Scottish Government

Community Planning Advice Note on Engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning - Consultation Report

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Purpose

This report outlines the process for the development of the Community Planning Advice Note on Engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning, summarises the results of the consultation which finished on 24 February 2006 and outlines plans for printing and dissemination of the final advice note.

Summary

The Advice Note was developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and Scottish Executive policy teams before a three month public consultation at the beginning of 2006. The Advice Note was well received at consultation, the majority of responses welcomed it and made suggestions about additional content or changes in emphasis. The majority of the comments have been taken into account in re-drafting the advice note. This consultation report discusses common themes emerging at consultation and explains why it has not been possible to reflect some of the points raised in the final text.

The Scottish Executive Community Planning Team would like to thank everyone who responded to the consultation and in particular to those who helped to develop the Advice Note prior to consultation.

Origins of the Advice Note

Community Planning is a process which helps public agencies to work together with the community to plan and deliver better services, which make a real difference to people's lives.

The aims of Community Planning in Scotland are:

• making sure people and communities are genuinely engaged in the decisions made on public services which affect them; allied to
• a commitment from organisations to work together, not apart, in providing better public services.

A statutory duty to engage in Community Planning was placed on certain public bodies through the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. During the Stage 3 debate on the Bill, an amendment was laid which would have identified children and young people as a specific community group to be involved in the Community Planning process. In discussing the amendment, Peter Peacock, then Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services, explained that, in order not to exclude any group, no community group should be identified on the face of the legislation. In developing the policy, however, it was intended that children and young people would play a full part in Community Planning and that the statutory guidance under the Act would mention them. Peter Peacock said the following during the Stage 3 Debate:

" Young people and youth work bodies already make a valuable contribution to the planning and provision of services and their involvement in youth fora and their active citizenship should be an integral part of the community planning process in the future."

" Indeed, there are many examples from throughout Scotland in which young people are being actively encouraged to participate in local decision-making processes in ways that we have never previously seen. We expect that engagement to be enhanced in the future."

Statutory Guidance on Community Planning says that Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs) should consult and co-operate with a wide range of interests "such as young people and youth work bodies who already make a valuable contribution to the planning and provision of services through their involvement in youth forums and their active citizenship."

The advice note on Engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning builds on the provisions of the Act and the statutory guidance. It is intended to help CPPs and individual partners to interpret their responsibilities under the Act to illustrate how engagement is happening in practice and to stimulate an exchange of ideas and experience.

Development of the Advice Note

The Advice Note was developed with help from Community Planning Partnerships, Young Scot, Dialogue Youth, Youth Link Scotland, several voluntary sector organisations including Save the Children and Barnardo's, The Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People and policy makers from the Scottish Executive and other public bodies. A draft framework for the Advice Note was produced and comments were sought, including at the Dialogue Youth Conference in March 2005 and from a group of young people brought together on behalf of the Scottish Executive by Young Scot. Based on feedback from this exercise, a draft of the Advice Note was produced and circulated for further comment. At this stage, in addition to seeking further comments from people previously involved in developing the note, the draft was discussed with Connect Youth at their annual conference and with members of the Scottish Youth Parliament at one of their committee meetings. As a final step before public consultation, pre-consultation checks was carried out to ensure that information in the draft Advice Note was as accurate and up to date as possible, in particular the information in the annexes and examples.

Alongside development of the formal Advice Note, the Executive was keen to provide some information for young people to highlight their rights and encourage them to take opportunities to exercise them. Young Scot was commissioned to bring together a group of young people to discuss the content of the Advice Note and to talk about Community Planning and what it means to them. This session resulted in information for children and young people on Community Planning on the Young Scot Website and in the Young Scot Magazine, distributed through the Daily Record.

Public Consultation Process

Following extensive engagement during development of the Advice Note, the formal consultation was mainly carried out by written consultation. 53 responses were received, several of which were based on meetings or events held to discuss the Advice Note. Scottish Executive staff attended two of these to provide background on the advice note and participate in workshops.

Breakdown of Responses

Of the 53 responses received:

• 16 were from the voluntary sector;
• 16 were from Community Planning Partnerships (including two Social Inclusion Partnerships), in some cases incorporating views from community bodies, young people, voluntary sector organisations, etc.;
• 10 were from Local Authorities (including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA)), in some cases incorporating views from community bodies, young people, voluntary sector organisations, etc.;
• 8 were from individual Community Planning partners with a statutory duty to engage.
• 3 were from other organisations;
• The views of equality groups were fairly well represented in the responses, particularly through the voluntary sector responses. A number of responses included views from groups of children and or young people including looked after children;
• There was no discernable pattern in the views expressed by particular sectors, possibly because many of the responses were from mixed public sector and voluntary sector groups. We see this as a positive reflection of Community Planning practices.

The respondents broadly matched the target audience for the consultation, with reasonable representation from Community Planning Partnerships, the Voluntary Sector and Local Authorities.

