape service design, engagement processes and improvement. In 2024, the Partnership focused its WMTY campaign on public engagement, asking individuals how they prefer to be involved and what matters most when sharing their views with us. Key findings highlighted a strong preference for digital engagement (e.g. online surveys, email updates), regular consultation, and clearer communication about how feedback is used. These insights directly informed the development of this Participation and Engagement Strategy. WMTY is now used as a continuous engagement tool across the Partnership. We plan to build on the national initiative by collecting feedback throughout the year across all service areas, showcasing how we listen, respond, and act on what matters most to our service users. Care Opinion Care Opinion is an independent online platform that allows people to share their experiences of health and social care services anonymously. North Ayrshire HSCP uses
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16 Care Opinion as a key engagement tool to gather real time feedback from service users, carers, and families. It provides a transparent and accessible way for individuals to tell their stories, both positive and negative, and for our services to respond publicly. By monitoring and responding to posts on Care Opinion, the Partnership can identify areas for improvement, celebrate good practice, and demonstrate how feedback is being used to shape service delivery. It also supports our commitment to continuous improvement and closing the feedback loop. Groups Reached Our engagement activity has included a wide range of individuals and communities including:
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17 Gaps Despite broad engagement, analysis has identified several underrepresented groups and areas where engagement needs to be strengthened: Priority groups for strengthening engagement: • People with lived experience of poverty or financial exclusion • People with long-term conditions (noted as needing deeper engagement) • Justice service users (limited direct engagement) • Digitally excluded individuals • Homeless individuals and those without fixed addresses (limited direct engagement) • People with physical or ‘invisible’ disabilities (limited direct engagement) • Those with cultural barriers E.g. Ethnic minority communities, Trans and nonbinary individuals, those with low literacy / non-native English speakers (limited direct engagement) Priority areas for strengthening engagement: • Health and Community Care services • Justice services • Financial inclusion and self-directed support services (e.g. Money Smart, SDS navigation) • Transitions between child and adult services, and post-discharge pathways in mental health These gaps will be addressed through targeted outreach embedded in this strategy. What have you told us about Engagement? As highlighted above, the What Matters to You? engagement in 2024 asked people how they wanted to be engaged in future. Although most responses were received digitally and therefore there may be slight bias towards those looking for digital opportunities, the surveys were all available across local libraries for anyone looking to participate that did not have digital access. Across all engagement activities, several consistent themes have emerged: • People want to be heard: 89% of respondents to the 2024 What Matters to You? survey said it was “very” or “extremely important” to have a say in decisions about health and social care. • Digital engagement is preferred: Online surveys, email newsletters, and social media were the most popular formats, though many still value face-to-face options.
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18 • People want regular, not one-off, engagement: Nearly half of respondents preferred to be consulted “a few times a year.” • Clarity and transparency matter: Respondents asked for clearer information about how changes will affect them, better promotion of engagement opportunities, and visible follow-through on feedback. • Accessibility is key: There is a need for more inclusive formats, including translated materials, Easy Read, and alternative communication methods. • People want deeper involvement: Many expressed an interest in going beyond surveys—participating in service reviews, co-design, and strategic planning. • Trust is built through action: Respondents emphasised the importance of meaningful engagement that leads to real change, not tokenistic consultation. These insights have directly shaped the development of this strategy and will continue to inform how we design, deliver, and evaluate engagement across the Partnership.
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19 Participation & Engagement Strategy 2026-2030 Vision and Principles Our vision is for a health and social care system where every voice matters, and every decision considers the lived experience of North Ayrshire’s communities. Our Principles of Engagement We commit to engaging with our communities through the following principles, which guide how we listen, involve, and act: Equity We actively seek to remove barriers to participation, ensuring that seldom-heard voices are included and valued. Engagement opportunities will be designed to be accessible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse needs and experiences. Transparency We will be open about our processes, decisions, and limitations. Communities will see how their input has shaped outcomes, with clear feedback loops and honest communication about what can and cannot be changed. Collaboration We will work in partnership with individuals, groups, and organisations, recognising the expertise that comes from lived experience. Co-design and shared decision-making will be central to how we plan and improve services. Respect We will treat all participants with dignity, recognising the time, insight, and emotional labour involved in sharing experiences. We will foster safe spaces for dialogue and uphold confidentiality and consent throughout. Continuous Improvement We will learn from every engagement, adapting our approaches based on feedback and evidence. We will monitor and evaluate our practices to ensure they remain meaningful, effective, and aligned with best practice.
