Transformation of Whole Family Support is Coming
In Scotland, we are constantly wrestling with how we truly transform public services to ensure that they are person-centred, meeting the needs of communities and delivering best value. And this desire for change is being felt acutely right now with policy makers and practitioners attempting to chart a course through heart-wrenching austerity and political turmoil.
Here in Clackmannanshire, we are using the current context as a catalyst to deliver on our ambitions for change. To look for new solutions by working with our communities in a whole new way. Our drivers include the current fiscal climate, but also recognise the urgent need to invest in preventative working, to remove system barriers, and a general recognition that in so many ways the status quo is failing people.
We are working to pool public sector funding, strategically align with external investors and grant making bodies in order, over time, to develop a new model for managing funding in a way that delivers improved outcomes for individuals, families and communities. Alongside this we have developed a single plan and reporting framework that articulates our accountabilities against a simple set of outcomes that deliver on local and national priorities.
By doing this we are creating a Transformation Space that will break new ground, giving a strong voice to Clackmannanshire communities on identifying both needs and solutions, and in creating a more equitable power balance between state and community. At the same time the space will provide other key partners across Clackmannanshire with a mutually beneficial framework for genuine collaboration.
When this is realised, it will herald a new era of trust between national and local governments. It will see the relinquishing of control at national level and bring improvements in how we work in the Council and with our partners.
Shifting the rigid tramlines that the current funding and reporting requirements force us into is an important and exciting part of the transformation agenda, but structural change alone is not enough. You cannot just “Plug and Play” a new model into a broken system and expect that to solve the issues we face.
It is our experience that our communities and our staff are central to planning and designing the changes we see as key to this success. It has taken us several years to create the conditions that are enabling our vision to be realised. Working alongside staff to distribute the leadership more widely and to enable them to genuinely lead the transformation we collectively seek. And in doing so our relationship with communities is changing but there is still more work to do.
What Matters to You (WM2U) is integral to the Family Wellbeing Partnership and is supporting us to truly listen and be alongside families and staff, as we learn together to deliver change that will lead to positive outcomes for families. Jane Carter from WM2U is now embedded in Clackmannanshire to work with us. WM2U are also helping us to understand how we can record and report better, documenting our learning and the change we are delivering. If this change is to be achieved and sustained, we need evidence and reports that help us understand how we are improving; what we are doing right and what we must get better at.
In Clackmannanshire, we are already doing data differently. We don’t want to continue counting numbers in isolation. We must also gather the many powerful and varied stories which capture the depth and impact of change from the perspective of families and the practitioners working alongside them. Capturing relevant data in combination with stories of change as experienced by communities will help us learn and accelerate the changes that our communities and our teams so desperately need. That is why I am hopeful for the future in Clackmannanshire.
Lorraine Sanda is Strategic Director of People at Clackmannanshire Council.