Findings From Responses

Overview

• 6 responses were wholly positive, not making any suggested changes to the Advice Note.
• 6 responses offered little or no positive feedback, only focusing on points of change.
• The remainder of the responses welcomed the Note and made specific points about areas which should carry more emphasis or made general points about what should be included. Questions were also raised about links with other policy areas.
• Several respondents commented that the Note had already led them to examine local practice and many offered examples from their own area to add to information on current practice.

Summary Points

Key points in support of the consultation draft:

• The document was considered by many to be a comprehensive, useful and relevant source, covering the key areas, good on policy context and relating well to current practice. Several commented that it was well structured, easy to read and well thought out:

"The advice note is short, well structured and easy to read. The note is useful in that it demonstrates the need to work collaboratively and to plan a more integrated approach to service provision. It reflects issues of practice in youth and children's work alongside the policy perspective." CPP

• Several welcomed the wide target audience, reinforcing that engagement needs to be considered by all, not just by those working directly with children and young people. The points on cross-partner focus and the need for coordination between agencies were also welcomed.

"The Advice Note provides clear, descriptive information on involving children and young people in the community planning process. We welcome the direction of the Advice Note as being aimed at all adults working on issues that may impact on the lives of Scotland's children, not solely those who work with children and young people on a day to day basis." Voluntary Sector Body

• In particular, the links to the National Standards to Community Engagement were generally welcomed.
• Respondents consistently commented that the annexes containing case studies and links to sources for further information were useful.

" Annex B - examples of engagement in practice and Annex C - detailing relevant organisations and resources are both well set out and sufficiently detailed - they alone will assist relevant agencies and services to engage children and young people in community planning structures." Police

• Individual respondents welcomed sections on: managing expectations, citizenship agenda, avoiding tokenism, contribution of engagement to empowerment and building self respect, the need for a variety of approaches, the need to allocate resources, the need for a safe environment, the need to develop skills, recognition of the role of youth work organisations.
• It was suggested by several respondents that it would be important that the Advice Note should be widely publicised, promoted and distributed in order to have an effect. Different formats could be produced, for example on video, CD-ROM, etc.

Changes requested to the Advice Note

Many detailed comments were received on the text of the Advice Note. Annex A contains a summary of the points organised by the sections of the advice note. Where possible, we have amended the Note to make suggested changes. Some themes which emerged in the comments were:

1)

There were some calls for the Advice Note to be stronger in terms of the requirement to consult - for consultation to be mandatory, for the statutory basis and arrangements for audit to be emphasised, for demonstrating consultation to be made a requirement in funding or to be made a standard part of plans. For example:

Others felt that the Advice Note was clear enough in this area:

Discussion:

Community Planning, and other measures in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, were intended to promote trust within a framework, giving responsibility to local authorities and their partners to enable delivery of better and more responsive public services. Accordingly, our approach to supporting CPPs is focused on facilitation rather than prescription. As it stands, the Advice Nnote does outline other existing requirements and duties to involve children and young people, for example under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and through Integrated Children's Services Planning. It would be inconsistent with our policy on Community Planning to make this Advice Note more prescriptive.

The Advice Note is deliberately focused on potential improvements to service delivery as well as benefits for the individuals involved and society as a consequence of engagement. While the statutory duty does provide an incentive for bodies to engage community groups, we don't think that this is the key reason why they should do so. Engagement needs to be accompanied by a real willingness to use the information gained constructively and we would argue that this will only come from bodies seeing the benefits of engagement rather than the penalties for not engaging.

2)

There were a number of points made about different strands of guidance from different areas and how these fit together, for example:

Discussion:

The Integrated Children's Services planning guidance does ask that the plan include confirmation of the processes for engaging with children, young people and their families and the wider public in their planning process and links this engagement with requirements in relation to Community Planning. It also cites the Scottish Ministers' Vision for Children and Young People - and advises local partners to consider how best to respond to the statements within the Vision when developing their own vision statements and plans. Engaging children and young people in Community Planning is, however, not just about involving them in planning of children's services. We need to see them as citizens in receipt of a full range of services, and this is stressed in the Advice Note. If the Advice Note were incorporated within the Integrated Children's Services Guidance, it would make it less likely that people involved in, for example, environment or housing would see it as being for them.

From a purely practical point of view, while we appreciate the difficulty in looking across the complex range of public services and related guidance, it would be impractical to incorporate this level of detail on engagement into Integrated Children's Services guidance or other guidance for particular policy areas. Community Planning is such a cross-cutting area that the only practical way to approach this is to try to ensure effective cross-referencing of guidance. A reference to the Advice Note will be added to the revised Integrated Children's Services planning guidance which is currently being developed.

Similar arguments apply to the relationship with the Youth Work Strategy. A consultation on the Youth Work Strategy - "Youth Work - Opportunities for All" is currently being carried out. Responses to the consultation will help the Executive develop a national strategy for youth work, as set out in the Partnership Agreement. The consultation paper includes information on Community Planning and young people's involvement in the process. We will be inviting views on how to involve more young people in the Community Planning process and any additional training and support that they may need. Any views on youth work and Community Planning should be fed into the formal consultation process.

