6.3. Person Centred, Relational Service Design

Backed by initial investment of £3 million, work has commenced to understand the demand for services and the delivery capacity within the existing system. This early work will build on learning from the Access to Childcare Fund projects, which tested models of school age childcare for families most at risk of poverty and focusing on addressing the specific needs of priority families.

In developing the future system of school age childcare, policy creation is taking a person-centred approach to designing services by working collaboratively with families, childcare providers and the wider public sector to build a system that meets individual needs. In planning this policy there is also evidence of a place-based approach, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to providing childcare solutions within communities.

6.3. Person Centred, Relational Service Design

Throughout engagement with officials in Scottish Government and CPPs, there has been repeated positivity for the urgency and empowerment felt during the Covid response, and a desire to continue working in that way to address new and emerging challenges.

A commonly referenced example in CPP workshops is the example of the local hubs that were established during the pandemic across many areas in Scotland. Local groups acted in a more agile way and felt able to respond to local demands. The feedback from these groups was the public services often took longer to respond, where are local groups were able to action things more quickly. They also reported feeling like “barriers came down” and partners, particularly community groups, were able to work together in new and innovative ways.

In line with the requirements of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, CPPs develop their locality plans and actions based on consultations with the communities they serve; a person-centred approach to developing LOIPs. Throughout evidence gathering, this was reaffirmed as being the case.

While CPPs were able to evidence ways in which integrated service delivery was achieved, the breadth of responsibility on some individuals mean the dedicated capacity for change and transformation work gets lost, as the limited capacity of these individuals means they cannot innovate and develop new partnership ideas.

CPPs were able to evidence strong leadership approaches and many have strong links with community groups, and have shared governance with partners around statutory actions. However, partner accountability was seen to vary across CPP areas, in some areas there are robust, twice yearly reporting requirements where partners are held to account, however in other areas, the local authority is seen as the lead partner, and accountability of other organisations is less visible.

Case Study: Glasgow City Council “No Wrong Door” Pathfinder

Significant analysis has been undertaken in Glasgow to understand the detail of child poverty. Colleagues at the Centre for Civic Innovation worked with partners to articulate the extent of Glasgow’s challenge, describing both the breadth and depth of poverty. This analysis, initially undertaken in February 2020, was revisited in February 2021 to provide insight into the initial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Work continues to determine the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the resultant cost of living crisis.

By understanding more about who and where these children are, Glasgow is much better placed to effectively target activities and supports in the places that will make the most sustainable difference.

The ongoing impact of the pandemic, alongside the cost of living crisis, requires embracing new and radical approaches to make a real difference for families across the city. It was this shared recognition of the need for a fundamental shift in approach that brought city partners together to examine opportunities to secure whole system change earlier this year. It is a shared commitment to undertake bold and decisive actions that deliver better services and outcomes for the city that has focused the intention of this Pathfinder.

It is the intention to anchor this Pathfinder in the delivery of a No Wrong Door model and use this to address the challenges to whole system change. Glasgow will harness the learning and experience of our crisis response, using this to break down barriers, both real and perceived to improve the way they work and the impact they make across the city.

Specifically, Glasgow will use the No Wrong Door concept to reimagine the way they work with children and families to support access to the most appropriate assistance for their circumstances. This will be focused on collaborating with citizens to prevent them from falling into poverty, supporting citizens out of poverty and preventing people from reaching crisis situations. Moreover, they aim to demonstrate that, by connecting citizens to holistic, person centred, case management support, they can deliver significant benefits for organisations across the city. In turn, the city looks to secure better ways of working and more effective use of public resources in line with the Christie recommendations.

This pathfinder seeks to reimagine the model, to ensure that wherever a citizen’s first interaction is, they receive a consistent approach. Furthermore, this will be underpinned by a holistic conversation focusing on what matters to the citizen, a shared understanding of the jointly agreed next steps and case management to provide ongoing support and regular review with the citizen as the lead.

It is the aspiration that, over the course of the next 16 months, the system will be reengineered from the current cluttered landscape, to one that is much simpler but more connected and ultimately effective in supporting both citizens to thrive and our organisations to reach their maximum potential.