National Context. Public Sector Transformation The public sector is re-shaping in a number of areas not least through the transforming rehabilitation agenda. This will see the delivery of probation services split between the National Probation Service and the competitively tendered Community Rehabilitation Companies. Impact will be felt across the community safety and criminal justice landscapes not least in the operation of the prison estates, the relationship with youth justice services, commissioning of un-paid work and the supervision of both statutory and non-statutory offenders. It is essential we both maintain provision through the transition period and develop good working relationships with the new organisations. As a partnership, we must continue to take responsibility to reduce re-offending, both through our commissioning of services and in developing joint initiatives with the new providers. The health economy has also been through considerable re-organisation and we are making steps to ensure that we have a good working relationship with new organisations such as clinical commissioning groups and that we take account of shared priorities through arrangements with Public Health Lancashire and Health and Wellbeing Boards.
National Context. 4.1.1 Three social policies and public sector reform The Scottish Government has three key social policies which link together to try to deliver the best outcomes for Scotland. These are: Achieving Our Potential1 Early Years Framework 2 Equally Well3 All three documents focus on early intervention and prevention rather than focussing on what to do when a crisis happens. There is currently a shift in culture from dependency to active citizenship, where people should expect less from the state and more from themselves, their families and their communities. The solutions to the problems continuing to hamper society in Scotland are within communities themselves, and it is the role of the public, voluntary and private sector to support people to become more capable, more resilient and better able to deal with crises themselves. Increasingly the roles of Community Capacity Building and Co-production are coming to the fore. Co-production goes well beyond user involvement or citizen engagement. It promotes equal partnership between service workers and those intended to benefit from their services – pooling different kinds of knowledge and skill, and working together. Co-production is nothing new, but is an approach which can secure the best outcomes for people living in areas of multiple deprivation. Models of co-production are around a set of core values: recognising that people have assets, not just problems redefining work so that unpaid activities are valued and supported building reciprocity and mutual exchange strengthening and extending social networks. By moving to a model of service delivery which involves communities more closely, the Alliance will be helping the people of Inverclyde to secure outcomes for themselves, building success and reducing the cost of failure. The culture change taking place in Scotland is leading to realignment and prioritising of resources toward early intervention (as set out in the Christie Commission report on transforming public services), shifting the focus from crisis management to prevention, early identification and early intervention, whilst realistically recognising that crisis management will still be needed in the short to medium term. The scale of the changes required are massive and complex, but in order to secure the best outcomes for the most vulnerable people, in a time of unprecedented financial challenge, those changes will need to be made. The combination of involving communities in service dev...
National Context. NSD acts on behalf of Scottish Government and NHS Boards to plan for and procure national specialist services. NSD supports the National Specialist Services Committee (NSSC). The remit of NSSC is to advise the NHS Board Chief Executives and through them, the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate on designation and provision of specialist services. NSD has delegated authority from NHS Boards to develop and progress operational changes in service provision in partnership with providing NHS Boards to ensure sustainable delivery of high quality efficient and effective services. National funding is top-sliced from NHS Boards’ allocations and is a limited resource. In order to ensure this funding is appropriately utilised, reporting standards as outlined in this agreement are a mandatory requirement for all national designated services. The Provider will deliver services to meet demand and ensure best possible quality and value from the resources invested in the NHS as outlined in A National Clinical Strategy for Scotland (Scottish Government 2016).
National Context. The university’s Widening Participation Strategy has been developed in the context of national policy, funding changes and external drivers for change. These changes will impact, in particular, on funding for widening participation work. The strategy has been framed in the light of a likely reduction in the amount of funding available to support widening participation activity in the future. HEFCE outlined changes to the funding for improving retention, learning, teaching and widening access in Future Support for Teaching Enhancement and Widening Participation (HEFCE Guide 2008/28). These changes have increased funding for widening access and reduced funding for improving retention. The reduction has, in particular, impacted on London HEIs, and the university has made a careful assessment of the future focus of activities designed to support enhancement and retention work within available resources. Much widening participation work has hitherto been funded by special project funding through Aimhigher and Lifelong Learning Networks. Funding for Lifelong Learning Networks will end in 2010 and Aimhigher funding, which is being progressively reduced, is uncertain beyond 2011. HEFCE has advised universities to target their increasingly limited resources where they can have the most impact (HEFCE Guide 2007/12, p7). In order to maximise value for money, over the next five years, outreach activities will focus on specific local communities and groups currently under-represented in higher education. For the first time, both universities and Aimhigher partnerships have to achieve numerical targets, with at least two-thirds of participants in widening participation activities being expected to come from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds with no previous parental experience of higher education. The university is also required by HEFCE to produce a comprehensive Widening Participation Strategic Assessment, bringing widening participation and access policies together into a single document (HEFCE Guide 2009/1) with an annual progress report as a condition of payment of the HEFCE allocation for widening participation. In framing its Widening Participation Strategy, and associated activities, the university has thus had to make a careful assessment of the balance between sustained support for learners, and activities which maximise the exposure of young people and adults to higher education.
