Hansard

There is no more important task than ensuring that we get it right for Scotland's children. They are part of our society now, and they will mould the way in which Scotland develops and performs in the future. We need to create an environment in which children flourish and can fulfil their potential. By "we" I mean all of Scotland. As the 2002 child protection report stated, "It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright".

GIRFEC has a similar high-level objective: improving outcomes for every child and young person. That is a high aspiration, and it will not be achieved overnight, but it is a goal that we must all aim for. The goal was set by the previous Administration and it secured considerable support, but children, families and practitioners all want to know what it means for them. Since we took office, we have been working with partners to turn the aspiration into practical reality, to test it and to show that it can work.

The evaluation that has been carried out reports on the experience of pathfinder projects, especially in Highland. The evaluation report is lengthy and detailed. The message is that, at this stage in the journey, GIRFEC works. GIRFEC means improved outcomes, better information sharing and reduced bureaucracy. It ensures that children's views are heard and taken into account, and it places the child at the centre. Those are all issues that were raised in the report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, "How well do we protect Scotland's children?", which was published last week. GIRFEC shows how improvements can be made in those areas.

To ensure that GIRFEC works, we need joint leadership, commitment, planning and training, building on good multi-agency working. Practitioners and management need to reconfigure how they work into a single planning process across all agencies. That means working in a common language, to capture and share concerns, and engaging with families at every stage. That is major, transformational change, and I pay tribute to all the people who are working through that change.

GIRFEC can make a difference. In Highland, 29 different processes for dealing with children have been distilled into one main planning process. Any activity is part of one plan for a child. As a result, fewer meetings are required and support is provided more quickly. Further work is under way on savings in the workload of key staff, the number of meetings that are held and so on. A report will be produced in March. However, the initial signs are that one meeting is needed instead of the three or four that were held previously, non-offence referrals from the police to the reporter are down 70 per cent, and staff in health, schools and social work are noting that time is being freed up from writing reports, so there can be more direct work with children. Therefore, there are considerable benefits to be gained. As the ability to share information electronically throughout Scotland comes on stream in about 2011, there will be enhanced benefits.

If the approach is to be fully effective, there must be a common language among practitioners. The wellbeing indicators and the GIRFEC model provide that. The evaluation shows that after an initial period of anxiety and concern, practitioners across all agencies found that the model works well. The approach requires on-going training and use, but it helps to build trust and produces more targeted and better-quality information. It also provides the basis for measuring improvements in outcomes.

The motion and the amendment, which I am happy to support, refer to frameworks and how systems operate. That is right; those are the tools that the Parliament can use to create the environment in which change can happen. However, we must always remember that GIRFEC places the individual child at the centre of those frameworks. GIRFEC is the methodology that delivers the frameworks. It provides a personalised approach to service delivery.

That should mean that the child and their family are involved; that action is discussed and agreed with them; that there are as few meetings as possible; that the help that is provided is co-ordinated and seamless; that they understand why action is being proposed and what it is meant to achieve; and that they understand their roles and responsibilities. The evaluation report notes that that is happening under GIRFEC. Parents feel that there is one team to support them and understand better what is planned. When the wellbeing model is used to explain action, parents appear more willing to engage with and trust services.

There is much more detail in the full report, which sets out the complex interactions across all the services and the journey that has been taken to implement GIRFEC. Further work is needed, including on greater involvement with the adult sector and on extending the reach into the health service, where midwives and health visitors have been the prime focus to date.

The evaluation is of progress to date. Further short thematic reports will be issued during the next four months, drawing on the report that we have published and more up-to-date information, which is being gathered. We need to understand better the impact on longer-term outcomes and how the changes that have been introduced can be maintained.

In spring we will consult on the review of the 1998 child protection guidance. The review is set in the context of GIRFEC. It will bring powerful changes to child protection in Scotland and will build on the years of good work that started with the reform programme. It will embed a multi-agency, child-centred approach to ensuring that our most vulnerable children are identified, supported and, above all, kept safe.

We are developing a national toolkit for risk assessment, in response to what child protection practitioners have asked for and in response to the recent HMIE report. It will be founded on the GIRFEC model and the principles that are working well in Highland and elsewhere. With GIRFEC, we will make a step change in the way that all professionals who deal with at-risk children work with one another, among families and for children.

I commend the GIRFEC approach. Over the coming months, we will encourage community planning partnerships to ask themselves what they are doing to implement it and to secure for their agencies the resource benefits and for their children and young people the improved outcomes that it provides.

On the back of the positive evaluation report, we will produce an implementation guide that draws on the experiences to date of the pathfinders. The guide will set out the various steps and stages that have been found to work; the time needed for and the phasing of the work; and, most important, the tools that have been demonstrated to make a difference.

I am encouraged by the support for the GIRFEC approach from various partners. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has welcomed the evaluation report, the findings of which will provide all authorities and their community planning partners with the foundations to debate the relative merits of GIRFEC and its component parts in their local areas. The Association of Directors of Social Work and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland have both voiced their support for GIRFEC. Time prevents me from quoting others, such the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, Barnardo's and Action for Children.

Momentum is building in support of change, and we are hugely encouraged by the evaluation, which affirms that the underlying concept of GIRFEC is right. It can be done. The development work has been progressed. We now wish to move to full implementation and will engage with community planning partnerships throughout Scotland.

I move,

That the Parliament supports the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach; commends Highland and the other pathfinder programmes for their work in developing the approach; notes progress under the eCare framework to enable secure, targeted information sharing across Scotland; welcomes the report by the University of Edinburgh on progress to date, particularly with regard to the pathfinder programme in Highland; welcomes Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education's summary report on its first round of multi-agency children's services inspections as providing a clear and comprehensive picture of how children's services are operating across Scotland, and encourages work to further develop and implement the GIRFEC approach as a means of public services and the third sector working with parents and communities to improve outcomes for children and deliver the Early Years Framework, Achieving our Potential, and Equally Well.