3)

There was general interest in audit/enforcement/requirements for quality improvement. For example:

and

Discussion:

We do not specifically monitor usage or compliance with Community Planning Advice Notes, and we have no plans to do so. The Advice Notes are intended as a source of information rather than as rigid guidelines. Community Planning draws together different strands of work across the public sector, and there will always be a need for different frameworks at a local level, for example to deal with housing, social work, or Community Learning and Development ( CLD). This Advice Note is an overarching document, pointing out the need to make sure that engagement with children and young people is a core part of all service provision, not just those with obvious links to children such as children's services. Similarly, use of the National Standards for Community Engagement by individual partnerships will not be evaluated centrally, as the focus should be on local development and improvement.

Integrated Children's Services Planning - Quality Improvement Framework

The Scottish Executive would not want to see a specific audit or monitoring requirement to evaluate whether children and young people are engaged in planning and evaluating children's services. However, we will be asking challenging questions to local integrated children's services partnerships about the extent to which children and young people are engaged, together with evidence on how effectively they are involved, as evidenced through improved outcomes for all children and young people. Similar questions will also form an important part of the methodology for joint inspection for children's services. The model introduced for improving the quality of children's services, Integrated Children's Services Planning - Quality Improvement Framework i.e. self-evaluation by local partnerships, backed up by independent joint inspection, should provide a sufficient driver to support efforts to improve the involvement of children and young people.

Links to the Regeneration Outcome Agreement ( ROA)

Communities Scotland is at an early stage on ROAs, the first annual report is due in summer 2006 from all CPPs and the point relating to indicators is noted. Communities Scotland will use its Performance Management Framework to seek improvements and reduce bureaucracy, building on the experience from both the annual reports and our own internal analysis on outcome achievement, including use of indicators. A piece of work is also being carried out to look at evidence of community engagement in ROAs and the annual reports, and a report is expected later this year.

Independent Review of Regulation, Audit Inspection and complaints handling of devolved public services in Scotland

The Executive has recently announced an independent review of the current arrangements for regulation, audit, inspection and procedures for formal external investigation of complaints relating to devolved public services in Scotland. The review will recommend how to ensure that that the scrutiny regime is fit for purpose in a reformed public sector, and it will pave the way for more proportionate and streamlined regulation of public services. The review will be led by an independent Chair, Professor Lorne Crerar, and will last approximately 12 months. It will produce an interim report to Ministers in early 2007, followed by a final report and recommendations.

4)

There were also conflicting views on whether the note is or should be a toolkit - some people felt that the note had gone too far towards becoming a toolkit (which is not its stated aim), but others thought it did not go far enough and should contain more detail on approaches and techniques. For example:

Discussion:

The Advice Note is not intended to be a toolkit as it is not primarily targeted at those involved in day to day engagement activity and we have refined the section on the target audience to make this clearer. However, the Annex using the National Standards as a framework for a strategic discussion on 'how well the partnership is doing in engaging children and young people' was widely welcomed as being useful. There are lots of hands on toolkits available and organisations with specialist expertise, and the purpose of Annex A is to direct people to these resources. We will be adding quite a few points of detail to the Advice Note, based on specific feedback, including a section on working with hard to reach groups, which we hope will address any gaps in information.

5)

Points raised on resources for engagement - there were repeated points raised relating to the level of resources needed to work effectively with children and young people and, from some areas, a feeling of dissatisfaction with the seriousness with which engagement is taken, as well as some more detailed comments, for example, asking for advice in relation to delegating budgets to youth groups in relation to following the public pound. For example:

Discussion:

The section on resources in the Advice Note has been re-written and expanded following the consultation.

While the Executive does not provide ring-fenced funding to support engagement with children and young people through Community Planning, it does provide substantial support and resources through a number of routes. For example:

• Dialogue Youth was piloted in three areas with support from the first round of the Modernising Government Fund, and the second round of the Modernising Government Fund provided £5.4m to roll out Dialogue Youth to the remaining Local Authorities supported by Young Scot and led by COSLA.
• Funding for YouthLink Scotland to support the youth work sector in general and, in particular, to provide training sessions on community planning to groups of young people and to run workshops to encourage more involvement by voluntary organisations which work with young people. Support is also provided to Young Scot to deliver high quality local and national information for young people and to the Scottish Youth Parliament to encourage young people's participation and represent their views at a national level.

Work done by Learning Connections in Communities Scotland. For example:

• the development of National Standards for Community Engagement;
• a Standards Support Programme including hands on consultancy support and additional practical support material to help with using the Standards. The Standards Support Programme has been extended to 2006-07;
• the Community Voices Programme, which aims to ensure that community representatives, volunteers and residents in the most disadvantaged communities in Scotland can influence the services and regeneration activity in their area.

6)

Several responses asked for a more detailed discussions or further references to the United Nations Charter on the Rights of the Child. For example, a voluntary sector body said: "It would be helpful if the final version of the Note is framed around the language of 'rights'. This would set the tone for the rest of the note and the rationale for seeking to promote engagement with children and young people.… Explicit reference could be made to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ( UNCRC), in particular article 12, in the introduction.… Further, a more clearly expressed reference to the Scottish Executive's responsibility to uphold the UNCRC (given the UK Government is a signatory) would be useful."

