Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises that all parents are entitled to support throughout their parenting journey, and parents with disabilities will have specific needs that should be met.

This support begins in pregnancy and one of the key recommendations in The Best Start, which sets out our vision for maternity care in Scotland is the introduction of continuity of carer. Through this model, women will receive the majority of their care through their primary midwife, supported by the wider team, which helps to build a continuous caring relationship, understanding that such personalised care will be particularly important for disabled women.

Health visitors play a vital role in supporting families from pre-birth to age 5 and where additional needs of the parent are identified, the health visitor can facilitate additional support and referrals to specialised services. In recognition of their unique role, we invested over £40 million over four years to recruit an additional 500 health visitors between 2014-18.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, however, it is local authorities and health and social care partnerships who have the responsibility to ensure that the right social care support is available to meet the needs of those who rely on local services. Local and national government have committed to respecting each other’s democratic mandates as part of the Verity House Agreement.

Scotland’s Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach underpins the delivery of high-quality universal and targeted support through a single, coordinated approach to planning across education, social work, and health and social care; and between public services, the third sector and community partners. The Scottish Government published a series of GIRFEC policy and practice guidance Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in 2022-23 to provide practitioners and professionals with confidence, clarity and practical support to continue to embed the 'Getting it right for every child' approach across children’s and related services.

Self-directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s approach to social care that enables disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers to manage and choose the support they require. The Scottish Government published Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013: statutory guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in 2014, and reviewed and updated this in November 2022, making it clearer that self-directed support is for everyone in Scotland who needs social care services or support. In June last year we also published our Self-directed support: improvement plan 2023 to 2027 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) which builds on the progress of the previous plan, aiming to set out priorities in a clear and helpful way, and to ensure that there is regular and appropriate reporting, monitoring and evaluation of what is being done.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to develop and implement a plan that is informed by the lived experience of disabled people and will deliver actions to help with the significant challenges they are currently facing.

Independent external evaluation of the Programme is a core component of delivery. A Year 1 process evaluation report of the programme was published on 31 January 2024: Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) - year 1 process evaluation: final report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and evaluation of Year 2 is currently underway. Both focus on impact of the Programme in relation to short-, medium- and long-term outcomes set out in our WFWF logic model. A full evaluation report of Year 2 will be available in early 2025. Planning for the evaluation of Year 3 and beyond is underway, supported by a Research Advisory Group comprised of external experts and stakeholders.

The Scottish Government has a distinctive way of delivering policy and public services. This has become known as the Scottish Approach and prioritises working in partnership to co-produce policy and shape services. In the development of policies related to care of children, co-production with parents and caregivers is achieved in a variety of ways. These include lived-experience panels, public consultations, citizens assemblies, and ensuring parents and caregiver organisations are involved in key stakeholder groups.

The Scottish Government recognises that supporting parents is key to improving outcomes for children and young people and that monitoring and evaluating of our parenting support programmes is an essential component to ensure the effectiveness of these programmes. Monitoring and evaluation are a key element of all grant funding conditions issued by the Scottish Government.

In respect of both the Bookbug and PlayTalkRead/Pathways Through Play programmes, they provide quarterly reports on progress against outcomes along with a final annual report showing all activities undertaken, the outputs and outcomes achieved as well as an overall evaluation of the programme.

The Psychology of Parenting Programme is monitored through outcomes briefings provided by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The most recent is available in the Psychology of Parenting Programme section of the NES website alongside a published evaluation of the programme. NES also provide monthly updates on the rollout of Solihull Online.

With regards to our third sector funding programmes – the Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities fund (CYPFEI & ALEC) and the Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners fund (CYPFAL) - all 137 CYPFEI & ALEC and CYPFAL funded organisation provide six monthly and annual progress reports. The reports provide key information on the outcomes achieved through the provision of funding, including the number of people directly supported and the work delivered in the reporting period.

The Scottish Government’s Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme was established with the purpose of driving the system change required at local level, principally through Children’s Service Planning Partnerships (CSPPs), to deliver holistic family support so that families get the right support, at the right time, for as long as they need. Recognising the varying circumstances in local areas, the Programme does not seek to mandate a specific delivery model – an approach which has been welcomed by delivery partners.

