Scottish Government

All agencies take an approach that puts safety first and considers the needs of the 'whole child'. It's about acting early if there are any concerns, or in response to a crisis and family pressures. Building on strengths, and promoting the child's resilience are key. All planning work should identify what the outcomes for the child are, and if improvement is needed, it should be clear what actions need to be taken.

The principle of sharing information - with consent (unless a child may be at risk of harm) - is commonly understood and routinely practised within and across all agencies. This way of working should be valued as a way of securing help to improve outcomes for children.

Working in partnership with families and focusing on solutions when supporting them to make choices. Recognising that in most cases, and with the right help, families are able to identify solutions for themselves and can play an active part in decision-making.

All agencies working with children and adults who are parents or carers use the Getting it right National Practice Model and common language. This will ensure that children and their families get help when there are concerns and that this help is appropriate, proportionate, timely and above all, consistent.

Where children and their families are involved with several agencies, all the processes are aligned and co-ordinated. The child's needs - and actions that will help - are set out in one plan, managed through one meeting structure. It means reducing duplication by eliminating the need for each agency to conduct its own assessment, while recognising the contribution that professional expertise and specialist assessments make in helping understand and meet child's needs.

Promoting the Getting it right shared Values and Principles among all practitioners in all agencies and promoting a culture in which all agencies work well together, regardless of where or who they are.

That within universal services, there is a Named Person, who is in a position to take early action if a child needs help and who can organise that help without delay as part of early intervention, in partnership with the child and their family. Where two or more agencies are working together to meet a child's needs, a practitioner from one of those agencies takes on the role of Lead Professional. Their role is to co-ordinate and monitor agreed actions and be the point of contact for children and their families - making sure they are informed and involved every step of the way.

Building capacity in the workforce in health and education through training, continuing professional development, supervision and mentoring. This is about reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork so that practitioners are freed up to spend time with children and their families. It also means breaking down any barriers between agencies that might be preventing easy access to help when concerns have been identified. This approach will ensure that universal services do all they can, as soon as possible after a concern is identified, rather than leaving action to targeted services once problems have escalated.

Identifying core skills and knowledge and agreeing that these are applicable across the children's workforce. It means ensuring that these are embedded in learning at all levels in all relevant organisations. The Scottish Government is identifying a core skill set and will work with local and national partners to ensure this is implemented across the entire children's workforce.

Reaching national agreement on what we mean by core information about a child and family, what constitutes the key elements of a child's assessment and plan, and agreeing a set of national standards for electronic information sharing, including governance.