Policy Context

Scotland has a wide range of legislation and policies that support children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health across agencies and promote a child-centred and needs-led approach. Key to this approach is Getting it right for every child. GIRFEC takes a right’s-based approach, and its principles uphold the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. The GIRFEC National Practice Model is a multiagency assessment and planning tool developed to allow agencies to work together to identify and meet children and young people’s needs.

This is Scotland’s national approach to promoting, supporting, and safeguarding the wellbeing of all children and young people. It provides a consistent framework, shared language, and common understanding of wellbeing. GIRFEC puts the child or young person at the heart and helps children and young people get the right support from the right people at the right time. The GIRFEC national practice model contains a recommended Scottish national assessment framework to assess the wellbeing of individual children and young people. This assessment then forms the basis of a ‘child’s plan’ to provide support for that child, young person, and their family. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 is the legislation that underpins child plans, whether these are class plans, Individual Education Plans, or co-ordinated support plans.

Further Policy Context can be found in the sections below (listed in alphabetical order):

Additional Support for Learning Act

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) sets out the duties of education authorities and the rights of parents, children and young people to additional support for learning. Additional support for learning: statutory guidance 2017 provides guidance on all aspects of the 2004 Act and is a code of practice for education authorities. The code of practice includes advice on the interaction between GIRFEC and education plans in meeting children’s needs.

Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund

This fund specifically targets improved attainment of care experienced children and young people within local authorities. This funding is distributed to local authorities, and directed by Chief Social Work and Education Officers, in conjunction with key planning partners to target the funding (supported by the Care Experienced Children and Young People national operational guidance). The voices of care experienced children and young people are integral to this process. The funding benefits a wide group, with care experienced children and young people from birth to the age of 26, being eligible for investment from the fund.

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 provides a basic framework of protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in services and public functions, as well as providing protection for people discriminated against because they are perceived to have, or are associated with someone who has, a protected characteristic. The protected characteristics are:

Disability

Gender reassignment

Marriage and civil partnership

Pregnancy and maternity

Race

Religion or belief

Sexual orientation.

The public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010 requires an organisation exercising public functions to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations in the exercise of those functions. To help them to do this, most Scottish public authorities are subject to the requirements of a set of specific duties. These duties include equality impact assessment of new or revised policies.

Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress

The Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress is designed to:

Reinforce our collective commitment to equity in education, to mitigate the impact of poverty on children’s outcomes and tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

Set high expectations, including annual, ambitious locally identified stretch aims, to help ensure significant progress is made in recovering from the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and in achieving the mission of the Scottish attainment challenge.

Use existing improvement processes, as far as possible, to minimise additional bureaucracy and through local stretch aims, drive improved outcomes for children and young people and;

Build on the continued commitment to empowerment for local planning and decision making, while ensuring strategic direction, support and challenge is provided by local authorities and national agencies.

Holistic Family Support

The Scottish Government remains committed to investing at least £500m over the life of this Parliament in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF). This funding will support the whole system change necessary at a local and national level to transform the delivery of holistic family support to ensure families get the support they need when they need it whilst driving our commitment to #keepthepromise. We will publish our spending plans for 2022-23 in due course.

Keeping The Promise

The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, working in partnership with Local Government, The Promise Scotland, the third sector, health boards and importantly the care community to do so. In March 2022 we published the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan that sets out how we will work across Government to Keep the Promise we have made to Scotland’s children and young people who are care experienced. The Plan has over 80 actions across nearly all Ministerial portfolios that we will take to Keep The Promise. Further information can be found at Home - The Promise.

Mental Health Strategy

We are committed to producing a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy in 2023, building on the implementation of our Mental Health Covid Transition and Recovery Plan.

The new strategy will allow us to look ahead to make sure we are doing the right things to meet changing mental health needs over the coming years as we recover from the pandemic; and will set out a clear vision for future population mental health, wellbeing and care, and our priorities to help us get there.

The scope of the strategy will be wider than before, with an increasing focus on wellbeing and prevention. We will also consider how the strategy can take account of social factors and inequalities that may impact a person’s mental health and wellbeing.

Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan

The Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan has a clear vision where people get the right help at the right time, expect recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma. Prevention and early intervention lie at the heart of this.

The Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services: Framework (Scottish Government, 2021)

The Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework sets out a broad approach for the support that children and young people should be able to access for their mental health and emotional wellbeing within the community. It states that the kind of support provided by community mental health services is additional to what can be provided through universal services, including by educational establishments, and to the clinical services provided through CAMHS.

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland

All children and young people have the right to be cared for and protected from harm, and to grow up in a safe environment. Child protection is a duty shared amongst all of us in society, not just core professionals. We expect all professionals working with children to identify and act on any concerns to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child concerned and we updated the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland in 2021 to help professionals do this.