Discussion:

While the main focus of the Advice Note is on improving services, the importance of the UNCRC is recognised and the Advice Note has been re-worded to raise its profile.

7)

Age range covered by the Advice Note - a few respondents said that the Note should specify the age range of the children and young people it relates to.

Discussion:

We deliberately did not use a defined age range in the draft text as definitions of children and young people vary so much, for example, the Youth Link statement on the nature and purpose of youth work uses the range 11-25 but younger (and older people) could be included, while in Europe the tendency is to go up to 30 years. While age can be a useful shorthand, approaches used for engagement should be appropriate to the capacity of the individual or group to engage and the situation of the children and young people involved, rather than relating to numerical age. We have now explained this thinking in the Advice Note.

8)

Links to policy areas - Some responses have commented that they would like the advice note to be set more clearly in the context of Integrated Children's Services Planning, For Scotland's children, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the work of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Children's Services and various schools initiatives and other policy initiatives. Others thought that the Advice Note set the policy context for involving children and young people well.

Discussion:

We had originally planned to include an annex on related Executive policy areas, but it proved too difficult to know where to draw the line on which to include, as almost all areas of work touch on children and young people. We have made some further links to policy areas in the Advice Note but the text is already long and the number of relevant areas makes it difficult to give a meaningful level of detail. We think that the Advice Note reflects the complexity of Community Planning and is of relevance to a range of partners.

9)

Comments on language and format were mixed, while some responses thought the draft was well structured, easy to read and well thought out, others thought that the language could be simplified as it made for a heavy read, that it was too long and contained too much jargon. The question of whether the Advice Note should be accessible to children was raised.

Discussion:

We have tried to simplify the language where possible. It would be impossible to write an Advice Note which had the right tone and style for all audiences. There are multiple references to complex ideas and a need to cover a very broad range of ideas which makes it difficult to write in truly plain English. We have tried to make it as simple as we can while including enough detail to be meaningful and cover all the interests who wish to be represented. We think that it is consistent with other policy material likely to be used by the main target audience. Text developed by and for young people on Community Planning and how to get involved is available on the Young Scot website.

Annex A contains a summary of responses broken down by the sections of the Advice Note.

Conclusions

There was a good level of agreement on the substance of the Advice Note in the consultation and most changes requested related to points of detail or emphasis. We have made changes where possible, and the consultation exercise has helped significantly to complete and refine the text. The more complex issues raised, relating to interaction with other policy areas, scrutiny, etc. are more difficult to resolve in isolation, but work under way on public service reform is intended to make progress in these areas.

Next steps

The advice note is currently being printed and paper copies will be distributed as soon as it is ready. The advice note will also be available via the Community Planning website and will be distributed to the following groups.

• CPPs and individual partners
• Consultation addressees
• Consultation respondees
• Youthlink networks and forums, e-bulletin and Link magazine
• Dialogue Youth website
• CP Network and related officer networks, e.g. Local Enterprise Forum Coordinators, Community Health Partnership Managers
• Children in Scotland Participation Network
• Via Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People ( SCCYP) Newsletter, Detached Youth Workers and Children's Right Officers
• Community Councils

A section will also be developed on the Community Planning Website to publicise the Advice Note and to make available associated materials such as additional information on practice submitted during the consultation.

Annexes

Annex A Summary of responses by section of the Advice Note

Annex B Consultation Paper, including distribution list

Annex C Respondee list

Annex A

Specific Comments on Sections of the Advice Note

Introduction

• Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should be mentioned in the introduction.
• The introduction should be strengthened by a clearer definition of consultation and expectations in relation to outcomes including the four basic levels of involvement i.e. information, consultation, participation and empowerment.

1. Who is the Advice Note for?

• The note should include a definition of what is meant by children and young people as perceptions vary so much, some people think school age while others would include people up to the age of 25. The age and role of children and young people influences the nature of consultation for example young people can also be parents or carers.
• Community Planning has the potential to assist in the coordination of local structures for youth engagement across partner agencies. There is a need for a more explicit discussion of joint responsibility by partners for engaging children and young people and provide a framework for partners working together. Responsibility lies with all partners and departments, not just those services traditionally recognised as having a role.
• Community sector organisations should be added to the target audience as they are major providers in the area.
• Children and young people need to understand and accept responsibilities to and within the community.
• It appears that engagement will have to be Local Authority lead which leaves other partners slightly at their mercy.