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20 To guide our approach, we will use the ladder of participation to reflect the different ways we involve people in shaping services. This model illustrates a progression from ‘doing to’ and ‘doing for’ towards ‘doing with’, where co-design and co-production become central. While much of our current practice sits within the ‘doing for’ space, such as informing and consulting, our ambition is to move further up the ladder. By embedding co-production into our engagement strategy, we aim to create opportunities for communities and services to work together as equal partners—designing, testing, and delivering change. This shift is not just structural but cultural, recognising the value of lived experience and local assets in improving health and social care outcomes. Priorities As a result of the review of the legislative landscape and the engagement work undertaken by North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership during the previous strategy period, the following section identifies our priority areas, which are underpinned by our Principles of Engagement outlined above.
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21 These priorities provide a clear framework for embedding meaningful participation across all service areas. They reflect our commitment to ensuring that engagement is consistent, inclusive, and impactful — and that the voices of people with lived experience are central to how we plan, deliver, and improve services. The six Partnership priorities are: • Build a Culture of Engagement – embedding engagement responsibilities and good practice across teams and governance structures. • Strengthen Inclusive Engagement – reaching seldom-heard groups and ensuring culturally appropriate formats. • Improve Communication and Feedback Loops – closing the loop with clear updates and accessible feedback channels. • Enhance Locality-Based Engagement – aligning with locality planning and supporting tailored, place-based approaches. • Increase Accessibility and Flexibility – offering varied formats and scheduling to meet diverse needs. • Monitor, Evaluate and Improve – using consistent reporting and shared learning to refine our methods. Each priority is supported by practical actions which are set out in the Action Plan. Priority Engagement to Deliver the Strategic Plan Effective delivery of the Strategic Plan 2026–2030 will rely on strong, inclusive engagement with people and communities across North Ayrshire. This section outlines how engagement will support the delivery of three strategic priorities: SP1: Supporting the Improvement of Population Health SP2: Addressing the Changing Needs of an Ageing Population SP3: Tackling the Root Causes of Health and Care Inequality SP1: Supporting the Improvement of Population Health This priority aims to tackle the drivers of ill health and support the improvement of population health, which could in turn decrease demand for health and care services. A strategic approach to supporting the improvement of population health will consider things like maternal and infant health, population mental health and wellbeing outcomes, healthy and harmful activity, and brain health. Engagement will be a key mechanism of this delivery process and priorities for engagement to support this workstream will include:
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22 • Working with families to identify behaviours that support infant health and how to support improved outcomes, such as breastfeeding rates, child healthy weight and immunisations. • Engaging communities about barriers to engaging in healthy behaviours such as balanced diet and exercise and working to use feedback to make improvements to encourage more preventative healthy activity. • Engaging with service users of the addictions service as well as those engaged with the Alcohol and Drug Partnership and using feedback to inform service improvement. • Working with communities to identify ways to promote improved population mental health and wellbeing. SP2: Addressing the Changing Needs of an Ageing Population This priority aims to address the shifting demographics with a higher proportion of older people and the impacts this may have on health and care services, such as more long- term conditions and increased demand for care services. A strategic approach to addressing the changing needs of an ageing population will consider things like frailty, mobility and balance in older people, older carers and staff, care at home and in the community. Engagement will be a key mechanism of this delivery process and priorities for engagement to support this workstream will include: • Prioritising engagement with older people, including gathering feedback which could inform future care needs. • Carrying out engagement with service users, including care at home and care home services, to understand current service, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. SP3: Tackling the Root Causes of Health and Care Inequality This priority aims to tackle the poorer health and care outcomes experienced locally through identifying and tackling the root causes, particularly the impact that poverty and deprivation can have on outcomes. A strategic approach to tackling the root causes of health and care inequality will consider things like the local impacts of poverty on health and care outcomes, the link between poverty, care experience, and child protection, and the experiences of vulnerable groups. Engagement will be a key mechanism of this delivery process and priorities for engagement to support this workstream will include:
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23 • Engagement for the Collaboration for Health Equity Scotland programme, of which North Ayrshire is a pilot area and is working as part of a national programme to develop recommendations to improve outcomes. • Working with service users of financial inclusion services to understand their needs and how our services could provide further support or links to other services. • Engaging with vulnerable groups about the targeted support they receive and where this could be strengthened.
