Hot Topic: New Localism
The introduction of the Concordat between Scottish Government and local authorities in November 2007, and the subsequent development of Single Outcome Agreements by local authorities and their community planning partners, has added a new dimension to policy making in Scotland. CCPS and its members have taken an interest in this development as both lobbying organisations and service providers.
The key issue for providers is how to understand and influence emerging local agendas, either individually or as part of a wider voluntary sector input to local processes, be they Community Planning, Single Outcome Agreements or other strategic planning processes, and CCPS seeks to support members through this in a number of ways.
In summers 2008 and 2009 CCPS carried out an analyses of all 32 Single Outcome Agreements, considering the coverage of a range of social care issues within the documents. The reports have been well received nationally and CCPS has been invited to present the results to a variety of for a, most notably the Local Government and Communities Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
CCPS is also working to help members to understand and engage with local planning processes, and members have access to a range of useful information on local contacts, which other CCPS members are active in local areas and what the Single Outcome Agreements in each area say that might be of relevance to members. These can be accessed via the local authority pages of the members' section of the website.
Latest news
CCPS analysis of 2009-10 Single Outcome Agreements
In November 2009, CCPS published its analysis of the 2009-10 Single Outcome Agreements. The report considers the coverage of social care in the documents, comparing this to the 2008-09 tranche and considering what this tells us about the development of the SOA process, concluding with concerns that reading the Single Outcome Agreements is not enough in itself to allow conclusions to be drawn about the implications for social care services in local areas. The report also contains statistical information on the coverage of different social care client groups in the SOAs. A full copy of the report or a summary of key findings can be downloaded from Single Outcome Agreements page of the CCPS website.
CCPS gives evidence to Scottish Parliament inquiry into Single Outcome Agreements and Community Planning
On 20 May, CCPS Policy and Development Manager Kirsten Gooday gave evidence alongside SCVO to an enquiry by the Local Government and Communities Committee of the Scottish Parliament into the Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) process. The focus of the session was on the involvement of the voluntary sector in the development of SOAs, and Kirsten highlighted some of the particular difficulties facing national voluntary organisations and contracted service providers in their efforts to become involved with SOAs, community planning and other local strategic planning structures. The official report of the session can be viewed on the Scottish Parliament website.
CCPS event on the effect of outcomes agendas on social care services
In June, CCPS ran an event for members and for local authority commissioners to provide them with an opportunity to explore the link between the national performance framework, single outcome agreements, service level outcomes and outcomes for individuals, and to consider how the work of their organisations might be influenced by these varying outcome agendas. Speakers from the Scottish Government, Care Commission and SWIA delivered plenary addresses, before delegates split into workshop to find out more about outcome measurement tools and to discuss the issue presented throughout the day. Issues arising from the day included that all outcomes agendas are felt to be relevant, but that in a social care context outcomes for individuals are most important; the link (or lack of it) between a desire to use outcomes measurement to monitor performance and the requirements of procurement regulations; and the practical difficulties of measuring outcomes. A cpy of the agenda and papers for the meeting can be found in the events archive.