WithScotland Steering Group. Minutes of Meeting: 14 th March 2013

Transcription

1 WithScotland Steering Group Minutes of Meeting: 14 th March 2013 Attendees: Colin McKerracher Phil Raines Alistair Hogg Helen Hunter Maureen Berry Bob Driscoll Councillor Stephanie Primrose Daniela Bolle Adrian Lawrie Beth Smith Jane Scott Sarah Doyle Catriona Laird Andrea Moulding Chief Constable, Grampian Police & North East Scotland CPC Chair (Chair) Scottish Government, Head of Child Protection Policy and Children s Legislation Team Senior Operational Manager (North and West areas), SCRA Head of Change and Innovation, Quarriers (representing CCPS) Child Protection Nurse, Forth Valley Health Board (representing Scottish Child Protection and Vulnerable Children Lead Nurses Executive Group) (Attended part) CSWO, Aberdeenshire Council (representing ADSW) Elected Member, East Ayrshire Council (representing COSLA) Research Development Manager, University of Stirling Representing ACPOS Director, WithScotland Business Development Manager Practice Development Coordinator National CPC Coordinator (part-time) Administrative Assistant - minutes 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Apologies Apologies were received from: Julie Taylor Dr Jean Herbison Harry Garland Professor Brigid Daniel Chair in Child Protection, University of Edinburgh (representing Research Working Group) Clinical Director, Child Protection, Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board representing Royal College of Paediatricians Executive Director of Children & Community, South Ayrshire Council (representing ADES) Academic Advisor and Professor of Social work, University of Stirling (due to telecon not available) 3. Minutes of December meeting The minutes were approved. 1

2 4. Matters arising and actions 5.4 Richard Carey, NHS Chief Executive of Grampian. CM has spoken with him; he is satisfied with the current arrangements and does not feel the need to be involved in the Steering Group 6.9 Due to the changes in the Scottish Police, Alan Crawford had moved on from his post in the ACPOS CP Working Group. BS is meeting ACC Malcolm Graham and aims for an ongoing relationship with the police service This is on the agenda in terms of showcasing the website. 7.3 There are still some outstanding issues regarding ADES. HH will obtain a contact to resolve this. 7.6 AC sent the link through and the name of the person responsible for this. JS is in exchange regarding the pop-ups. This is ongoing Fiona Stevenson has started her role as Senior Consultant for Scotland and she is located within the team. Her role will help the communication with NSPCC nationally. BS explained that most local authorities are using the NSPCC school service but this could be better communicated going forward Finance Funding Update and Overview DB has updated the Finance Report to the end of February She is still trying to accumulate what comes through the CPC Coordinator. Income received so far totals 454,000. There are still payments outstanding from local authorities. BS advised that HG has contacted some of the local authorities about this. The list of LA finance officers received from COSLA was not accurate. BS explained that in the business case it was agreed that WithScotland would also generate some income and that the team has undertaken some small scale research projects, which are not shown on this spreadsheet. Staff: the Events and Communication post has remained part time, however, such is the demand for events that WithScotland is advertising for another Events and Communication person to cover the other half of the week. HH asked about the University overhead charges for the research projects and whether these could be reduced. It was explained that these are negotiated with the University on an individual basis. PR said the Scottish Government grant to WithScotland for 2014 will be paid in the next couple of weeks. 6. Business Reports 6 a) Director s Update BS has changed the format of the document as she had to prepare an update paper for COSLA against the original business case. It is slightly complicated by the new funding not starting until July. Adult Support and Protection is included in some of the national priorities. Development of resources and briefings: there is a new briefing written by Dr Kelly Stone, Keeping children and young people safe on line: balancing risk and opportunity. Copies are available for group members. These have been well received and there was also an article in The Herald about them, including the 1 st March Event on New Technologies. The event was very successful, with over 140 2

3 delegates. There was a wide range of workshops and a variety of speakers. There was such high demand for it that WithScotland intends to run the event again in the autumn (finance permitting). 6 b) 6.3 Communication Report BS explained that WithScotland is hoping to invigorate TalkWith and update around twitter and media coverage. The information in the report shows where the website traffic is coming from and also that it is steadily increasing. Action: AM will send the professional dashboard out separately Positive comments about the website have been received. There is the opportunity for people to contact us with suggestions. HH asked about the number of people who opened the newsletter compared with those who received it. As it can be read without opening the links, it is difficult to gauge this. Website e-library demonstration There was a demonstration by JS. The WithScotland e-library is being re-indexed, so it encourages people to browse. In the exchanging section, the briefings are in date order on the website. The factsheets have also been uploaded. The Library is work in progress and the most recently updated documents can be seen first. Resources are divided into reports, research and resources (including legislation). There are over one thousand documents in the library. The filter system is work in progress. Documents can be searched for by name and by lead author. The large reports also have summaries for ease of use. JS is presently checking to see if documents have open access. If not, then the reference will be given. Scottish resources can be searched for separately. Resources: in terms of the Working Groups, for example, the poverty sub group, there are documents and also related publications in the e-library. PH asked about legislation, policy and guidance frameworks. There is a separate filter for legislation. Documents, rather than links, are uploaded to the library whenever possible as the links can change. CM commented that he is uncertain whether there is police knowledge of the website, and asked if WithScotland should do more with the Public Protection Directorate. He suggested that Malcolm Graham could follow this up. Tulliallan also has a huge resource service and links both ways would be very useful. This could be useful for reference for new police when doing research. Connections pages: From the website it is possible to see other related organisations and there is a direct link into other organisations. CM said there is a gap there, not just in policing. PH suggested user testing on the WithScotland website, where small groups of professionals discuss and come up with suggestions. JS said there is the possibility of clicking on to a pop-up box to give comments. WithScotland has previously organised a focus group regarding the new website. Action: it was agreed that a series of groups could be arranged to comment on the website. 3

