Annual performance spotlights

Keeping our children safe, away from harm, and improving their wellbeing is a key priority. It is everyone’s responsibility to help ensure our children are safe. We make a difference by working together to help improve the outcomes for individual children and families, including keeping safe on the internet, enjoying a healthy and active lifestyle and having someone to talk to.  We will seek to protect our children’s future from the effects of climate change and empower children and young people to take action.

Case study: The Promise

The Care Review was an ‘independent root and branch review’ of Scotland’s care system of the underpinning legislation, practices, culture, and ethos. The outcome of the review is articulated within ‘The Promise’ to care experienced children and young people, built on five foundations of voice; family; care; people and scaffolding. These foundations are at the heart of our promise for our children and families.

Within South Lanarkshire, there is strong support to make changes to fulfil the aims of The Promise through our Corporate Parenting Board (Promise Board), which was established in April 2021 and our Champions’ Board, established in 2020.

The Promise Board’s vision is to make sure everyone is involved in supporting care experienced children and young people as they grow and develop and enables the council and partners to continue to fulfil its legal obligations and responsibilities towards looked after children and children leaving care.

The Champions’ Board is a group of young care experienced people who are supported by Who Cares? Scotland to come together to engage directly with those who make key decisions about the care system. The vision for the Champions’ Board is one where Corporate Parents build genuine, trusting relationships with care experienced young people in their area.  By combining the expertise of care experienced young people and the power and responsibility of decision makers, the Champions’ Board aims to improve the quality of care and support for care experienced young people.

These two newly formed Boards lead on the change agenda and hold all partners to account, providing the foundation for achieving best practice in implementing the Promise through the Promise Plan 2021-24. Three strategy subgroups were also formed to ensure care experienced young people are central to decision making.

These include:

• Engagement and participation – ensuring care experienced people in South Lanarkshire help to shape the decision-making processes by ensuring participation and involvement is embedded into agency practice across the children’s partnership of South Lanarkshire. 
• Redesigning services for children looked after in the community – by bringing together representatives from children’s services to understand the needs of children looked after in the community and to develop proposals for service redesign, focusing on those who are subject to a compulsory supervision order. 
• Throughcare, continuing care and aftercare - acting in the best interests and promoting the physical and mental health and well-being of care leavers, ensuring that care leavers are engaged and regularly consulted. 

How we did in 2021/22

Note: some 2021-22 results were impacted due to the Covid-19 crisis

See Corporate Parenting

See Education of children

See Dashboard analysis

See Kilbryde Early Learning and Childcare