2. Why engage with children and young people?

• There is a need for a more open debate on participatory and representative democracy/decision taking/democratic structures in the CP context.
• The Advice Note does not go far enough; it needs to do more than expand on existing guidance. It needs to forcefully make the case for meaningful consultation with children and young people to maximise the push for action. Consultation should be compulsory.
• The statutory duty and responsibilities need to be emphasised in the Advice Note. Children and young people are under-represented in Community Planning and this will continue unless the statutory duty is emphasised to underpin culture change resulting in CPPs allocating resources.
• The note should refer to the National Standards for Community Engagement early in the narrative - practice should lead the way rather than standards being applied as a post hoc quality assurance.
• The language in this section should be framed around the rights of the child. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should appear at the top of the section to set the scene and a clearer expression of Scottish Executive support for the UNCRC would be helpful.
• It is difficult to act on different Advice Notes, and advice to individual partners should be updated in the light of this Advice Note. Rather than cross-referring between advice, it would be better to integrate it with other key guidance, for example on Integrated Children's Services Guidance, in the spirit of efficient government and streamlining bureaucracy. The complexity of the Advice Note flags up huge complexity surrounding Community Planning.
• Given the focus of the note it would be useful to anchor content more firmly in CP themes. Better links should be made in the advice note to various areas of work:
• The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, For Scotland's Children, Integrated Children's Service Plans and the national vision for children and young people being progressed by the Cabinet Delivery Group on Children's Services;
• Curriculum for excellence and role of schools - Health Promoting Schools, Integrated Community Schools and Learning Communities;
• Patient Focus Public Involvement, Community Health Partnerships, Public Partnership Forums;
• Children's Hearings System and Review of Social Work.
• Greater emphasis should be placed on involving young people in wider issues - transport, health, etc. - not just issues that are seen as youth issues.
• Care should be taken not to create a checklist mentality - the note needs to appeal to the values of the reader.
• In discussing the citizenship agenda, there is a need to balance development of citizens of the future and children of now - both are important. More could be made of the benefits of a greater sense of belonging - re-engaging the disengaged through participation.
• The section on child protection should be incorporated with service planning, it does not seem an appropriate entry in this section.
• While many young people want to participate, due to feelings of disengagement and disempowerment, many will not. The note should explore in more detail the barriers to participation and how using a range of approaches, youth work and capacity building can help overcome them. Ongoing relationships and the credibility of those involved are critical.

3. What makes for effective engagement?

• The note fails to provide a framework for engagement. The content is unlikely to stimulate an exchange of ideas and it is doubtful that an advice note can achieve this.
• In places, the Advice Note goes beyond a high level overview and becomes more a toolkit which is not its stated aim.
• It would be useful to see the Advice Note as part of a package including, for example training, and a resource kit. A standard approach to engaging is needed with a degree of flexibility. The note should include standards and criteria for engaging with children and young people. A lack of prescription is welcomed but it would be helpful if the Advice Note contained more information on different ways of talking an listening to children and young people, along the lines of the one included in "Children are Service Users Too" by Save the Children.
• A framework for national guidance, funding and monitoring would ensure appropriate status for engagement. Standards could then become conditions of grant for CPPs.
• What expectations are there in relation to quality improvement and inspecting the standards? Will there be two tiers of activity, one for children's services and the other for Community Planning?
• There is a need to join up the range of guidance available relating to young people including Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education ( HMIE) framework for CLD. Additional monitoring frameworks should not be added where existing ones are effective.
• Consideration should be given to standardising national indicators in relation to young people and Regeneration Outcome Agreements.

3.1 Commitment

3.1.1. Sustainable structures and strategic commitment

• Community Planning is about services and not structures: the note should emphasise the importance of seeing a change as a result of engagement - no matter how small.
• The note should include an explicit point about the need for local coordination, including of evaluation, to make sure the whole process is meaningful and of a high standard, to avoid overlap in engagement activity and to ensure that all partners make use of the information gathered through engagement. Too many interlinked groups result in lack of clarity/responsibility, both at Community and Agency level. Formal structures may result in some people falling through the gaps.
• The Advice Note should direct organisations to review their existing consultation practices and provide more detail on the specific responsibilities of partners.
• There is a need for capacity building in partner agencies as well as CLD partnerships. This is everyone's business, there needs to be an agreed standard which means that people take responsibility and develop appropriate skills. Community Planning can seem an abstract concept, engagement needs to build cumulatively to be meaningful.
• Engagement is more effective if on young people's concerns rather than agency priorities.
• Young People should be able to opt into what they want to talk about or only those who are used to participating will be involved.

3.1.2. Resources

• Resources need to be provided by central as well as local government - this is another un-resourced initiative. Community Engagement is not sufficiently well funded, valued or understood to be delivered effectively for any section of society. People are not given real choices or quality information.
• The note should be more explicit on the reality of competing/conflicting demands in funding and resources. Engagement is now relevant to a far wider range of professionals than in the past and time and resource implications should not be underestimated. It takes tolerance, patience and willingness to get communities to work together towards a common goal.
• Resource implications are long term, ongoing training and support are needed to develop the right culture. In particular, there are severe resource issues in working with hard to reach groups.
• Partners are often restricted in offering ongoing running costs as opposed to project costs; it would be useful if the note highlighted front end costs and the need for partners to work together on community engagement.
• Firmer guidance would be useful on involving children and young people in decision-making about resources, including how this fits with public sector governance requirements such as Following the Public Pound.
• Experienced staff with a prior knowledge of the group involved are a key resource. Access to the right equipment and other physical resources is also important.

3.1.3. Policy proofing

• All local plans could include an appendix indicating how communities have been involved and what the impact has been.
• CPPs could add a criteria for engaging children and young people in funding application forms.

• The Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People is working on a model for Child Impact Assessments for looking at decisions, practice, policy or legislation and identifying and measuring the effect on children and young people.