4 SP commented there would be some mileage in alerting the Directors of Services about this website, and the teachers of guidance. It would also be useful for elected members. SP said that HH has started discussions with ADES and GLOW and hopefully will have an answer soon about how teachers can access the website. AH asked if WithScotland needs access to the SCRA library. There was discussion on how to link other libraries, possibly under connections. BS noted that recently Scottish Government colleagues from Mental Health Division had provided additional funding for adult protection and WS is at the beginning stages for this. It is an interesting development for WS. BS has been working with students from the Challenge Bank (design students in Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee) who had been given a brief to extend the reach of WithScotland into public and schools. The resulting excellent videos/work is to be embedded in the website and can also be used in promotion. BS showed the work to the Group. BS is hoping to show the education video to students here at the University. PH suggested that the website name should be put on the videos. The next step is to offer the students a placement.al suggested that the messages from the video could be used at events. 8. Steering Group 8a) Individual members update CM said that the next Forum meeting is on 20 th March and it is his last time as Chair of that meeting. The new Chair will be confirmed at that meeting. The work of the Forum continues and there are ongoing working groups, including the SCR and Guidelines which BS is involved in. The Forum and the relationship with WithScotland and potentially with new Chair should remain strong and there is a possibility that WithScotland will be involved in the organisation of the quarterly meetings. BDr chairs the ADSW CP subgroup and is working alongside WithScotland to facilitate a seminar in May. There will be information about local authority based initiatives. Dr Sheila Fish runs the SCIE pilot and will attend the event. The appetite for the event comes from the previous ADSW events, and this is looking like a good programme. HH raised the issue of self-directed support, in particular issues affecting children and young people and suggested it could be the focus of a Courageous Conversation. There has been growing concern from providers of care for disabled children and most of the work has been with adult services. One of the growing workforces is the personal assistant but this is not regulated and, if this is transferred to the child sector, then non-regulated workers could be working with vulnerable children. HH has been discussing the risk with CL. Children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups of society. It is the families responsibility to check that workers have a PVG. There has been no action taken on this and this possibly deserves focus from WithScotland HH is a member of the Cross Party Working Group on disabilities. She said that the disabled people who were in the Group did not look at themselves as victims. PR is working with WithScotland on a number of practical projects including the SCR, refresh of the National Guidance. He will find a way to publicise the WithScotland website and library. There will be discussion off-line on targeted 4

5 audiences for the website. CM suggested that there may be an opportunity to go to COSLA with input on the website. PR said that Eni Bankole has moved on and will be replaced by Angela McTier AH (SCRA) said he would make sure that there are proper access links and awareness of the WithScotland resources. He thinks there is a role for the communications officer for greater awareness around his organisation and perhaps a better link. He is involved in the group looking at the SCR and the guidance, and also attended the CP Development day in the Western Isles. AH is also looking at improving CP structure and discussion around access to resources, training, and conferences around child neglect. SP asked for more detail on the funding situation and BS explained that she has been in touch with both Glasgow and Midlothian. HG will follow up. He has spoken to COSLA. HG is liaising with other agencies and is trying to get a slot on the ADES executive as a representative. SP is in discussion with Robert Nicol (COSLA) on report to the Leaders Forum as it would be a good way of cascading information. She will meet up with the head teachers and will also speak with her own executive group regarding awareness of WithScotland. AL said that Gill Imrie, Detective Chief Superintendent, has the portfolio for public protection and it would be beneficial to improve the lines of communication and contacts. AL sits of the Refresh Group as an ACPOS representative MB had a positive nursing seminar for CP staff in December and she used all the literature provided from WithScotland and promotional pamphlets. She sits as a representative for the National Group of Lead Nurses for child protection across Scotland. Maureen Wylie (National CPC Coordinator) spoke at the national meeting and her talk was very useful. BS met with the Chair of the Royal College of Child Health Paediatricians and has some ideas to take forward. Sarah Doyle, Practice Development Coordinator has a background in mental health nursing, and this could extend the reach into Health. There has been some preliminary work with Jean Herbison. BDr is a member of the Research Working Group (which is part of WithScotland) and there will be a Seminar on 4 th April to reinvigorate the collaborative research across the universities. Researchers and academics are targeted for the event. 8b) 8.12 Chairing arrangements CM is retiring at the end of March, though he is happy to chair the meeting in June for continuity. After this, the group has to consider the new arrangements. Action: BS will have a discussion off table with all members of the group to look at the different options. AOCB BS thanked CM for his work in being Chair of the Steering Group and the support he has offered to the Team and to the development of the service. Next meeting: 26 th June at 14h00 in Room 3T1, University of Stirling. 5