Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to speak in a debate that enables Liberal Democrats to restate our support for the GIRFEC agenda. As others have done, I commend the Scottish Government for the work that it has done on the issue, which builds on the work of the previous Administration and is very much focused on delivering the best possible services for children.

This crucial issue encompasses a host of professionals, who often work in extremely difficult circumstances. We put on record our appreciation of their efforts. Among the professionals involved are teachers, social workers, speech and language therapists—if I do not mention them, I am not allowed in the door at home—nurses, police officers and everyone who is involved in the children's hearings and child protection systems. We must recognise the excellent work that they do and their continuing work to deliver GIRFEC, which involves the adoption of a personalised approach that is based on the needs of the child.

We must recognise that there are shortcomings. Where systematic, bureaucratic failings exist, they must be identified, worked through with colleagues and addressed to improve the situation. However, the key message is that GIRFEC is starting to work. Positive progress has been made on the numbers of children who are on the at-risk register and there is better multi-agency working. The factors that we have looked at in the context of the Highland report certainly seem to indicate a shift in a positive direction.

I put on record our thanks to the minister and his team for the extremely helpful briefing that they gave to members of the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee this week, which I found particularly useful.

There is no doubt that the evaluation overview of the GIRFEC pathfinder project in Highland contained a lot of positive signs. The holding of multi-agency meetings meant that a more co-ordinated approach was adopted and that individuals received a personalised service. I was pleased to note that levels of inter-agency trust were much higher at the end of the pathfinder phase than they had been at the beginning. That trust, along with a change of culture, will be crucial if GIRFEC is to be successfully rolled out across Scotland.

It is sensible to proceed with a single planning process and shared assessments. It is also sensible to ensure that a common language is used by all professionals so that they can understand one another. It is crucial, too, that information and communications technology is used as effectively as possible so that information can be shared as effectively and quickly as possible.

We were pleased to learn that every child who needed support from more than one agency was allocated a lead professional who was responsible for the co-ordination of services. It is important that families understand and buy into new processes and have their say on the services that are being developed and delivered for their children. That represents real progress, and it must be welcomed as such, but we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. There now needs to be a period of establishing good practice benchmarks to ensure that the initial progress is sustained. The Highland pathfinder report highlighted the fact that there is still work to be done, although the work undertaken in Highland will make the processes elsewhere in Scotland easier to implement.

At the information briefing, I raised the issue of resources. I did so not to have a go at the minister in the typical way, but simply to point out that the pathfinder project had received seed-corn funding that has probably made the process of taking GIRFEC forward slightly easier. It is clear that councils and partner organisations in Scotland will not have that resource. They will have to pull resources from existing resources at what is obviously a crucial time, given the funding difficulties that they face. We received assurances about that from the minister, and I have raised the issue again so that he can put on the record the real possibilities that GIRFEC provides for making potential savings in time and resources. Obviously, the most important issue is the delivery of the best possible services, but the approach would be more attractive to local authorities throughout Scotland if they had concrete examples of where they might make savings in resources, which they are concerned about.

Child protection remains everyone's major concern. In the wake of incidents such as the tragic death of Brandon Muir, it is alarming that a quarter of HMIE inspections revealed serious weaknesses in services. Progress has been made, and HMIE has been quick to point out that there has been improvement, but there are areas in which urgent action is required and enhanced service development must be immediate. Weaknesses were identified in the report "How well do we protect Scotland's children?" I am sure that we are all determined to work together to improve child protection services. We cannot say that there will never be another Brandon Muir or Caleb Ness, but we must put in place support resources and systems of working to share information that will reduce risks. In that context, we look forward to the review of the child protection guidance that is due in the spring.

GIRFEC arose from a review of the children's hearings system. We had concerns about the Government's initial plans to change that system, and we welcomed the decision to stop, think again and consult more widely on them. A wide consultation is important. We can rightly be proud of the children's hearings system, which puts the child centre stage—that is what GIRFEC is all about. We want the right reform of our hearings system, and the views of those who work in that system day in, day out need to be listened to and incorporated in any new policy. Change cannot mean centralisation. Keeping children's panels local, rooted in the community and independent is the best way to protect our children.

Back in September, the Liberal Democrats successfully called on the Government to report back in three months on the action that it has taken to focus attention on children who live with parents or carers with alcohol or substance abuse problems. We would welcome an indication from the minister about when we might expect further information about that.

There needs to be an improvement in risk assessments for vulnerable children. Much of what was covered in the Highland pathfinder report is encouraging in that regard. We know that some children living with parents who are dependent on drugs or alcohol or who have other problems have a dreadful time. Those problems will often stay with those children throughout their lives—they are not just faced in early life but can live with them for ever. That is why we have supported organisations such as Place2B, which addresses children's mental health needs in primary schools, including Craigroyston primary school in my constituency. We believe that such issues should be tackled as early as possible. Doing so is crucial in taking forward the GIRFEC agenda.

It is vital that services take into account an individual's specific needs. A one-size-fits-all approach clearly cannot be taken to individual children, and it is possible that what works in one part of the country will not necessarily work in exactly the same way in another. Highland was probably quite a good place to start, as that allowed us to see what has happened in and around Inverness and to take that further. It will also be interesting to see the results of the work that has been done in Lanarkshire and in other pathfinder projects around the country, particularly in relation to domestic abuse.

There is a need for proper training, quality assurance and staff mentoring, although that must be balanced against the concern of some that the programme is too heavily focused on processes rather than on outcomes. I think that it is fundamentally about outcomes, so I am reassured by the news that is coming from the Highland pathfinder project.

There is now a good level of recognition of the programme, but it is important that it is implemented throughout Scotland as quickly as is feasible.