Implementing Inclusiveness Realising
Potential
| "Transitions need to be planned,
progressive and holistic.
A national framework should be
developed which provides a coherent and
co-ordinated approach across the country
but which allows for flexible and
responsive delivery at local level."
[Aberdeen Cyrenians]"There is a lack of co-ordination in
planning and funding for bridging the gap
between school, further education and
employment. The whole range of bodies
should be involved - education, health,
employment service, LEC, local authorities
and employers. All these bodies need to
view provision from a social and economic
perspective."
[Real Jobs]To assist young people with special
needs to make the transition, there should
be a coherent strategy, a multi-agency
approach, a lead organisation, access to
information, reduction in duplication of
work with the client, better information
available to young people and their
parents, and flexibility and a phased
transition."
[Association of Directors of
Education] | |
4 Improving Transition: Agencies Working Together
The Issue
4.1 One of the major barriers experienced by young
people and their parents in the transition from school to
further education and training, and in subsequent
transitions, is the lack of effective communication between
agencies.
4.2 This was one of the most consistent themes running
through all our consultation exercises and was the issue
most often raised in our discussions with both individuals
and agencies. It was clear to the Committee that young
people, parents, practitioners and the voluntary sector
experience frustration with the barriers presented by
organisational and funding arrangements in different
agencies. The problems caused by lack of communication
between agencies can result in:
- lack of co-ordination of services: for example,
when a young person may have the opportunity to attend
a college but cannot have the need for transport or a
personal carer met;
- lack of up-to-date, accurate information about the
young person available to the education or training
provider because there are no agreed protocols for
passing on information. There may also be professional
caution about passing on information and this caution
is ultimately unhelpful to the young person;
- lack of co-ordinated and comprehensive information
about learning opportunities, funding or support and
advice services available to young people and their
parents;
- lack of an overall plan which takes into account
all the learning and support needs of the young person,
shared and understood by all the relevant agencies.
This can lead to duplication of learning, discontinuity
and demotivation. It can also lead to insufficient time
spent on development of personal skills and
attributes.
4.3 These are only some of the consequences of a lack of
communication between agencies. It can have a potentially
damaging effect on young people who are likely to need
additional support to make a successful transition to
post-school learning, and on to employment.
The issue is how to tackle the fragmented and
disparate levels of support, advice and information
experienced by young people across Scotland.
The Committee's View
4.4 Inclusiveness demands that the individual should be
at the centre of the decision-making process of all
agencies. The first and most important step in putting
Inclusiveness into practice is to bring together the skills
and resources of all the relevant agencies and
organisations so that they operate for the maximum benefit
of the young person. Organisational and funding structures
should support the individual, not create barriers. An
Inclusiveness approach requires that structures should be
adapted to meet the learning and support needs of the
individual.
4.5 Young people who have additional learning or support
needs are, in the majority of cases, going to require
either direct provision or support from more than one
agency. A young person who has physical disabilities,
sensory impairment or learning disabilities is likely to
require more intensive guidance, perhaps from the careers
service, or some additional equipment or extra assistance
provided through separate funding from the NHS or Social
Work Department. A young person who has problems in getting
access to education or training because of social or
financial circumstances, or low levels of basic or social
skills, may require help from the benefits system, from the
Social Work Department or some form of more intensive
guidance and support.
4.6 Within an Inclusiveness approach to post-school
provision, the young person should be able to get access to
a whole "package" of provision designed to meet his/her
identified learning and support needs. This can only be
achieved if the "system" pulls together to meet the needs
of the whole person. The way in which this is done should
not be a matter of concern for the young person or their
families; it should be the product of "joined-up" thinking
between and across the various agencies and, more
importantly, "joined-up" provision.
Implementing Inclusiveness Network
4.7 To address this fundamental issue the Committee has
developed a proposal for an Implementing Inclusiveness
network. The network should have leadership and strategic
direction at national level and area networks across
Scotland. The strategy for Implementing Inclusiveness
should be taken forward at area level through the
development of area strategies and operational frameworks,
incorporating key worker support for young people and their
parents/carers.
