Public performance reports

Local councils have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess a person's community care needs and decide whether to arrange any services. Any assistance should be based on an assessment of the person's care needs and should take into account their preferences.

The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 outlines the legislative framework for Scotland's child protection system. It covers parental responsibilities and rights, and the duties and powers local public authorities have for supporting and promoting the safety and welfare of children.

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 implemented 01 April 2014 places a duty on local authority social work departments to offer people who are eligible for social care a range of choices over how they receive their support. The needs of the majority of children and young people in South Lanarkshire will be met by their families, community, and universal services of health and education. However, there will be times when some children will need additional support to reach their potential and achieve good outcomes.

This support might come from specified resources such as support for learning or specialist health services. In other circumstances some children may require an assessment for Self-directed Support. A Self-directed Support co-produced assessment is completed to assess the level of need and risk for the child or young person and to begin to consider their identified outcomes. This assessment may result in the provision of some funded support.

Not all children and young people will require a Self-directed Support (SDS) assessment. This applies to those children and young people who meet the eligibility criteria as outlined in Sections 22 and 23 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995: 'Children in Need'.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 facilitated a shift in public services towards early years and early intervention. It is underpinned by the UNCRC and the national approach of GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child). It also established a framework for services to work together in their support of children, young people and families.

The Carers Scotland Act 2016. Implemented in April 2018 to ensure better support to carers and young carers so that they can continue to care, if they so wish, in better health and have a life alongside caring, making caring more sustainable.

UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. gained Royal Assent in January 2024, with full powers implemented by July 2024. Ensures the Articles identified in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child are now part of Scots Law. Public authorities to act in a way that is compatible with UNCRC requirements, children and young people have powers to go to court if rights are breeched. Childrens Commissioner can take legal action. Public Authorities to report on their compliance with UNCRC.

Children and families social work services work to provide family support to promote the welfare and development of children, young people, and their families. They also provide support and care for children, young people, and their families so that, wherever possible, young people can remain with their own families in their own communities. Social Work Resources also have a duty to protect children. Whilst this is a shared responsibility with other agencies and the community, Social Work has a particular responsibility to investigate allegations of child abuse in the framework of jointly agreed child protection procedures.

Percentage of reports submitted to Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) within timescales (%)

Target 75%

What this means
This indicator measures the council’s performance in relation to timescales for submitting reports to SCRA.

Why this matters
Children and young people are referred to the Reporter where some aspect of their life is giving cause for concern, such as care and protection or in relation to an offence. The Reporter may ask Social Work to complete a report about a child or young person to help determine the most suitable intervention that will ensure their protection and support their welfare and wellbeing. Timely completion of the report prior to a Children’s Hearing will support panel members make the right decision for the child or young person.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
Performance against target has declined due to a staffing pressures over the last year and increased statutory demands, including child protection investigations. With further recruitment, improved staffing levels are expected to impact positively on performance on timescales during the next year. Meantime the service continues to monitor risk and maximise available resources to ensure the ongoing protection of children. Additionally, a pilot is running in Lanark and East Kilbride in conjunction with SCRA to introduce a new assessment framework. Initial user testing has found the new report to be more user friendly, with an overall reduction in the time taken to complete a full assessment report. The aim is to introduce this new report across South Lanarkshire by January 2025, and this should contribute to an improvement in reporting timescales to SCRA.

Percentage of children seen within 15 days following Compulsory Supervision Order commencing (%)

Target 75%

What this means
This indicator measures the council’s performance in relation to timescales for submitting reports to SCRA.

Why this matters
Where a Compulsory Supervision Order has been put in place by a Children’s Hearing, the local authority has a duty to put the order into effect. A Social Worker should visit the child or young person within 15 days to discuss a plan for the future to protect and support the wellbeing and welfare of the child or young person.

Our performance and how we compare

How we have performed in improving this public service
Performance against target has been challenged due to staffing pressures and increased statutory demands, including child protection investigations. The service continues to monitor risk and maximise available resources to ensure the ongoing protection of children. With further recruitment, improved staffing levels are expected to impact positively on performance on timescales during the next year. 