3.1.4. Culture change

• Empowerment is at the heart of engagement. There is a need to make sure CPPs understand the duty beyond consultation to real co-operation throughout the process and to recognise and address the current imbalance of power between agencies and children and young people.
• Adults require insight, understanding and awareness to engage effectively with young people. There is a need to avoid assumptions and build an open, honest relationship, based on mutual respect.
• Youthwork could be drawn out as a more explicit vehicle for change.
• Pressures on participating organisations sometimes impinge on their ability to fully meet commitment to the child rights approach. The section should make the point that systematic use of evidence to ensure that those involved in wider decision-making structures understand how participation can become an established way of working.
• Training should feature more heavily in the Advice Note, both for staff and for young people. Young people need to develop skills - for example Bored Meetings, produced by Edinburgh Youth Social Inclusion Partnership, explores the most effective ways for young people to take part in formal meetings.
• It would be useful to have a plan for how to initiate culture change in CPPs.

3.2 Tailoring your approach

The following comments were made in relation to engagement processes:

• The note should place more emphasis on diversity and inclusion, seeking support for real engagement with equalities groups in the broadest sense. CPPs should have an awareness of ethnic make up and equalities issues for their area.
• There needs to be a range of ways of engaging, structures for continuous involvement as well as one-off events. A section should be added on how children and young people can take ownership of service improvement and re-design, allowing agencies to demonstrate confidence in them.
• The role that the voluntary and community sector can play in supporting engagement needs to be recognised. There is a need for sustainable funding and support for these organisations, including accessible information - minutes, agendas, reports.
• Further information is required on links to specialist workers and consultation techniques alongside recognition of the additional resources or expertise required to work with minority groups. Groups mentioned those with learning disabilities, black and ethnic minorities, gypsies and asylum seekers, those with chaotic lives or coping with drug abuse, those not in education, employment or training, those in abuse situations, the socially excluded
• There is a need for a proper planning period before embarking on consultation. Research the group to understand their issues and concerns, and take time to build relationships with children and young people. Coming in 'cold' can be damaging.
• Innovative approaches and partner time working with the community are needed to build up capacity within the group. Community engagement is a process, and with hard to reach groups there may be a longer lead time to achieve full engagement.
• Sustainability of approach over time is important, long term commitment and an investment of expertise, finance and staff time are needed.
• Diverse processes and organisations are needed to reach out to communities, not just the obvious ones. A network across the statutory and voluntary sectors and young people, making links across different policies, mixing consultation and representation. A network gives a range of ways of disseminating information and getting access to young people's views without setting up specific consultations.
• Consideration should be given to maximising existing structures at local and national level to facilitate discussion and stimulate ideas through the involvement of young people.
• Links should be identified with existing engagement structures, such as the Scottish Youth Parliament, Dialogue Youth, Community Councils.
• The transient nature of young people and children creates challenges for continuing engagement, age cohorts pass through quickly. Its important not to engage repeatedly with the same group
• Groups are not homogeneous, a tailored/flexible approach is required to meet the needs and expectations of the individual.
• There are many competing demands on young people's time, incentives may be needed for them to be motivated, for example accreditation, social opportunities, remuneration, achieving quick wins. Remuneration might help tackle financial exclusion.
• Youth led initiatives, not within a formal framework, could be supported by an amateur to help them achieve their objectives in terms of empowerment and contribute to Community Planning and other democratic processes.
• Volunteering makes an essential contribution to make sure that children and young people are able to participate.
• Approaches should be fun, user friendly and interactive where possible, for example artwork, drama, music, video, photography, peer research, campaigning, fund raising, developing resources, etc. More information would be useful on the use of technology, for example on-line discussions, texting, electronic voting systems - these can be particularly useful in rural areas.
• Young people need a range of information and communication channels. Information should be clear and jargon free, in relevant formats and languages. Body language is also an important form of communication for children and young people.
• Young people quite often want to speak to other young people rather than to adults, for example young people were interviewers in the Viewfinder 2 Survey. Young people can also be involved by planning initiatives/meetings themselves.
• Young people want to be consulted in their own area or at events that they are already involved in, for example fun days, not always to have to come to adult events. But it is also important to recognise engagement that takes place alongside adult population, as part of the mainstream. One option is to use existing structures/services rather than creating new ones - or to change mainstream structures, for example youth themed committee meetings.

3.2.1. Involving Children

• The note includes less information on children than young people, additional information on techniques for children would be useful, including the importance of developing good practice from early years in order to develop skills.
• Children often rely on their parents to represent views but young people at a different stage, approaches should relate to ability and experience, not just the age of the person.
• A different approach needed for children under 5 years. Younger children can get used to engagement by being involved in decisions on small points.
• The note should stress the importance of getting views direct from children if possible but also include information on good practice for advocates.

3.2.2. Start from the child's or young person's perspective

• Its not about fitting children in to groups but about thinking of them as individuals, words like excluded and discriminated against reinforce the stereotype
• It is important to make sure that all age ranges are captured. The approach should relate to the capabilities of those involved rather than their age.

