Social Work Resources - Quarter 4 progress
Progress report on the Resource Plans is provided at the end of the financial year (Quarter 4).
Progress
Our performance management reporting system IMPROVe uses a traffic light format with the following definitions to give a status report on each action or performance measure:
| Status | Definition |
|---|---|
| Blue | Project complete |
| Green | The timescale or target has been met as per expectations |
| Amber | There has been minor slippage against timescale or minor shortfall against target |
| Red | There has been major slippage against timescale or major shortfall against target |
| Report later | The information is not yet available to allow us to say whether the target has been reached or not. This will be reported when available. |
| Contextual | Included for "information only", to set performance information in context. |
The overall summary of Resource Plan progress to date is as follows:
| Status | Statistical measures | Project measures | Total | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | N/A | 6 | 6 | 25% |
| Green | 13 | N/A | 13 | 54% |
| Amber | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13% |
| Red | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8% |
| Report later/Contextual | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Totals | 16 | 8 | 24 | 100% |
Data as at 7 July 2026
Key achievements
Key achievements to date against each of the three Connect Outcomes are summarised below:
Connect Outcome - Communities and environment
- Lanarkshire Carers is the commissioned service offering support to adult carers throughout South Lanarkshire. There are currently 8,700 carers known to the organisation and approximately 1,000 new carers identified each year. The organisation has developed a customised digital portal for unpaid carers, called CarerSpace, offering a secure platform to document their caring experiences, store important files, and communicate directly with Carer Support Workers. This allows agencies to identify emerging issues before they become serious.
- Care Day 2026 was marked through a large‑scale event in Hamilton, bringing together over 200 care experienced young people and staff from across South Lanarkshire. The event was planned and delivered by the South Lanarkshire Champions Board, demonstrating a strong commitment to ensuring that care experienced young people are actively involved in shaping the services and decisions that affect their lives.
Connect Outcome - Health and wellbeing
- Guardianship Orders related to Adults with Incapacity (AWI) increased by 12% from 2021-22 to 2025-26, with overtime helping to meet demand and aid hospital discharge planning during winter.
- The Independent Living Fund (ILF) has also been used effectively to support independent living. In 2024-25, South Lanarkshire achieved 61% uptake, performing above the national average, while in 2025-26 all allocated awards were fully utilised despite a reduced national allocation. This reflects effective internal processes and strong local practice, delivering tangible benefits for supported people and their carers.
- The Home Assessment Team (HAT) and Care at Home services continue to support people to live well at home by promoting independence, self‑care, and self‑management. In 2025-26, both HAT and 3 Care at Home registered services were inspected by the Care Inspectorate and achieved grades of 5 – Very Good, providing independent assurance on the quality and consistency of care. Inspectors highlighted strong staff teams, effective communication and care delivered with dignity, respect, and compassion.
Connect Outcome - Children and young people
- South Lanarkshire’s Family Support Hubs have received national recognition for their impact in improving outcomes for children, young people and families, having been shortlisted for the COSLA Excellence Awards 2025.
- Hillhouse Children’s House, managed by South Lanarkshire Council to support looked-after children and young people, has achieved ‘Very Good’ grades following a recent inspection. The inspection recognised the strong, trusting relationships between children and staff and highlighted the importance of these relationships in helping children feel safe, respected and actively involved in decisions about their care.
In addition to working towards the Connect Outcomes, we will continually aim to improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and that business will be conducted with integrity and transparency and will operate to the highest standards. In order to monitor and report progress against these values, Resource outcomes have also been identified under the heading Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Related achievements to date are summarised below:
- During 2025-26, significant progress has been made in implementing digital care systems to support modern, efficient and person‑centred service delivery across residential services. Person Centred Software (PCS) has now been fully implemented across all three Council care homes and Blantyre LIFE, providing staff with secure, real‑time access to care plans, risk assessments and daily records. This has improved continuity of care.
- Following a successful pilot at David Walker Gardens, the Care Messenger smart TV‑based video calling and messaging system has now been rolled out across all three Council care homes and Blantyre LIFE. Using familiar technology, the platform supports simple video calls and messaging, helping residents maintain meaningful connections, reduce digital exclusion and contribute to reduced loneliness and improved wellbeing.
Progress to date against the full suite of measures is contained in the Resource Plan progress report presented to the Social Work Resources Committee.
Scope for improvement
Measures that have been classified as ‘red’ (major slippage against timescale or shortfall against target) are noted below, together with reasons and management actions being taken, and the management action now being taken, where applicable.
| Measure | Comments/Progress | Action by Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Recycle and reuse community alarms | The Technology Enabled Care (TEC) team aims to identify and recycle 60 alarms per month; this target has not been achieved for the reporting period. To date, 150 Care IP 2G alert alarms and 442 Eliza 4G alert alarms have been reused and recycled, saving £90,580. Overall, 592 alarms were recycled and reused, this is 82% of the annual target of 720. In quarter 4, a total of 215 Eliza 4G alert alarms were recycled and reused, contributing savings of £30,100. This measure was assessed as red. |
This reflects a planned operational decision taken during the year to replace legacy 2G community alarms following confirmation of the national telecommunications network switch‑off. As a result, the annual recycling target was no longer achievable. Despite this, significant recycling and reuse of newer equipment was achieved, delivering financial savings and environmental benefits while ensuring service safety and continuity. |
|
Develop a fully comprehensive training plan to support business change processes for the implementation of the Social Work IT system replacement |
The delivery of the new social care case management system was behind the original timetable at year-end and was assessed as red. This project has now concluded following full implementation on 18 May 2026. | Governance and oversight arrangements remain in place to manage risk and safely support the new system as it embeds. |
Scrutiny of change in measure status
A further analysis introduced to aid scrutiny of performance is to highlight and explain all measures that have changed status from Quarter 2 to Quarter 4. None were identified in this reporting period.