Ellie Craig, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, facilitated a discussion with the new Head of Scotland’s Civil Service, Joe Griffin. Delegates heard about his role, vision, and priorities then had an opportunity to contribute to a shared understanding of what families and practitioners need most right now to help change happen. 

During the session, attendees were asked to share their thoughts on challenges and opportunities in respect of delivering whole family support, and to identify the changes they would like to see made following the session.

Input was provided both in an open Q&A and on Post-it notes during table discussions. The following key themes/points emerged during the session:

·     Funding: There were numerous comments about the challenges that our current systems of funding present to the effective delivery of whole family support. Attendees pointed to siloed funding streams, short-term funding, and insufficient access to funding for third sector organisations as key barriers. There were asks for SG to look again at funding systems as a priority, to enable more long-term, sustainable, flexible approaches to funding that ensure third sector involvement in delivery of whole family support. There was also a call for greater collaboration between public, private and third sector funders, to enable better targeting of funding to those areas of the country that really need it.

·     Place-based approaches: Some comments focused on the challenges presented by uniform, standardised national approaches. The example of rural areas was raised, with participants noting that current legislation and regulation in areas such as childcare could present barriers to effective family support in some localities, and that the system needed to be flexible enough to enable different types of provision in different areas, based on community needs.

·     Breaking down siloes/changing systems: The need for changes in culture, structures and incentives to help break down siloes was stressed by attendees. Moving to a genuinely multi-agency approach at the national and local levels was key to success, as was a move away from short-termism.

·     Community voice: The importance of involving communities directly in the design and delivery of services was stressed (“doing with, not to”). Linked to this, contributors stressed the importance of civil servants engaging with appropriate frequency and depth with the people they serve, and with front-line staff, to enable better policy design. This was one of the key potential benefits of devolution which had not yet been realised.

·     Power relationships: Many participants stressed the need for a shift in the power relationships around delivery of services. This included in respect of national-local, public-third sector and service-service user dynamics. The importance of empowering front-line staff to make decisions based on the human beings they see in front of them was stressed.

·     Focus on outcomes/vision: Some participants felt that, because of the way in which government funds services, local authorities were too focused on delivering outputs aligned with Ministerial priorities, as opposed to making a genuine shift to prevention. A genuinely coherent national vision with WFS at its heart was needed to ensure all are aligned with the direction of travel.

·     Stigma and language: There were important points made around stigma and language, with a plea for government to think carefully about the way in which it talks about those who may benefit from whole family support. It is important not to lave people feeling powerless – rather, we must find ways to empower people to make the most of their potential.

·     Turning evidence and data into action: The importance of sharing evidence of what works across local boundaries to help spread good practice was noted, as well as the importance of using data to target and join up services. Some attendees noted that we already have evidence of what works – the challenge is ensuring it is acted upon to deliver whole family support more widely. We need to stop looking for “new, shiny things” and focus on implementing approaches that have already been shown to work.

·     Leadership: The opportunity presented by leadership that is increasingly aligned around WFS was noted. There were numerous comments about the positive messages delivered by the Permanent Secretary during the session, with attendees noting that his contributions made them hopeful of progress being realised.

·     Workforce: The importance of supporting the workforce and equipping them with the relational skills needed to deliver whole family support in practice was highlighted.

·     Specific policy issues: Some comments focused on specific policy issues, such as childcare, class sizes, people with no recourse to public funds and universal basic income.

This session explored how North Lanarkshire, in partnership with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, is using a Human Learning Systems approach to drive meaningful change in whole family support. It unpacked the critical role of culture in enabling transformation; shared insights from the Scottish Approach to Service Design and Change; and offered practical reflections for anyone starting, or already on, a journey of system change.