3.2.3. Supporting personal development

• The note should emphasise training on an ongoing basis for children and young people and giving them opportunities to use their skills. It should also make reference to accreditation for young people's input e.g. under Duke of Edinburgh Awards or the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network ( ASDAN),

• A link should be made with the Curriculum for Excellence - "effective contributors" and "effective citizens" - schools have a critical role to play in developing youth citizenship and engagement.
• The note should be more explicit on the need to engage to build up confidence and should give a more detailed explanation of the positive long-term effects of collaboration on youth behaviour, lack of self-belief is a principal cause of disengagement.
• A sense of place is important for children and young people in order to develop ownership over what happens in their lives, this is only possible if they feel empowered and have a strong sense of local identity.

3.2.4. Managing expectations

• Accurate information should be provided at regular intervals in the engagement process and participants should be provided with feedback, highlighting the significance of their views.
• Young people need some shorter term goals to maintain interest and motivation, time may be a difficult concept for some groups. Equally, people planning engagement need to take into account that timescales for bringing children and young people to the point where they can be involved effectively are longer.
• Young people need to know that participation doesn't always result in what you want. They need to be made aware of the limitations and constraints in delivering public services while not stifling motivation, balancing raising expectations of what they are entitled to with raising their expectations to the point that they will be disappointed.
• There is a need to balance process and outcomes. Young people will be turned off if nothing changes and they don't hear why. The focus should be on a dialogue where professionals trust young people and are honest with them about expectations and limitations.
• The note should include a section on helping children and young people understand how and where their comments can make a difference, understanding where they are represented in the network of various stakeholder groups.

3.2.5. Make connections with personal needs

• Developing youth diversionary activities such as twilight leagues can assist in tackling issues using an integrated approach.

3.2.6. Avoid tokenism

• Be honest about the desired outcome of the engagement, only engage if you have a genuine intention to make changes.

3.3 A safe environment

• This section needs to be more extensive to be effective. It would be helpful, given concern surrounding working with children and young people, to add information on how safeguards can be put in place or refer to guidance. For example the Central Registered Body in Scotland for Voluntary Organisations.
• A section on a safe environment (and on Child Protection) would also need to include information on risk assessment, health and safety etc, it would be better to signpost other guidance than to include detail in the note.

3.3.1. Child protection

• More emphasis could be placed on need to listen in abuse situations.
• Elected Members should be included in this section.
• Explicit links should be made with 2.6, setting child protection within the context of the national reform programme.
• The advice note should include an extract from Scottish Executive Guidance on Child Protection Committees relating to links with Community Planning.
• Disclosure Scotland checks should be stressed as a legal obligation for all staff engaged in with children and young people.

3.3.2. Ethical standards

• A definition of ethical standards is needed.
• The note should refer to the draft code of practice for working with children and young people, developed by the Market Research Society, which offers practical advice.

3.4 National Standards for Community Engagement

• If the Standards have been tested with young people, it would be helpful to present lessons in this section.

Comments on evaluation frameworks, quality improvement and evaluation

• The advice note should include a list of essential values and principles underpinning involvement of children and young people.
• Would like to see a kitemark for young people's participation, along the lines of "Hear by Right", which could be progressed at either a national or a local level. National guidance and standards coupled with funding and monitoring would ensure that the status and practice of involving children and young people was raised. Such standards could then become a condition of grant for CPPs.
• What is expected with regard to quality improvement and inspecting the standards? Will there be a two tier system where children's services and Community Planning are treated separately? No group can be seen in isolation within Community Planning.
• Consideration should be given to standardising national indicators in relation to young people in Regeneration Outcome Agreements.
• There is a need to join up the range of guidance available relating to young people including the HMIE framework for Community Learning and Development.
• The note should contain more information on systems for monitoring, evaluating and improving involvement and young people should be involved in these processes. In evaluating approaches, think about why some groups are not contributing for example there may be factors such as transport, opening hours. In engaging with hard to reach groups there may there may be other factors which impact on dynamics such as territoriality in gang culture. Research was suggested in to why hard to reach groups are not heard within existing mechanisms.
• The development of the Assessment is for Learning initiative in education centres is of relevance. In order to embed new values and ways of working it will be necessary to develop monitoring and evaluation of practice in engagement.

Annex A of the Advice Note: A series of prompts under the Standards for Community Engagement

• This section should cross-refer to work being done on equalities and the National Standards by the Scottish Centre for Community Development.
• The question format assumes that partners understand the questions and where to get information. Use of terms like open space and appreciative enquiry could create confusion and should be defined.
• The safety of children should be added to practical issues to be taken in to account in supporting children.

Annex B of the Advice Note: Provides examples of existing approaches to engaging children and young people in Scotland and what has been learned from these.

• More detail is needed in the case studies, including resource implications of approaches, their efficacy and sustainability.
• More strategic case studies should be added and a more comprehensive list of reference sources.
• Examples are slanted towards young people, more could be included which focus on children.
• There is a need to equality proof the case studies.
• Would be good to see examples which have fallen short of expectations to draw out learning points.
• Examples should be categorised under common Community Planning themes.

