Published on:
14
March 2013
Councillors have heard how the Council is involved in a national initiative to make Scotland the best place to grow up.
A group of Clackmannanshire representatives were among around 750 people from all 32 Scottish local authority areas who gathered at the launch of the Early Years Collaborative (EYC) earlier this year in Glasgow. The EYC is a national, multi-agency quality improvement programme implemented locally by Community Planning Partnerships.
Councillor Ellen Forson, the Council's Champion for the Collaborative, said: "It was an intensive event and focused on what practical improvements people at the frontline can make to services for children and young people. Getting it right in the early years is the right thing to do. Ensuring we provide the correct support in the first place will go some way to preventing problems later on and will help families and the wider community for years to come. The Clackmannanshire contingent came away from the event buzzing and ready to test out a range of new ideas."
The overall purpose of the Collaborative is taking practical action to improve the quality of life for children. In particular, it hopes to improve the health of babies and support more children to meet all expected developmental milestones.
Council Chief Executive, Elaine McPherson, who also attended the Collaborative launch, added: "Sometimes change doesn't happen because organisations don't implement their strategies or don't prioritise planning over doing. The attraction of the Collaborative is its strong focus on front line action which is taken quickly, tested and then applied more widely if it proves effective."
Some of the initial actions which are being taken forward locally will focus on increasing the take-up of antenatal care, supporting early intervention when there is a risk that a child's entry to school will be deferred increasing the take-up of Healthy Start vitamins.
The Collaborative will meet again in May when experience from across the country will be shared.
Councillor Forson added: "I am really looking forward to seeing the progress we can make in Clackmannanshire and hearing from other areas about what has worked that we can also seek to implement locally. It is a unique approach and has great potential to significantly improve children's life chances."