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24 Action Plan This Participation and Engagement Strategy outlines the key areas of focus and engagement requirements to ensure that participation is not only meaningful but also accountable. This action plan outlines how we will deliver our priorities for 2026-2030, ensuring that engagement drives better outcomes for communities across North Ayrshire. Priority Actions 2026-2030 Build a Culture of Engagement Develop a suite of engagement guidance and templates for the HSCP to support teams to implement engagement exercises with service-users Embed engagement into the delivery of the Strategic Priorities workstreams outlined in the refreshed Strategic Plan 2026-2030 Develop a new framework to embed WMTY engagement through our services, including: - The development of toolkits to support staff to deliver, record and feedback engagement - Additional support that may include promotional materials and facilitation - A regular report for WMTY day which will highlight how teams have implemented WMTY and how this strengthens person-focussed care Reinvigorate the Care Improvement Network, developing a communications plan to encourage people to join and participate in engagement, and promote internally as a tool for gathering feedback Promote Care Opinion as a way for service users to provide feedback to our services, and ensure feedback and responses are shared through the partnership for learning opportunities Consider how complaints and compliments that are shared with the HSCP are being used to improve or influence our services, and how this could be used to inform service improvement Carry out engagement with groups and services identified as gaps Create and promote an Engagement SharePoint which centralises existing engagement reports and templates for staff to use Strengthen Inclusive Engagement Carry out engagement that will support the delivery of our Equality Outcomes 2025-2029 with priority groups and actions identified within the Outcomes Plan Consider how seldom-heard groups (e.g. care-experienced, gypsy travellers, rural residents, older adults) are currently being engaged and ensure planned engagement is accessible to these groups
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25 Work with community representatives to ensure materials are culturally relevant and accessible Develop and distribute engagement materials in multiple languages and formats when requested (e.g. Easy Read, BSL, audio) Produce toolkits for use across the partnership to ensure planned engagement is inclusive. Improve Communication and Feedback Loops Share ‘You said, We Did’ updates with the public to inform communities of how their feedback resulted in change Provide clear summaries of engagement findings targeted to range of audiences and including key themes, direct quotes and next steps Use the Care Improvement Network to share findings and ensure anyone that participated in engagement through the network receives resulting actions Promote the use of feedback tools across our services, such as Microsoft Forms, suggestion boxes, and Care Opinion Promote all engagement opportunities through the HSCP Eventbrite page and social media. Enhance Locality-based Engagement Align engagement priorities with the Locality Planning Model, ensuring each locality has a tailored engagement calendar aligned with local needs Support locality teams to lead tailored engagement by developing templates and ensuring facilitation support Capture and share locality insights by developing a process for recording and sharing locality specific feedback Increase Accessibility and Flexibility Ensure all engagement opportunities are available in varied formats Provide support for digital participation and offer printed materials where needed Ensure paper copies of surveys are available for collection in each locality where possible, either at the local library or GPs Plan engagement activities during evenings, weekends, and in accessible venues Use pop-up stalls, community cafés, and mobile outreach to reach wider audiences Ensure public engagement information uses plain English and visual formats Monitor, Evaluate and Improve Develop and implement a partnership-wide engagement reporting template to capture purpose, reach, feedback, and impact in order to understand how engagement is impacting our services Carry out an Annual Engagement Report to showcase how we have engaged with our communities across the partnership and how and where this has led to learning and real change being implemented
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26 Monitor participant demographics and feedback themes from all engagement exercises carried out and use this data to identify gaps and improve future engagement
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27 Measuring Success To assess the impact of engagement activity across the Partnership, we will develop a Partnership Wide Engagement Reporting Template. This template will be cascaded through governance structures on a biannual basis, including the Strategic Planning Group and shared with Heads of Service and senior managers to ensure all teams have the opportunity to participate. The template will enable the HSCP to analyse engagement activity across the Partnership, identify connections and gaps, and produce a public facing Annual Engagement Report. This report will be submitted to the Strategic Planning Group, which will also review progress on the Participation and Engagement Strategy, coordinate delivery, monitor impact, and ensure a joined-up approach across services. Strategic oversight will be provided by the Integration Joint Board, ensuring that engagement remains a core priority in service planning and improvement. As outlined in the National Standards for Community Engagement and Planning with People, participation in health and social care is a continuous and evolving process. At every stage, we will work collaboratively with our communities to strengthen engagement practice—remaining responsive to what matters most to them and keeping people at the heart of what we do. We will take a transparent and reflective approach, recognising both what is working well and where improvements are needed. This will allow us to review outcomes, adapt our actions, and share learning across the Partnership and with wider stakeholders to inform and enhance future engagement activity. We will monitor a range of success indicators through our reporting template, including: • Reach and inclusion: Number and diversity of participants with specific attention to seldom heard groups. • Quality of engagement: Participant feedback on clarity, accessibility and relevance of engagement activity. • Evidence of influence: clear examples of how engagement has shaped service design, policy or decision making. • Feedback loops: Evidence that findings have been shared back with participants and communities. • Transparency and reporting: Timely publication of engagement reports, and updates to governance boards.