NHS Public Protection Accountability and Assurance Framework

The aim of the NHS Public Protection Accountability and Assurance Framework is to ensure greater consistency in what children and young people, adults at risk of harm, and families can expect in terms of support and protection from health services in all parts of Scotland. It was developed to support all NHS employees and contractors in their public protection responsibilities. All NHS employees, GP and dental practices, and other independent sectors have a role in protecting the public. All regulated staff in Health Boards and services have professional duties to protect children and young people (including unborn babies) and adults. Staff in supporting roles across primary, secondary, specialist, and community health services also have public protection responsibilities. These contacts provide opportunities for early and effective interventions. NHS public protection accountability and assurance framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Policy Landscape and Legal Framework

THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING SUPPORTS AND SERVICES: FRAMEWORK (SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT, 2021) sets out a ‘whole system’ vision for staff across children’s services to deliver wellbeing and mental health supports and interventions for Scotland’s children and young people. It takes a right’s-based approach, is embedded in GIRFEC principles and practices, and has the following objectives:

Every child and young person in Scotland will be able to access local community services which support and improve their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Every child and young person will get the help they need, when they need it, from people with the right knowledge, skills, and experience to support them. This will be available in the form of easily accessible support close to their home, education, employment, or community.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) teams, along with other staff at the specialist level, e.g., in education, social work and third sector settings, will support both universal and additional children and young people’s services, including new and enhanced community mental health and wellbeing supports, by supplying consultation, advice and training, and where appropriate, supervision for those staff who deliver psychological interventions. Children, young people, and their families supported by CAMHS will also have access to the supports provided by universal and additional services.

The CAMHS NHS Scotland National Service Specification Document (2020) and the Children and Young People - National Neurodevelopmental Specification: Principles and standards of care (2021) set out the principles and standards of care, the levels of need and corresponding support and are captured in the model below.

The legal and policy context in Scotland emphasises the need to take a child-centred, rights-based, and preventative approach to supporting positive mental health and wellbeing.

National Improvement Framework (NIF)
The Scottish Government wants to ensure children and young people develop a broad range of skills and capacities, whilst supporting them to thrive, regardless of their social circumstances or additional needs. The national improvement framework and improvement plan for Scottish education is designed to help deliver the twin aims of excellence and equity in education. The NIF serves as the single, definitive plan for securing educational improvement. It takes into account the information on the national improvement framework interactive evidence report. See also: summary of the national improvement framework and improvement plan

The Scottish Attainment Challenge’s purpose 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. Equity can be achieved by ensuring every child has the same opportunity to succeed.

The First Minister launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge in February 2015 to bring a greater sense of urgency and priority to this issue. It is underpinned by The National Improvement Framework, Curriculum for Excellence and Getting it Right for Every Child.

It provides focused and targeted improvement activity in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing across Scotland. It also supports and complements a broad range of initiatives and programmes to ensure that all of Scotland’s children and young people reach their full potential. Funding is provided using the Attainment Scotland Fund which focuses on closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children.

In the current parliamentary term, there will be an investment of £1 billion – increased from £750 million during the last parliament. The refreshed SAC programme began in 2022 and is split into the following areas:

The Scottish Attainment Challenge 2022/2023 – 2025/2026 aims to support recovery from the pandemic and accelerate progress in closing the gap. The next phase of the SAC has been developed in partnership with and agreed by COSLA and builds on the evidence set out in the Scottish Government and Education Scotland 5 year report on progress towards closing the poverty related attainment gap, the Equity Audit, the Audit Scotland report on educational outcomes, and the OECD review. It will continue to provide support for children and young people impacted by poverty through funding to local authorities, Pupil Equity Funding, Care Experienced Children and Young People funding and several national programmes.

This policy’s mission 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. In summary the plans are that with the support of £1 billion over this parliamentary term – increased from £750 million during the last parliament – the refreshed SAC programme, from 2022/23, will include:

An annual investment of up to £200 million in 2022/2023 to support children and young people impacted by poverty.

Continued empowerment of headteachers through pupil equity funding as the primary model for distributing funding to the education system, with funding of approximately £130 million annually to be allocated to 97% of schools.

Continued investment to support care experienced children and young people (cecyp funding), contributing to keeping the promise.

The introduction of strategic equity funding (SEF) of over £43 million, which will be distributed annually to every local authority based on children in low income families data.

Investment in national programmes to enhance supports across the system, supporting a range of national initiatives such as youth work and mentoring and;

A broader recognition of children and young people’s achievements and attainment through the refreshed mission.

Funding allocations for PEF and SEF are confirmed on a multi-year basis until the end of the Parliamentary term, giving local authorities and schools certainty to support long term planning.