4.8 The purpose of the
Implementing Inclusiveness network will be to ensure that
all young people have access to guidance, further education
and training opportunities and additional support. But it
is also fundamental to our vision of Inclusiveness that
there should be a consistent and coherent service available
across Scotland. To achieve this, we believe that there
must be a national direction and oversight of the new
arrangements. The establishment of the new Scottish
Parliament opens up the opportunity for the Scottish
Executive to take a real and direct role in improving
future learning and support provision for our most
vulnerable young people. We, therefore,
recommend that the Scottish Executive should set up
a National Action Group for Implementing Inclusiveness, to
be chaired by a Minister, to set up local area networks and
to monitor their effectiveness.4.9 It is fundamental to the
purpose and practices of these new networks that they
should operate at both a strategic and operational level.
The aim should be to ensure co-operation and co-ordination
of activities; and to promote sharing of resources, which
should include the co-ordinated application of funding.
The Committee recommends that there should be an
Area Strategy Group for Implementing Inclusiveness that
brings together all the relevant organisations and agencies
in each area to ensure that young people receive all the
learning opportunities and support services that they might
require. The Area Strategy Group should set up an
Implementing Inclusiveness Team to take forward the
management and delivery of the strategy.Proposals and Recommendations
4.10 In this chapter we set out our proposals for action
at national and area level. In Chapter 5 we set out ideas
for key worker support arrangements. We set out below our
recommendations for a National Action Group and area
networks for Implementing Inclusiveness.
National Action Group for Implementing
Inclusiveness
4.11 The National Action Group should be chaired by a
Minister and drawn from high level representatives within
The Scottish Executive Departments, further education,
community education, the enterprise networks, COSLA,
voluntary sector, employers, careers service and training
sector. Consideration should also be given to the most
effective mechanisms for getting the views of young people
and their parents. They may find it difficult to put their
views across in formal meetings. There should be a
consultative mechanism which allows young people to put
their views across in their own way.
4.12 The first task for the
National Action Group should be to review the proposals and
recommendations in this report. We believe that there are
important aspects of our recommendations where it will be
necessary to pilot different approaches to implementation.
In the case of our proposals for area networks, it is our
view that piloting of different models to meet different
local circumstances is the way forward.
We, therefore, recommend that the National Action
Group should set criteria for the establishment of the area
networks. Within those criteria, there should be active
encouragement for diversity of approaches designed to meet
the needs of the area: rural/urban split; size of
population; demographics; pattern of further education and
training provision; and the community learning
plans.4.13 While we discussed the idea
of piloting different models for area networks in 6-8 areas
of Scotland, we concluded that it would be inequitable to
move ahead with improvements in multi-agency working in
some areas, and not in others.
We recommend, therefore, that in the first 3 years
of the area networks every area should be regarded as a
"pilot". The National Action Group should invite
proposals for the formation of area networks on the basis
of the agreed criteria. They should also require an
evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed structure
over a 2 year period. The National Action Group should then
assess the effectiveness of the different models on the
basis of the evaluations and their own regular monitoring
reports.
4.14 By encouraging each area network to pilot a model
appropriate to their own circumstances, the National Action
Group will be well placed to assess what works and what
does not, and to disseminate best practice. Investment in
new structures will be analogous to the provision of
venture capital to companies. Not all the innovations may
prove to be worthwhile but the pay-off from those that do
work should provide a worthwhile return on the initial
funds. In the course of gathering evidence, we were
impressed by the level of innovation displayed by colleges,
training providers, social workers and others in the field.
There is no lack of talent and imagination and it will be a
task for the new area networks, led by the National Action
Group, to foster that kind of thinking by supporting higher
risk strategies and investing to succeed.
4.15 We discuss the arrangements
for collaborative funding later in this chapter but we
accept that there will be additional costs in setting up
new co-ordination mechanisms and
we, therefore, recommend that the National Action
Group makes money available for set-up costs to be awarded
to Area Strategy Groups on approval of the plan.
The total amount of set-up funds should not exceed
£150k.