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28 Glossary of Terms • Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP): A multi-agency strategic group responsible for coordinating local efforts to prevent and reduce alcohol and drug-related harm. • Co-production: A collaborative approach where service users and professionals work together to design, deliver, and evaluate services. • Communities: Defined as groups of people that may or may not live in the same area, and who share common interests, concerns or identities. • EQIA (Equality Impact Assessment): A tool used to assess how policies or decisions may affect people with protected characteristics and to identify ways to mitigate negative impacts. • Equality Outcomes: Specific goals set by public bodies to advance equality and eliminate discrimination, aligned with the Equality Act 2010. • Feedback Loop: A process where participants are informed about how their input has influenced decisions or service changes. • Inclusive Communication: A practice that ensures information is accessible to all, including formats like Easy Read, BSL, large print, and translated materials. • Integration Joint Board (IJB): The statutory body responsible for planning and commissioning integrated health and social care services in North Ayrshire. • Locality Planning: A model of engagement and service planning that focuses on the specific needs and priorities of defined geographic areas, as outlined in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. • Protected Characteristics: Characteristics defined under the Equality Act 2010, including age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership. • Seldom Heard Group: Communities or individuals who face barriers to participation and are often underrepresented in engagement activities. • SPG (Strategic Planning Group): A statutory group that helps develop and monitor the HSCP’s Strategic Plan. • Stakeholder: Individuals or groups that have an interest in the decisions or activities of the Health and Social Care Partnership i.e. charities, health services, service users, etc. • Strategic Plan: A long-term plan outlining the priorities and direction of North Ayrshire HSCP, guiding service design and delivery as outlined in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. • Third Sector Organisation/Partner: A nonprofit organisation.
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29 Appendix Appendix 1: Policies Reviewed • Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 • Planning with People: Community Engagement and Participation Guidance (2024) • Public Bodies (Joint Working): National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes (Scotland) Regulations 2014 • Health and Social Care Standards: My Support, My Life (2017) • Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act (2015) • National Standards for Community Engagement • The Quality Framework for Community Engagement and Participation • Principles of Inclusive Communication: An information and self-assessment tool for public authorities • Scottish Government Seldom Heard Groups Action Plan • Alliance Scotland Engaging with Seldom Heard Communities Toolkit • AgeUK Guidance for effective engagement of older people • Strategies for Engaging Older Adults and Informal Caregivers in Health Policy Development: A scoping review • A practical guide to including seldom-heard children & young people in decision- making • Taking a children's human rights approach: guidance • North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan (2026-30 refresh) • North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership (CPP) Plan (2022-2030) • Noth Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership Engagement Framework • North Ayrshire’s Youth Participation Strategy
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Version: 7.0 North Ayrshire Council Equality & Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (Full Form) Please Note: Before you begin, is this version the most up to date? You can download the most recent version on Connects. Screenings and ECRIAs should be included with relevant Committee Reports and may be published on our website. Introduction This form will assist in carrying out an Equality Impact Assessment and where appropriate, Socio-Economic, Children’s Rights, Island Communities and Consumer Duty Impacts of new, revised and existing policies and practices. Guidance on how to complete assessments is given in the Council’s Equality and Children’s Rights Impact Assessment Toolkit. The form is mandatory and must be published on the Council website once the policy or practice has been approved. 1. General Details 1.1 Directorate/Service: HSCP: Section: Planning, Performance and Transformation 1.2 Name of Policy, Practice of Proposal being assessed: Participation & Engagement Strategy 2026–2030 This is an existing proposal (being reviewed). 1.3 List of participants in the assessment Rebecca Black 1.4 Manager responsible for the impact assessment Name: Seony Ross Designation: Team Manager, Strategic Planning & Equalities 1.5 Timetable (should be started during the development phase of the proposal) Date Assessment Started: 08 Jan 2026 Interim Review Date: 12 Feb 2026 Final sign off by Head of Service at the end of the form.