Annex C of the Advice Note: Lists organisations and resources offering additional sources of information and advice.

• Links should be provided to organisations that might help with engagement with excluded children and young people.
• The presentation of information on sources and websites is unwieldy.
• Further references should be added to the Annex.

Consultation on Advice Note on Engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning

This consultation seeks views on a draft Advice Note on Engaging Children and Young People in Community Planning. The Advice Note adds to existing Community Planning Advice Notes (especially Advice Note 5 on Effective Community Engagement), published to build on the Statutory Guidance issued under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, and on the National Standards for Community Engagement. Copies of the statutory guidance on Community Planning and existing Advice Notes can be found here.

The National Standards for Community Engagement can be found here.

The Advice Note is intended to help Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs) and their individual partners to interpret their responsibilities under the Act and other relevant legislation and to stimulate an exchange of ideas, experience and learning. Relevant bodies include Local Authorities, National Health Service Boards, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Joint Police Boards and Chief Constables, Joint Fire Boards, Communities Scotland, Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority, Regional Transport Partnerships, and other public bodies, voluntary sector organisations and private sector organisations participating in Community Planning. The note is not just for those involved directly in working with children and young people but also for people who make decisions about planning and resources, Chief Executives, service planners and managers.

The Advice Note sets out why it is important to engage with children and young people and draws together and highlights existing practice, learning points and materials which Community Planning Partnerships may find useful. The Advice Note is deliberately descriptive rather than prescriptive, it does not constitute a new policy statement but builds on existing policy on Community Planning set out in the Statutory Guidance. The potential audience for the Advice Note is very broad and it therefore gives a high level overview and offers further contacts and links for investigation; it is not intended as a hands-on toolkit.

The Executive has worked with stakeholders to produce the draft Advice Note and would like to thank those who have offered their views, in particular, Youthlink, Dialogue Youth, Young Scot, Barnardo's and Save the Children.

Through this consultation we are seeking views on whether the Advice Note is:

• complete - does it make reference to the major points relating to engaging children and young people relevant to the audience outlined above?

• useful and relevant - will it help the target audience in planning and carrying out engagement activity?

The consultation is about what should form the content of the Advice Note. We are not seeking views on related policy areas mentioned in the Advice Note.

The consultation has been sent to:

• Association of Chief Police Officers ( ACPOS)
• Barnardo's
• Chairs of Community Planning Partnerships
• Chief Constables
• Chief Executives of NHS Boards
• Children 1st
• Children in Scotland
• Children's Parliament
• Commissioner for Children and Young
• Communities Scotland
• Community Learning and Development Managers
• Community Planning Network
• Connect Youth
• COSLA
• Dialogue Youth
• Firemasters
• Leaders of Administrations
• Local Authority Chief Executives
• Local Authority Heads of Social Work, Education and Community Services,
• Local Enterprise Companies Chief Executives
• Save the Children
• Scottish Youth Parliament
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations ( SCVO)
• The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives ( SOLACE)
• Young Scot
• Youthlink

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by 25 February 2006. Please send your response to:

community.planning@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

or

Community Planning Team

Public Service Performance and Improvement Division

3H South

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

If you have any queries contact Stephen Krzyzanowski on 0131 244 0420

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which parts of the Advice Note you are commenting on as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Executive website. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for consultations: SEconsult. This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form, attached to this letter, as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (on the attached Respondent Information Form), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library by 25 March 2006 We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the Scottish Executive Library on 0131 244 4565. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on a final text for the Advice Note. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process by 7 April 2006 and plan to publish the Advice Note as soon as necessary changes can be made. The exact date will depend on how substantially it needs to be revised.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to

Name: Stephen Krzyzanowski

Address:

Community Planning Team

Public Service Performance and Improvement Division

3H South

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

E-mail: community.planning@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Please complete the details below and return it with your response. This will help ensure we handle your response appropriately. Thank you for your help.

Name:

Postal Address:

1. Are you responding: (please tick one box)

(a) as an individual ÿ go to Q2a/b and then Q4

(b) on behalf of a group/organisation ÿ go to Q3 and then Q4

Individuals

2a. Do you agree to your response being made available to the public (in Scottish Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website)?

Yes (go to 2b below) ¢

No, not at all ÿ We will treat your response as confidential

2b. Where confidentiality is not requested, we will make your response available to the public on the following basis ( please tick one of the following boxes)

Yes, make my response, name and address all available ÿ

Yes, make my response available, but not my name or address ÿ

Yes, make my response and name available, but not my address ÿ

On behalf of groups or organisations:

3 The name and address of your organisation will be made available to the public (in the Scottish Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website). Are you also content for your response to be made available?

Yes ÿ

No ÿ We will treat your response as confidential

Sharing responses and future engagement

4 We will share your response internally with other Scottish Executive policy teams who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to do so. Are you content for the Scottish Executive to contact you again in the future in relation to this consultation response?

Yes ÿ

No ÿ

The Scottish Executive Consultation Process

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Executive encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).

All Scottish Executive consultation papers and related publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be accessed at: Scottish Executive consultations.

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

Annex C

Respondee list