Food & Health Alliance

These mainly cover services for children with specific needs recognised in the legislation, and children looked after by the local authority (i.e. ‘in care’). But it can also cover other children whose welfare can be promoted by social work services. Plans are expected to be corporate documents, bringing together the range of local authority services. The aim is to clarify objectives for social work services, but also to promote integrated provision of services and coordination between departments within local authorities and with other agencies and organisations. There is a requirement on local authorities to consult health boards, voluntary organisations, Children’s Panels, housing agencies, etc. Each Plan should set out how two main aims will be achieved:

• Providing excellent services for all.
• Targeting additional services to meet need and reduce inequalities.

The Plans can cover a wide range of health and other issues, and may be used to make statements of councils’ policies towards children and young people generally, though they are unlikely to cover the full range of education services. Plans are likely to cover three years, with annual reviews. In an attempt to rationalise the great number of planning documents required on children’s services, Early Education and Childcare Plans (required by the Childcare Strategy for Scotland, ‘Meeting the Childcare Challenge’) have now been integrated into Children’s Services Plans. Following the October 2001 Scottish Executive report ‘For Scotland’s children’ on ‘Better integrated children’s services’, guidance was issued that particularly stresses the need for Plans to be seen as a joint task for local authorities and other partners, especially NHS boards.

Play and physical activity can be a feature of childcare provision. It can help develop resilience in children and young people. It is important to ensure integration of physical activity across the services and sectors encompassed by Children’s Service Plans. The Plan lends itself to being a source of information about current policies, focusing on children and young people in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, while providing a vehicle for disseminating evidence-based practice and learning and development opportunities to staff across a range of sectors.