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Version: 7.0 2. Aims and Relevance 2.1 What is the purpose of the policy practice or proposal? The strategy sets out how NAHSCP will involve individuals, carers, staff and partners in shaping the design, delivery and improvement of health and social care services to ensure inclusive, rights-based and meaningful engagement informed by lived experience. Engagement is a statutory duty under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 and reinforced by Planning with People Guidance (2024). A clear strategy provides a shared framework for meaningful engagement, strengthens accountability, and helps us build a culture where every voice contributes to shaping health and care services across North Ayrshire. This Plan refreshes North Ayrshire’s previous Participation and Engagement Strategy 2022-2025. 3. Equality and Diversity 3.1 What evidence were you able to access about the relevant needs of protected groups as outlined in section 3.3 below (Please include your sources – links to equality providers and evidence can be found in both the toolkit and the Promoting Equality Page on Connects). Evidence for the Strategy consisted of analysis of engagement activity undertaken between 2022-2025 across Mental Health, Health & Community Care and Children, Families and Justice services, as well as Locality Planning, What Matters to You? and Equalities Engagement processes. Engagement was conducted with groups of shared characteristics, some of whom with protected characteristics, such as: children and young people, gypsy traveller community, refugees, mental health care users, people with learning disabilities, neurodiverse people and families, people with experience of substance use, unpaid carers, parents, people with experience of dementia, LGBT people and members of religious groups. Full details of findings are available in the strategy. 3.2 Are there any gaps in your evidence or areas of uncertainty? No. 3.3 From the list of protected characteristic groups identified in section 3.3, please identify any potential positive and negative impacts on any of these protected characteristics.
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Version: 7.0 Protected Characteristic Impact on the Protected Characteristic? (yes, no, not applicable) Please Explain (Positive or Negative or Neutral) Age - Older people, children and young people – please identify which categories will be affected Yes Positive impact: Prioritising engagement with older people, including gathering feedback which could inform future care needs. Strengthening engagement with children and young people. Disability - Physical and Learning Yes Positive impact: Accessible communication commitments and carrying out engagement to understand current service challenges, and opportunities for improvement. There is also a commitment to strengthen engagement with people with physical and invisible disabilities. Gender reassignment - When a person is living in a gender other than their birth gender. Yes Positive impact: There is a commitment to strengthen engagement with people with cultural barriers such as trans and nonbinary individuals. Pregnancy and Maternity Yes Positive impact: commitment to working with families to identify behaviours that support infant health and how to support improved outcomes, such as breastfeeding rates, child healthy weight and immunisations.
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Version: 7.0 Protected Characteristic Impact on the Protected Characteristic? (yes, no, not applicable) Please Explain (Positive or Negative or Neutral) Race, ethnicity, colour, nationality or national origins (including gypsy/ travellers, refugees and asylum seekers) Yes Positive impact: Barriers for ethnic minorities identified; mitigated via commitment to inclusive formats and translation support. There is also a commitment to strengthen engagement with people with cultural barriers such as non-native English speakers and ethnic minority groups. Religion or belief (includes religious and philosophical beliefs, including no belief) Not applicable No specific impacts identified. Sex - Women and Men Not applicable No specific impacts identified. Sexual Orientation – such as lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Not applicable While the strategy itself has no aims specific to sexual orientation, it does include supporting the delivery of the IJB Equality outcomes 2025-2029, which has some aims to improve access for the LGBT community. Marriage and Civil Partnership - this includes same sex couples Not applicable No specific impacts identified. Human Rights Yes Positive impact: The Strategy encourages a Rights‑based engagement model to support participation.