• Delivery of the WFWF Programme involves a variety of collaborative work with CSPPs – of which local authorities are statutory members – including Providing direct funding to Children's Services Planning Partnerships to build local service capacity for change and transform family support services. Each CSPP is responsible deciding how to spend their allocation, based on a local assessment of need. Investing in a package of activity to support the development and sharing of learning across CSPPs and beyond, including the creation of the the Learning into Action Network and Knowledge Hub and dedicated collaborative partnerships with specific CSPP areas.
• Development of the Supporting Families - A National Self-Assessment Toolkit for Change (in collaboration with stakeholders) to support consistent and structured planning discussions about the design and delivery of holistic family support services at the local level.

Scotland’s ‘Getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC) approach underpins the delivery of high-quality universal and targeted support through a single, coordinated approach to planning across education, social work, and health and social care; and between public services, the third sector and community partners.

The GIRFEC approach recognises that children, young people and their families need to know who they can contact when they require support. The named person, Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC): practice guidance 2 – role of the named person - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) or equivalent role, provides a clear point of contact within universal services for information, advice or help. A named person can provide or help families access further information on practical support from within their own service, or request support from other services or agencies across the community. For school-aged children, the named person is usually a head or senior teacher.

The non-statutory GIRFEC Child’s Plan remains an important element in the ways children’s and related services can work in a co-ordinated way to support the wellbeing of children, young people and their families. Using the GIRFEC approach, practitioners and lead professionals should support a child or young person's wellbeing by working alongside them and their family, and other practitioners involved in supporting their wellbeing. Where a child or young person is supported through a GIRFEC Child’s Plan, the lead professional Lead professional - Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) offers families a single point of contact who can work with them and any multi-agency team to help co-ordinate support and help everyone understand their respective roles in implementing the plan.

GIRFEC provides the foundation for all of the Scottish Government’s policies to ensure that children and young people receive the right support, at the right time. This includes Scotland’s legislative approach to collaborative local strategic planning. Children’s Services Planning duties are set out in Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. This requires services and support to be planned and delivered in a way which delivers on national and local priorities and meets the statutory aims of Children’s Services Planning, including the aim to ensure that support is experienced as joined-up from the point of view of children and families.

Each local authority and Health Board must work collaboratively with specified service providers, other public bodies, the third sector, and children, young people and families to develop their Children’s Services Plan (CSP). Each Children’s Services Planning Partnership (CSPP) has a multi-agency strategic governance group of local senior leaders, who are responsible for their CSP. This includes publishing an annual report to demonstrate what progress has been made to improve outcomes for children, young people and families living in that area.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 provides the legal framework for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children and young people who face a barrier, or barriers, to learning. Parents, children, and young people have the right to ask for an assessment of whether additional support is required. Local authorities and other agencies should ensure that parents are fully aware of the processes for assessing and providing for children’s additional support needs, understand the planning approaches and are familiar with the support services available from the school, the education authority and from other agencies.

Scottish Ministers also fund Enquire, the national advice and information service on additional support for learning. Enquire operate a telephone helpline providing confidential and tailored advice to parents and carers on their children’s circumstances and rights to support. They have a range of resources and signposting on their website seeking to ensure that families can access the most appropriate support.

The Scottish Government recognises that parents and carers are the primary educators of their children and it is best practice for schools, local authorities and parents to work in partnership to ensure the best learning outcomes for children and young people. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 places responsibility on State Parties to provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in performing their parental responsibilities to guarantee and promote the rights set out in the Convention.

An update to the Learning together national action plan: update - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was co-published with COSLA in December 2023. This is an update setting out an overarching framework that brings together relevant policies and guidance to support education authorities to develop parental involvement strategies, as set out in the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006. It sets out a vision for parental involvement, engagement, family learning and learning at home.

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with Clackmannanshire, Dundee and Glasgow to tackle child poverty through transforming the way public services are delivered. These partnerships are testing and embedding a deeper, person-centred approach which meets families where they are and seeks to move them out of poverty on a sustained basis.