Area Strategy Group for Implementing
Inclusiveness
4.16 The purpose of the Area Strategy Group should be to
ensure that all young people receive the support that they
require to meet their identified learning and support
needs; and to make the transition from school to
post-school provision, and into employment. The members
should be drawn from high level representatives, including
elected members of local authorities and Board members of
careers service companies, LECs, colleges, training
providers, employers and the voluntary sector. The main
functions of the Area Strategy Group could include:
- bringing together high level representatives of all
agencies which have a role in providing services for
young people making the transition from school to
further education, training or employment (schools,
community education, careers service company, LEC,
social work, voluntary sector, private
sector/employers: and possibly others depending on
local services profile).
- agreeing a strategy for provision of co-ordinated,
accessible and appropriate guidance, education and
training opportunities and support services to meet
individual needs.
- agreeing joint funding to support the
strategy.
- setting up an implementation team(s)to manage the
implementation of the strategy and to co-ordinate the
activities of practitioners from all the relevant
agencies.
- setting up arrangements for key worker support to
be available to young people and their parents/carers;
and establishing a volunteer mentor network. This
should include a training programme and guidelines for
the key workers and mentors, and agreement of liaison
mechanisms between agencies.
- ensuring that there are suitable locations where
young people/families can get direct access to
information and services e.g. through one-stop shops or
centres which could offer a range of activities for
young people but also include information centres or
access to staff who are able to answer questions.
- identifying and addressing gaps in provision or in
the quality of guidance and information systems,
learning opportunities, and support services; and
monitoring the quality of provision.
- monitoring implementation against the strategy
objectives and reporting regularly (twice yearly) to
the National Action Group on the progress and
effectiveness of the strategy.
Key Issues
4.17 There are 3 key issues to be addressed in
establishing area networks. These are:
- the designation of the area
- the designation of a lead agency
- the funding arrangements
Designation of the Area
4.18 The designation will depend on 3 factors:
- the size of the area: it should be sufficiently
large to allow a strategic approach to services and to
have adequate resources available within the area i.e.
funding, learning opportunities and other support;
- the size of the population: it should have a large
enough number of young people in the 16-24 age group to
enable sensible strategic planning and to provide a
client base for provision;
- the range of agencies: it should have the full
spectrum of agencies at a strategic and operational
level to allow both strategic planning and
implementation.
4.19 There are 32 local authorities which have
responsibilities for a wide range of services for young
people including school education, social work, community
education and housing. There is a case for asking local
authorities to form the area networks because they are
already charged with producing Community Plans, Community
Learning Strategies and Plans and Children's Services Plans
in consultation with other agencies. However, in our view,
32 Area Strategy Groups, which would require multiple
representation from other key agencies such as LECs and
careers companies, is too many.
4.20 There are 22 LECs and 17 careers service companies.
We believe that the formation of area networks around these
areas would be more manageable. In the lowlands area and
Argyll and Bute there is a large degree of commonality of
boundaries between LECs and careers companies. Both local
authorities and LECs sit on the boards of careers services
companies. There may be advantages in using the careers
service company areas as the designated areas for area
networks. In the Highlands, there is one careers service
company which is co-terminous with a total of 6 LEC areas
and there are 3 Islands careers companies. There is a case
for separate area networks for the Islands which have their
own LECs, local authorities and career service companies
clearly focused on the specific requirements of their local
populations.
4.21 The Committee is aware of the number of local
partnerships which have been established in recent years.
These include Adult Guidance Networks and Local Learning
Partnerships as well as the more recent move towards
Community Planning and Community Learning strategies
designed to bring together the range of agencies in the
local authority area with a specific focus on learning
opportunities. Clearly, it will be important for the
agencies which develop proposals for the area networks to
take full account of the working arrangements of these
partnerships to avoid duplication of effort and additional
unnecessary burdens on resources. At the same time,
however, we believe that there is a clear case for a
network to promote and support joint working targeted at
vulnerable young people who are at risk of exclusion if
they do not receive support to become more actively engaged
in post-school learning.
4.22
We recommend that there should be 17 area networks
based on the current boundaries of careers service
companies. The Committee has taken the view that
flexibility should be given to the agencies and
organisations in the area to decide which agency would be
best placed to facilitate the establishment of the area
networks. This decision should be based on local
circumstances. The role of this agency is to
initiate the process of planning and to co-ordinate the
setting up of the area networks. The careers service
company may be an appropriate agency to take on this task.