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Version: 7.0 Protected Characteristic Impact on the Protected Characteristic? (yes, no, not applicable) Please Explain (Positive or Negative or Neutral) Care Experienced - This term refers to anyone who is currently in care or has been for any length of time regardless of their age and includes Kinship Care (other family members); Looked After at Home (with support from social work); Residential Care; Foster Care; Secure Care; Adoption. Yes Positive impact: Dedicated engagement through Champions Boards and Promise activity. Other - Homelessness, ex-offenders, carers, part-time workers Yes Positive impact: There is a commitment to strengthen engagement with people who are homeless and those without fixed addresses. 3.4 Describe any consultation or engagement undertaken, including details of the groups involved and the methods used. Existing Engagement Insights: All engagement evidence between 2022 and 2025 across all HSCP services were gathered and analysed to note methods, strengths, gaps and impact. This supported the identification of new priorities and principles, and actions that would build on previous lessons learned. Engagement Survey: In 2024, the Partnership focused it's What Matters to You? campaign on public engagement, asking individuals how they prefer to be involved and what matters most when sharing their views with us. Key findings highlighted a strong preference for digital engagement (e.g. online surveys, email updates), regular consultation, and clearer communication about how feedback is used. These insights directly informed the development of this Participation and Engagement Strategy. Service input: Services across the HSCP were contacted in August 2025 and asked to complete an engagement activity template for 2025 in order to gather organisation-wide insights about who had been engaged with, how it was
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Version: 7.0 carried out, and what the outcomes or outputs were, as well as anything currently being planned. Analysis: Using the gathered evidence, new Principles of engagement were identified as well as Partnership wide priorities which support the implementation of the Strategic Outcomes identified within the refreshed Strategic Plan for 2026-2030. Questions 3.5 to 3.7 refer to the ‘Three Key needs (or aims) of the Equality Duty’ 3.5 Which aspects of the policy eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation? None
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Version: 7.0 3.6 Which aspects of the policy advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not? The Strategy aims to strengthen inclusive engagement to better reach seldom- heard groups within engagement exercises by improving accessibility, enhancing the opportunity of people that haven't historically been engaged 3.7 Which aspects of the policy foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not? (Does it tackle prejudice and promote a better understanding of equality issues). None 3.8 If you have identified any negative impacts of your proposal how will you mitigate these? N/A 3.9 Is the policy or practice intended to promote equality by permitting positive action or lead to positive outcomes for people based on a protected characteristic? Yes, section 3.3 outlines the ways in which the Strategy will lead to positive outcomes for protected characteristics. 4. Section 4 – The Fairer Scotland Duty The Fairer Scotland Duty (‘the Duty’), Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010 places a legal responsibility on the Council to actively consider (‘pay due regard to’) how we can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage when making decisions. 4.1 Does the proposal have the potential to have a significant impact on inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage? (Consider low income; low wealth; material deprivation; area deprivation; communities of place or interest, socio-economic background). Please delete whichever statement is not applicable from the highlighted text below: Yes, the proposal does have the potential to have a significant impact on inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage. If Yes please provide more information under any of the below headings (4.2 to 4.6) which are relevant, highlighting any evidence and sources of evidence used to inform your information. The Participation and Engagement Strategy identifies that people experiencing socio-economic disadvantage—such as those living in poverty, facing digital exclusion, living in deprived areas, or experiencing homelessness—are
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Version: 7.0 currently underrepresented in engagement activity and require targeted support to ensure equitable involvement. The strategy includes specific actions to strengthen engagement with these groups and to reduce inequalities of outcome by embedding inclusive, accessible, and targeted engagement approaches. 4.2 Low Income/Income Poverty: Cannot afford to maintain regular payments such as bills, food and clothing The strategy identifies people with lived experience of poverty and financial exclusion as priority groups requiring strengthened engagement. It commits to: • Direct engagement with financial inclusion service users to understand barriers and improve support pathways. • Reducing participation barriers by offering paper‑based surveys, local collection points, and accessible formats for those who cannot afford digital access. • Embedding engagement within Strategic Priority 3 (Tackling the Root Causes of Inequality), which explicitly focuses on the links between poverty and health outcomes. These actions will have a positive impact by making engagement more accessible to individuals affected by income poverty. 4.3 Low/and or no wealth: Having enough money to meet basic living costs and pay bills but have no savings to pay for any unexpected spends and no provision for the future. The strategy supports this group by: • Providing flexible, free participation options such as drop‑ins, Conversation Cafés, and localised engagement sessions that do not require travel or expense. • Prioritising inclusion through multiple communication formats (digital, paper, in‑person) to remove financial barriers that limit sustained engagement. These measures enable individuals with low or no wealth to be more involved in shaping services. 4.4 Material Deprivation: Being unable to access basic goods and services, i.e. financial products like life insurance, repair/replace broken electrical goods, warm home, leisure/hobbies Material deprivation—such as lack of access to transport, digital devices, or basic goods—can directly limit opportunities to participate in engagement. The strategy recognises these barriers and responds through: • Addressing digital exclusion by ensuring all engagement is available offline, in paper formats, and in community settings such as local libraries and GP practices.