National Context. 2.1 The Children and Social Work Xxx 0000 received royal assent on 27th April 2017. Section 16E of the Act requires each Local Authority Area to establish local arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
National Context. In the UK, there is currently a focus on literacy skills. The Independent reports that this could leave nearly 1.5 million 11-year olds with poor literacy skills by 2025 unless remedied (Milmo et al 2014). This skill gap reportedly “costs the economy
National Context. The newly created People’s Board will bring together the statutory functions of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Community Safety Partnership, in order that we have an effective collaboration to improve the lives of people in St.Helens The statutory duties for a Health and Wellbeing Board are set out in the Health and Social Care Xxx 0000 and the Community Safety Partnership duties are defined in the Crime and Disorder Xxx 0000. The responsibilities of the Health and Wellbeing Board and Community Safety Partnership are defined below: o To prepare a local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (which is a duty of local authorities and clinical commissioning groups) o A duty to encourage integrated working between health and social care commissioners o A power to encourage close working between commissioners of health related services (such as housing and other local government services) and commissioners of health and social care services o Any other functions that may be delegated by the Council under section 196(2) of the Health and Social Care Xxx 0000 (e.g. could include certain public health functions) o Develop policies and strategies that: ▪ Reduce reoffending ▪ Tackle crime and disorder ▪ Tackle alcohol and substance misuse ▪ Tackle any other behaviour which has a negative effect on the local environment Within St.Helens we have combined the national requirements of these Boards to ensure that we are more streamlined, do not work in silos and are genuinely working to improve outcomes for people in St.Helens.
National Context. The Scottish Government’s Purpose is Sustainable Economic Growth1. Success is monitored using the following Purpose Targets: o Economic Growth: To raise the GDP growth rate to the UK level by 2011 To match the GDP growth rate of the small independent EU countries by 2017 o Productivity To rank in the top quartile for productivity against our key trading partners in the OECD by 2017 o Participation To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK To close the gap with the top five OECD economies by 2017 o Population To match average European (EU15) population growth over the period from 2007 to 2017 Supported by increased healthy life expectancy in Scotland over the period from 2007 to 2017 o Solidarity To increase overall income and the proportion of income earned by the three lowest income deciles as a group by 2017 o Cohesion To narrow the gap in participation between Scotland's best and worst performing regions by 2017 o Sustainability To reduce emissions over the period to 2011 To reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050 1 To focus Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. Delivery of this is set out in the Government Economic Strategy. The Scottish Government’s Five National Strategic Objectives, which describe where the Government will focus action, are: o WEALTHIER & FAIRER - Enable businesses and people to increase their wealth and more people to share fairly in that wealth.
National Context. Social Housing has seen significant changes in recent years where there has been a move from an appointed Regulator (The Audit Commission) governing how Housing services perform and are managed to a self-regulation approach which places an emphasis on tenants being actively involved in how services are monitored and developed. In order to achieve self-regulation guidance has been provided by the current regulator which is the Homes and Communities Agency. To support this guidance new legislation has also been developed which sets out key consumer standards which must be adhered to. With the introduction of new legislation, there has been the ability for tenants to forge stronger relationships with their housing provider and make a real difference to how their homes and communities are developed. The Localism Act enabled Local Authorities new freedoms and flexibility and includes a ‘general power of competence’. This fundamental change has meant that Housing organisations have full control over their finances and are in control of how rental income is reinvested back into the community. The much publicised Welfare Reform is a government scheme which sets out a series of initiatives, many of which have already been introduced, and have had a direct impact on tenants. The three main elements of the welfare reforms have been the following: • Introduction of the under-occupancy rules • Benefit cap • Universal Credit and direct payment In addition, the revised regulatory standards now allow the council to offer a range of tenancy options i.e. secure and flexible tenancies and these are dependent on individual circumstances and needs. This is explained in more detail within organisations Tenancy Strategy and Allocation Policy. The ability to deliver Affordable Housing remains a key objective of many housing providers. Access to funding opportunities has enabled this objective to be met and it will continue to be a key objective of the new organisation. Finally, with the demise of Supporting People, the Care Xxx 0000 promotes and reflects a change in emphasis. This now encourages working in partnership with the citizens, their carers or advocates and the community. This has provided a challenge in how we redesign care and support around the individual’s needs.
National Context. A long-term condition (LTC) can be defined as ‘one that cannot currently be cured but can be controlled with the use of medication and/or other therapies.’ In 2010 there were 15.4 million people with a LTC in England (30% of the population) and it is estimated that by 2025 this will rise to 18million. Treatment and management of Long Term Conditions accounts for 70% of health and social care spend and this is predicted to increase1. There is strong evidence that lifestyle risk factors increase the risk for LTCs. Smoking, poor diet, overweight/obesity, low physical activity and alcohol all contribute. In turn some LTCs e.g. diabetes, hypertension and mental health problems lead or increase the risk for other LTCs particularly cardiovascular diseases.