However, once established, the Area Strategy Group should
decide whether to nominate a lead agency.
Funding
4.23 This is potentially one of the most difficult, but
also one of the most important, aspects of the area
networks. A range of individuals and organisations have
expressed the view that funding structures create barriers,
sometimes quite unnecessary barriers, to effective joint
working. Clearly, agencies have specific statutory
responsibilities that require dedicated resources and there
are issues of accountability. There is a perception,
however, that there are other areas where administrative
arrangements and funding systems could be made more
flexible in order to produce maximum benefit for the
community or the individual. Where there is joint funding,
it is often targeted towards specific and relatively
short-term projects. The establishment of area networks
designed to help the most vulnerable young people in our
society could be a catalyst for agencies to look seriously
- and creatively - at how they can apply funding to meet
their needs in a strategic, co-ordinated, and consistent
way. "Joined up" funding would represent a major step
forward.
4.24 The aim of establishing area networks is to ensure
that agencies work more effectively together to provide the
optimum level of learning and support for the young person.
In our view, the objective should be to put in place a
strategic and operational framework which will deploy
resources more effectively rather than create demands for
new resources. We believe that there is a case for pooling
resources to ensure maximum benefit to the young person.
This means pooling of money, staff, buildings and
equipment. We make this point specifically because the
difficulties experienced by some groups in getting access
to buildings "out-of-hours" seems to us to demonstrate how
administrative and organisational practices create
exclusiveness rather than Inclusiveness.
4.25 We fully acknowledge that
pooling of budgets would represent a real change in
practice for agencies and organisations. We believe,
however, that pooling of resources, including pooled
budgets, would create a far greater incentive to make joint
working more effective. Where full pooling of resources is
not currently practicable for legal or other reasons, an
alternative is for members of the Strategy Group, or the
Implementing Inclusiveness Team, to have delegated budgets
from their "parent" agency. They could have authority to
make decisions on spending, and on the management of staff
and other resources. This would allow collective decisions
on the allocation of individual agency resources to support
integrated delivery. The management of pooled budgets would
have to be governed by clearly defined objectives and
criteria agreed as part of the strategic and operational
framework.
We recommend that the National Action Group should
give particular attention to the funding arrangements
proposed in the plans submitted for formation of area
networks and encourage the development of pooled
resources.Implementing Inclusiveness Team(s)
4.26 The purpose of the Implementing Inclusiveness
Team(s) would be to implement the strategy and put in place
arrangements for appropriate multi-agency support for young
people who have been identified as having additional
learning or support needs.
4.27 We envisage that the Team would draw its membership
from senior staff in the relevant agencies. The main task
would be to ensure that there was an operational plan to
take forward the strategy for the area. In large areas,
there may be scope for more than one Team. The size,
composition and remit of local Implementing Inclusiveness
Team(s) will be a matter for the Area Strategy Groups.
4.28 The main functions of the Implementing
Inclusiveness Teams could include:
- co-ordinating the activities of practitioners and
supporting key worker arrangements including the
agreement of protocols for liaison between key worker
and other agencies.
- improving effectiveness of multi-agency working
through information exchange and arranging joint staff
training to
- promote awareness of additional support needs;
- increase understanding and knowledge of the roles and
responsibilities of other agencies.
- making proposals to the Area Strategy Group for
local joint initiatives to meet specific identified
needs of groups of young people e.g. care leavers,
homeless.
- setting up local one-stop centres e.g. building on
suitable youth information points which are already
supported by community education providers, where young
people have direct access to information.
- reporting at least quarterly to the Area Strategy
Group on performance with particular reference to gaps
in provision and specific areas of need.
Monitoring and Review Arrangements
4.29 It will be essential for
the success of the Implementing Inclusiveness network - at
national, area and local level - that there should be
robust and rigorous monitoring arrangements. We have
already proposed that the National Action Group should
require regular reports from the Area Strategy Group, and
that the Strategy Group should require quarterly reports
from the Implementing Inclusiveness Team.