This has included close working with schools and nurseries, such as:

• Close partnership with the Early Adopter School Aged Childcare Pilot in Dundee, to facilitate access to childcare for parents supported by the Dundee Pathfinder
• A family supper club in Rowantree Primary School in Dundee, which provides access to support services and hot evening meals.
• Financial Inclusion Support Officers based in primary and secondary schools in Glasgow
• ‘Community Around the School’ in Clackmannanshire, featuring a broad range of partners involved in reading, numeracy and confidence skills at Alloa Academy

Across the 3 partnerships, over 3000 families have benefited from direct support, with changes to how services are designed and delivered set to benefit many more.

The Scottish Government are also providing local authorities with £15 million per annum to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families. The Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Framework, which underpins this funding, encourages education, health, wider children’s services, youth work and the third sector to work together and take a whole-system approach to supporting children, young people and their families.

The mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) is to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. The national operational guidance for Pupil Equity Funding to schools is clear that parents, carers and the local community are valuable sources of support, expertise and experience in working with children and young people experiencing poverty-related barriers to learning. In many contexts, particularly in rural areas, or within special schools or Additional Support Needs (ASN) provisions, schools may be able to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people by working with a range of bodies such as:

• parent groups
• parent councils
• other local authority and public sector services (such as community learning & development)
• third sector organisations (including youth work, family learning organisations)
• centres of expertise

Supporting parents is key to improving outcomes for children and young people. We want to build the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents, so they can be and do the best they can for their children. Since 2010 the Scottish Government has funded the Scottish Book Trust’s Bookbug Programme, supported with £1.8 million in funding in 2024-25 the programme lays the foundations of early literacy, enhances attachment and promotes emotional intelligence as well as good communication and listening skills. To further support the promotion of parent-child relationships in 2024-25 we are also funding the PlayTalkRead and Pathways through Play programme. Supported with £645,000 funding, the programme is delivered by Smart Play Network across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland. The programme promotes the importance of playing, talking and reading with children from birth to four years old and supports targeted early speech and language development through play.

The Scottish Government has worked with NHS Education for Scotland on the Psychology of Parenting Project (PoPP) which aims to increase the availability of training in, and support the effective implementation of, evidence-based early intervention and prevention programmes for improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and families. This involves working collaboratively with Community Planning Partnerships to support implementation.

Additionally, the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Third Sector Fund provides funding of up to £1m per annum to third sector organisations supporting perinatal and infant mental health. This includes projects and services which support parent-infant relationships.

The Scottish Government is also providing £18 million funding in 2024-25 through our Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) and Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners (CYPFAL) third sector funds to support children, families and communities.

The Scottish Government is providing £18 million funding in 2024-25 through our Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) and Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners (CYPFAL) third sector funds to support children, families and communities.

In addition to this, Children’s Services Planning is Scotland’s legislative approach to collaborative local strategic planning and delivery of services and support, to ensure this is delivered in a way which improves wellbeing outcomes for children, young people and families living in each area. Children’s Services Planning duties are set out in Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Children’s Services Planning Partnerships are key to driving a holistic and whole systems approach in the local area, which embeds Getting it right for every child, delivers holistic whole family support, as well as action to Keep the Promise.

The Scottish Government remains committed to this ambition and has prioritised investment in supporting local areas to develop preventative whole family support measures through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding, with £50m being allocated for the programme in the 2024-25 budget. The Scottish Government continues to work with partners on how we can most effectively deploy future investment to support the system change required and will shortly publish an investment approach setting out our future approach to the Programme and associated funding.

Safe and legal routes are crucial to enabling people to seek safety when forced to flee war and persecution. We will continue to engage with the UK Government on issues which impact people living in Scotland, including refugees, people seeking asylum and displaced people. This engagement includes sharing lessons from the experience of over 27,000 Homes for Ukraine visa-holders arriving in Scotland, over 21,000 of which were sponsored by the Scottish Government. We also hope other governments can learn from our work implementing the pioneering New Scots refugee integration strategy; which is a UK-leading integration approach built on a partnership led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council. We look forward to working closely with the UK Government to deliver a system that is effective and more humane.