Review of Children’s Services Plans and Activity Report Published

The new report, “Improving Outcomes for Children, Young People and Families: Review of Children’s Services Plans and Strategic Engagement Activity”, has now been published, and is available to view or download via the Scottish Government website.

The report is a summary review of children’s services plans for 2020 – 2023, in line with the Children and Young Peoples (Scotland) Act 2014, and highlights key strengths, areas for development, and details from strategic engagement with local children’s services planning strategic leads.

Based on the analysis of all 30 Children’s Services Plans (2020-2023) in Scotland, together with learning from strategic engagement, the report provides a national overview of Children’s Services Planning across Scotland. It highlights areas of good practice, as well as identifying where further improvements are required, and sets out the central role of Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) in driving a coordinated multi-agency approach to the planning and delivery of services and support which safeguards, supports and promotes the wellbeing of children, young people and families.

Scottish Government’s Children & Families Directorate hopes the report provides a picture of the wide range of work taking place across Scotland’s CSPPs, and that, together with the individual feedback on Children’s Services Plans provided in each area, this provides partners with a useful basis to inform the development of 2023-2026 Children’s Services Plans.

The Directorate has also noted that they look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Children’s Services Planning Strategic Leads and other stakeholders over the new Children’s Services Planning cycle (2023-2026).

It is anticipated that there will be a number of developments as part of this work, in which the network and its members will play a pivotal national and local delivery role. This includes incorporation of UNCRC, publication of the refreshed suite of Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) materials, building on strengths of the third sector, improvements to holistic whole family support, as well as continued work on supporting COVID-19 recovery, tackling child poverty, and keeping The Promise.

To view or download the full “Improving Outcomes for Children, Young People and Families: Review of Children’s Services Plans and Strategic Engagement Activity” report, please visit the Scottish Government website.