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Version: 7.0 • Using mobile outreach, pop-up stalls and locality-based engagement, reducing the need for people to travel or pay for transport. • Strengthening engagement with people who are homeless or without fixed addresses, identified as a gap and priority for targeted outreach. These actions directly counter the effects of material deprivation by ensuring engagement is reachable and accessible 4.5 Area Deprivation: Where you live (rural areas), where you work (accessibility of transport. North Ayrshire has areas with significant levels of deprivation, including rural communities and island populations with limited access to transport and services. The strategy addresses area‑based disadvantage through: • The Locality Planning Model, ensuring each locality, including our islands, have tailored, place‑based engagement opportunities that reflect local needs. • Using local venues, local partners, and community events to ensure engagement reaches communities facing geographic disadvantage. • Ensuring digital engagement, as well as in person events, to provide additional opportunities for involvement This approach ensures people in deprived or remote areas have equitable opportunities to shape services. 4.6 If impacts have been identified how will these be mitigated or explored in more detail? (please outline below) Where risks of negative or unequal impacts have been identified, the strategy includes clear mitigation measures: • Targeted outreach to socio-economically disadvantaged groups, including those experiencing poverty, homelessness, deprivation, and digital exclusion. • Flexible, multi-format engagement methods, ensuring no group is excluded due to cost, lack of digital access, language needs, or location. • Strengthened inclusive communication, including Easy Read, translated materials, BSL, and alternative formats. • Pop-up and mobile engagement, reducing travel and cost barriers. • Embedding lived experience voices into service redesign, ensuring disadvantaged groups influence decisions that impact their outcomes. • Continuous monitoring of participation demographics to track representation and address gaps through ongoing improvement.
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Version: 7.0 5. Section 5 – Children’s Rights When considering the Children’s Right’s Impact process, some of the key considerations include any evidence, research and consultation (specifically including any consultation or engagement with young people). 5.1 Are any Children’s Rights impacted by this proposal? (please refer to Appendix 1 of this document, where the Children’s Rights Articles have been matched against the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) wellbeing indicators. This is solely to make it easier to identify which rights might be impacted on; the Rights are the key element of this section). Please delete whichever statement is not applicable from the highlighted text below: Yes, there are Children’s Rights impacted by this proposal. 5.2 Please indicate, if possible, how many children and young people (nearest estimate) are likely to be affected by the policy or measure? N/A 5.3 Are some children and young people more likely to be affected than others? Please delete whichever statement is not applicable from the highlighted text below: Yes, some children and young people are more likely to be affected than others. If, Yes what groups? (Consider protected characteristics – for example disabled young people, LGBT etc.) Care experienced, or children and young people with experiences with children’s social work. Children and young people with experience of mental health services, children and young people with disabilities or NDD, children and young people transitioning from children’s to adult social work, children and young people with experience of substance use, children and young people affected by poverty or deprivation. 5.4 What Children’s Rights are likely to be affected by the policy/proposal? Please refer to Table 2 (Appendix 1) ‘Links between Wellbeing Indicators and Articles of the UNCRC’ and insert the relevant rights and indicators in the table below.
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Version: 7.0 Wellbeing indicator (for example, safe, healthy etc.) Children’s Right (for example, 22 – refugee children) Respected Responsible Included Article 2 – Non Discrimination Article 3 – Best interests of the child Article 4 – Implementation of the Convention Article 12 – Respect for the views of the child Article 13 - Freedom of expression 5.5 What likely impact will the policy/proposal have on Children’s Rights and Wellbeing? Either Positive, Negative or Neutral. Children Rights Positive Other Protected Characteristics N/A 5.6 Describe any consultation or engagement that has taken place with young people? The engagement analysis includes engagement carried out with young people including transitions engagement, NDD engagement, and children and young people’s engagement about health and social care priorities. 5.7 If negative impacts are identified how will these be mitigated either fully or in part? N/A
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Version: 7.0 6. Section 6 – Island Communities Impact (or Island Proofing) Island Proofing is about considering the particular needs and circumstances of island communities when public sector organisations exercise their functions and make decisions. This has been added to the process of assessing the Council Plan and includes a range of issues such as access to services, digital connectivity, employment and access to education, transport and access to goods and services. 6.1 Do the intended outcomes of the proposal potentially differ or have a different impact for our Island Communities? Please delete whichever statement is not applicable from the highlighted text below: No, the intended outcomes of the proposal do not potentially differ or have a different impact for our Island Communities. 6.2 Please describe the potential impacts for our Island Communities. The impacts of this Strategy will affect Island communities in the same manner as other localities, however due to their unique circumstances, engagement methods and efforts may need to be increased in order to appropriately engage with our island communities. For example, the strategy outlines our priority to enhance locality-based engagement, which will require considering the particular circumstances of each locality. 6.3 Please explain if the impacts are different for communities on different islands? Impacts will not differ for different islands, however the HSCP approach to reach island residents may require to be altered to ensure appropriate reach. 6.4 What consultation or engagement has taken place with our Island Communities? Locality based engagement that was considered as part of the analysis for the plan, which included a locality survey, engagement with Children and young people and engagement with equalities groups. 6.5 How will you address any potential barriers or wider impacts for our Island Communities as identified through this assessment? The Participation and Engagement Strategy will not impact island communities differently from other communities, however the strategy outlines that the approach may need to be altered when carrying out engagement depending on the audience, which includes island communities.
