INCLUSION OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES IN A NATIONAL CARE SERVICE VERY CONCERNING FOR FAMILIES, SAYS COSLA. 

The lack of evidence and data to justify the inclusion of Children’s Services in a National Care Service is very concerning particularly given the fact that no account is taken of what the proposed changes would mean for children, young people and their families COSLA’s Children and Young People Spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said today (Friday).

Speaking this morning Councillor McCabe said:  “The lack of evidence and data to justify the inclusion of Children’s Services in a National Care Service is very concerning particularly given the fact that no account is taken of what the proposed changes would mean for children, young people and their families.

“The inclusion of Children’s Services within the Scottish Government’s National Care Service Consultation goes far beyond the scope of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.

“The Scottish Government’s focus in the coming years should be on ‘Keeping The Promise’ and supporting and delivering better outcomes for our children, young people and families, not on costly and time intensive structural reform which neither demonstrates nor evidences how it would improve the lives of children and families.”

Councillor McCabe continued:   “Since the publication of the Independent Care Review and The Promise, Local Government has worked at pace to re-evaluate and redesign services around the needs of children and families. The level of restructure and reform proposed in the consultation risks derailing and disrupting ongoing transformation work which would, in turn, have implications on service delivery and support for children and families.

“Local Government is committed to the work already underway to transform the services required to improve the lives of children and families; the Children and Families Collective Leadership Group, chaired by Scottish and Local Government, has been working with a range of stakeholders to strengthen children’s services whilst the sector also works to develop a Children, Young People and Families Outcomes Framework to measure and improve wellbeing in Scotland.

“We are committed to improving the lives of children and families in our communities and our workforce are working tirelessly to achieve this.  I firmly believe that resource and focus should be placed on the work we know is required and not on costly structural reform that derails the progress already being made.  We will continue to engage and work with our workforce and communities to design services that meet the needs of our children and families.”