The Care Inspectorate is the independent scrutiny and improvement body for care services in Scotland. They make sure people receive high quality care and ensure that services promote and protect their rights. All our care services are registered and inspected by the Care Inspectorate and you can view the individual reports on South Lanarkshire Council services on their website.

Residential Care

Our staff deliver high-quality care to children and young people within our own childrne's houses. The table below shows Care Inspectorate grades for registered children's houses.

Grades Guide:  1. Unsatisfactory  2. Weak  3. Adequate 4. Good  5. Very Good  6. Excellent

Adoption 

Our adoption service continues to experience a high level of interest and aims to find prospective adopters for children with a wide range of needs, older children and groups of siblings. 

Fostering

Our foster carers demonstrate resilience and positivity to provide nurturing and stable care for children and young people, who thrive in their care. We continue to recruit local carers to meet the need for family-based care.

Supported Care

Our Supported Care service supports young people aged 16 – 21 who are transitioning to independent living. This might be young people who have been in residential care, or young people seeking asylum who are unaccompanied. We continue to need more Supported Carers to provide invaluable support to young people in their journey towards independence.

The gradings from inspections for each of these services can be found below.

Grades Guide: 1. Unsatisfactory 2. Weak 3. Adequate 4. Good 5. Very Good 6. Excellent

A well-attended Corporate Parenting event was held in November 2023 with over 170 corporate parents and partners present at the “Connecting with Children’s Rights” conference in Hamilton. As part of the day, round table discussions were held focussing on the theme of making children and young people visible with the feedback being incorporated into future planning.

An event to celebrate Care Day was held in February 2024, where young people from our Champion’s Board hosted the event and challenged corporate parents to say how they were keeping South Lanarkshire’s Promise. The successful event brought together at least 60 care experienced children and young people and 60 corporate parents to improve the understanding and visibility of each other.

Children and Family Services have created additional opportunities for those who come into contact with our services to tell us about their personal experiences of our services via the Care Opinion website. The Comments and stories told by those who use our services will be carefully monitored and considered and any changes to our service delivery will be implemented and action taken accordingly in order to ensure we are responsive to the needs of individuals who use our services.

Follow the links to our website for further information about children and families services and how to access them:

Adoption, Fostering, Short Breaks, and Supported Care

ARCH - Autism Resources Co-ordination Hub

Family Support Hubs

Child Protection

Corporate Parenting, Care Experienced Young People and Continuing care and aftercare

Kinship Care

Trauma Recovery Service

Young carers service

Also available to download are copies of our Children's Services Plan and Annual Report, Corporate Parenting Strategy, and Autism Action Plan.

Resource Plans are prepared each year by all council Resources to outline the key developments they intend to take forward in the year. Several factors present specific challenges to Social Work Resources in relation to the demand for key service provision. Unprecedented financial pressure, as a consequence of COVID, Cost of Living and energy crisis, and recruitment and retention of social care workforce, all present significant challenges and associated risk.

In the coming year, Social Work Resources will take forward all necessary actions, where reasonable and appropriate, to mitigate or reduce the Resource's exposure to these risks. More information on performance and actions relating to Children and Families Social Work can be found in the Social Work Resource Plan and the Chief Social Work Officer Report.

Twice a year, performance reports are presented to council committees on progress against the Resource Plans. In addition, reports detailing progress against the Council Plan Connect Priorities are prepared. See Quarter 2 (September) and Quarter 4 (March - year end) for performance reports for further information.

More information on outcomes can be found in the Council Plan Connect and also the Annual Performance Spotlights.

Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) allows councils to work together, to use performance information in a way which will help understand variations, share knowledge, expertise and good practice, with a view to making improvements. For more information and links relating to this framework go to the 'Benchmarking' paragraph on the Improvement and how we compare page on our website.

The information contained within this report reflects the position based on the data available at the time of publication (March 2025).