Strategic Equity Funding (SEF) - All 32 local authorities will share £43 million annually, to invest in approaches to achieving the mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. SEF national operational guidance has been designed to support local authorities in planning for the use of this funding.

Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) - Additional funding allocated directly to schools and targeted at closing the poverty related attainment gap. Every council area is benefitting from PEF and 97% of schools in Scotland have been allocated funding for pupils in P1-S3 known to be eligible for free school meals. This funding is to be spent at the discretion of the headteacher working in partnership with each other and their local authority, with PEF national operational guidance designed to help support those plans.

Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan

The Scottish Government published ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ - the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for the period 2022-26 - at the end of March 2022. The Plan outlines transformational action to deliver on Scotland’s National Mission to tackle child poverty.

The Plan sets out action to put cash in the pockets of families. This includes action which took effect from 1 April 2022, with the doubling of the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week for eligible children under the age of 6 and the increase in the value of a further 8 Scottish social security benefits 6%.

The plan commits to working in partnership with local authorities to mitigate the benefit cap, as fully as we can within the limits of devolved powers, backed by up to £10million of investment each year. Additionally, the Scottish Child Payment will be further increased to £25 per eligible child, per week, by the end of 2022 when the benefit is expanded to eligible children under the age of 16.

The Plan also sets out the action we will take to drive progress in the medium to longer term to enable thousands of families to break the cycle of poverty. This includes significantly strengthening our employment services to support parents to enter, sustain and progress in work, backed by up to £81 million in 2022-23, and further strengthening our support to parents through a new £15 million Parental Transition Fund to tackle financial barriers parents face in entering the labour market.

In addition to our support for parents to increase their earnings from social security and employment, the plan also sets out our wider commitment to reshape a holistic package of support around families, improve access to mental health services, tackle fuel poverty and increase access to affordable housing for families who need it most.

The wide-ranging action set out in the Plan will help to drive progress toward the interim child poverty targets set for 2023-24, to lift more children out of poverty and to provide much needed support for families facing the cost-of-living crisis.

The Covid-19 Children and Families Collective Leadership Group

The Covid-19 Children and Families Collective Leadership Group (CLG) has been taking immediate action throughout the pandemic to support children and families in vulnerable situations based on the data and intelligence that it receives and engagement work with children, young people, and families. CLG will continue to receive regular updates on data trends, identify areas of concern, undertake deep-dive work to establish immediate actions to be taken; and monitor the impact of the response.

As the emphasis now shifts from crisis response to intermediate and longer-term recovery, CLG will focus on providing support for Covid recovery and renewal. CLG’s priorities for this year include maintaining momentum on work to Keep The Promise and the development of a Children, Young People and Families Outcomes Framework.

The Children, Young People and Families Outcomes Framework will be aligned to the National Performance Framework and provide a set of wellbeing outcomes, based on what matters to children and families, and a means of measuring progress against these in a meaningful and transparent way. It will provide a way of connecting what is done at national and local level, with the difference it is making to the lives of children and families in Scotland. Further information on the Collective Leadership Group can be accessed here:
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Children and Families Collective Leadership Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

The Scottish Government is committed to fully realising the human rights of all people in Scotland. It is committed to building a Scotland where respect for human rights forms the bedrock of society and the institutions which govern and deliver public services for the people of Scotland. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill represents a significant step on the road to fully realising that future for Scotland: a future based on tolerance, equality, shared values, and respect for the worth and human dignity of all people. The purpose of the Bill is to bring the UNCRC into Scots law, to the maximum extent possible, and to put in place measures to achieve a culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights across public services in Scotland.

The Bill, once commenced, will mean that children, young people, and their families will experience public authorities consistently acting to uphold the rights of all children in Scotland. Public authorities, including the Scottish Ministers, will have a duty to ensure they do not act in a way which is incompatible with the UNCRC requirements. Children, young people, and their representatives will have the power to go to court to enforce their rights, as per the Bill. Public authorities, in fulfilment of their duties under the Bill, should consider how to give effect to the rights of children to be involved in decisions which affect them.

We know that children experience their rights through the interactions they have with others, and through the services they are engaged with. Public services play a vital role in delivering improved outcomes for children, young people, and their communities, and in ensuring they experience and enjoy the full range of their rights. The full realisation of children’s rights requires proactivity on the part of all public services, including adults who work with and for children.

The Scottish Government is working at pace to ensure adults who play a vital role in ensuring that children’s rights are respected and fulfilled, are supported to implement a rights-based approach in practice, every day. We have issued introduction guidance on the UNCRC and will publish statutory guidance to support those with duties under the UNCRC Bill. We will launch a Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework, which will provide a single point from which to easily access new and existing resources and training in relation to children’s rights. This will be an open, flexible, and adaptable resource that can be used across a wide range of sectors, giving users an enhanced understanding of how they can fulfil their duties in relation to the rights of children.