We recommend that the National Action Group should
consider and agree appropriate and regular monitoring
arrangements for the Area Strategy Groups; and that the
Area Strategy Groups should agree monitoring arrangements
with the Implementing Inclusiveness Team(s). The monitoring
should include the arrangements for multi-agency
practitioner teams, key workers and mentors as described in
Chapter 5.Involvement of Young People
4.30 The involvement of young people in the strategic
and operational framework must be an essential element of
developing an Inclusiveness approach. It would be
perpetuating a policy of exclusion if no attempt was made
to involve young people themselves in an area network aimed
at improving the provision of learning and support for
them. There will be no one, universally applicable,
approach since, as we have described, the range of needs
and abilities among young people is so diverse. There are
some structured approaches, for example:
- A Youth Congress
- Surveys of young people
- Pupils' Councils
- Student satisfaction returns in colleges.
4.31 The idea of a Youth Congress which brings together
a wide range of young people is an interesting one. In
Stirling there is a Youth Congress which includes 12-25
year olds. It acts as a representative body and has access
to the different parts of the Council structure on behalf
of young people in the area. Members of the Congress can
make direct representations at Council meetings. The
Congress could also be involved in consultations with other
groups of young people. Similar arrangements, with various
titles, exist, or are developing, in most local authority
areas and form a network under the title Connect Youth. A
steering group of young people, supported by national
agencies and with funding from the Scottish Executive, is
developing a national youth voice - the Scottish Youth
Parliament - on the basis of the network and other youth
agencies.
4.32 For young people who may lack the confidence to
give their views in a more formal setting, there may be
scope to draw on outreach work carried out by community
education workers or voluntary sector organisations. Where
there are one stop centres providing advice and
information, there should be opportunities to get the ideas
and opinions of young people as well as hearing about their
problems. Youth information points are already developing
this kind of activity. The creation of a volunteer mentor
network might also offer a way to tap into the real
concerns and anxieties of young people. Clearly, this would
be a sensitive area and great care would have to be taken
not to breach confidentiality. However, there may be ways
to compile information about the issues that affect young
people using the experiences of the mentors.
4.33 We recommend that the
Area Strategy Groups establish both formal and informal
mechanisms for engaging young people in the
decision-making process about learning and support
provision in the area and for gathering their views and
ideas about future strategies.
Summary of Recommendations
We recommend that:
The Scottish Executive should set up a National
Action Group for Implementing Inclusiveness, to be
chaired by a Minister, to set up local area networks
and monitor their effectiveness. (Paragraph
4.8)
There should be an Area Strategy Group for
Implementing Inclusiveness that brings together all the
relevant organisations and agencies in each area to
ensure that young people receive all the learning
opportunities and support services that they might
require. The Area Strategy Group should set up an
Implementing Inclusiveness Team. (Paragraph
4.9)
The National Action Group should set criteria
for the establishment of the area networks. Within
those criteria, there should be active encouragement
for diversity of approaches designed to meet the needs
of the Area: rural/urban split; size of population;
demographics; pattern of FE and training provision; and
the community learning plans. (Paragraph 4.12)
In the first 3 years of the area networks,
every area should be regarded as a "pilot". (Paragraph
4.13)
The National Action Group should make money
available for set-up costs to be awarded to Area
Strategy Groups on approval of the plan. (Paragraph
4.15)
There should be 17 area networks based on the
current boundaries of careers service companies. The
Committee has taken the view that flexibility should be
given to the agencies and organisations in the area to
decide which agency would be best placed to facilitate
the establishment of the area networks. This decision
should be based on local circumstances. (Paragraph
4.22)
The National Action Group should give
particular attention to the funding arrangements
proposed in the plans submitted for formation of area
networks and encourage the development of pooled
resources. (Paragraph 4.25)
The National Action Group should consider and
agree appropriate and regular monitoring arrangements
for the Area Strategy Group; and the Area Strategy
Group should agree monitoring arrangements with the
Implementing Inclusiveness Teams. The monitoring should
include the arrangements for multi-agency practitioner
teams, key workers and mentors as described in Chapter
5. (Paragraph 4.29)
The Area Strategy Groups should establish both
formal and informal mechanisms for engaging young
people in the decision-making process about learning
and support provision in the area and for gathering
their views and ideas about future strategies.
(Paragraph 4.33)
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