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Version: 7.0 7. Section 7 – The Consumer Duty The Consumer Duty is about the impact of Council proposals on consumers in Scotland. A Consumer is an individual or a small business that purchases, uses or receives goods or services in Scotland, that are supplied either by a business or a public body – please see What is the Consumer Duty. 7.1 Will your proposal impact on consumers? Please delete whichever statement is not applicable from the highlighted text below: No, the proposal will not impact on consumers. If no, please request then complete the ‘Assessment not required’ by emailing equalities@north-ayrshire.gov.uk. 7.2 What are the impacts, if any, on consumers in general? Is it likely that consumers will experience harm because of this proposal? Click or tap here to enter text. 7.3 Describe the impacts if any, on consumers in vulnerable circumstances. Is it likely that consumers in vulnerable circumstances* will experience harm because of this proposal? (please include any relevant evidence or engagement with consumers) *Vulnerable circumstances may be temporary in nature and may or may not arise as a resulted of a consumer’s protected characteristics. For more information, please see page 31 of Consumer Scotland’s draft guidance on the consumer duty. Click or tap here to enter text. 7.4 Describe any consultation and engagement that has taken place with consumers around your proposal. Click or tap here to enter text. 7.5 What alternative proposals could improve outcomes for consumers and/or reduce harm to consumers? How do these compare to the original proposal? Click or tap here to enter text.
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Version: 7.0 8. Section 8 – Crosscutting Impacts 8.1 Have any cross-cutting impacts been identified from other Council Services or Partner Agencies (multiple discrimination or accumulated effects on a protected characteristic group through multiple proposals or existing decisions)? No 8.2 If Crosscutting issues have been identified with other Services, what discussion/interaction has taken place to mitigate any potential negative impacts of accumulated proposals? Click or tap here to enter text. 9. Section 9 – Outcome of the Assessment 9.1 Please detail the outcome of the assessment: Please delete whichever outcomes are not applicable from the highlighted text below: a) No major alterations to the policy assessed: the Impact Assessment demonstrates the policy is robust and there is no possible discrimination or adverse impact. All opportunities to minimise negative impacts and enhance positive outcomes have been taken. 9.2 For Outcome 2. in section 9.1 above - please detail recommendations, including any action required to address negative impacts identified or to better promote equality. Click or tap here to enter text. 9.3 If Outcome 3 is chosen from section 9.1 above, please outline the justifications for continuing the policy/procedure. Click or tap here to enter text. 9.4 Please state the key issues, recommendations and future actions arising from the Integrated Impact Assessment. Click or tap here to enter text.
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Version: 7.0 10. Section 10 – Monitoring 10.1 Describe how you will monitor the impact of this policy for example, performance indicators, actions, other monitoring arrangements, who will monitor progress, criteria used to measure if outcomes are achieved, timescales including any future reviews of the impact of the proposal and where this will be recorded. The impact of this strategy will be monitored through the Partnership‑Wide Engagement Reporting process, submitted annually to the Strategic Planning Group (SPG). The SPG will review progress, track actions, and ensure a consistent approach across services, with strategic oversight from the Integration Joint Board (IJB). Monitoring will focus on participation levels, inclusion of seldom‑heard groups, evidence of how engagement has influenced decisions, and feedback loop effectiveness. Findings will be recorded through the standard reporting template and stored centrally for transparency and future review. 11. Section 11 – Sign Off 11.1 Head of Service approval of the impact assessment. Name: Stuart MacMillan Title: Principal Manager – Planning, Performance and Transformation Date: 2 February 2026 12. Section 12 – Publication 12.1 Following approval by Head of Service, completed Impact Assessments are published on our Council’s External Website. Please email: equalities@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
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