Children and Families National Leadership Group minutes: October 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Kathryn Lindsa, Co-Chair, SOLACE
• Laura Caven, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Alison Gordon, Social Work Scotland (SWS)
• Mhairi Grant, Child Protection Committees Scotland
• Tracy Davis, Child Health Commissioners
• Ali Macdonald, Public Health Scotland (PHS)
• Sheena Devlin, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES)
• Kirsteen Maclennan (Care Inspectorate)
• Laura Lamb, Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
• Neil Hunter, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA)
• Nicola McGovern, Police Scotland
• Claire Burns, Centre for Excellence in Children's Care and Protection (CELCIS)
• Fraser McKinlay, The Promise
• Jude Turbyne, Children in Scotland
• Andrew Watson, Co-Chair, Scottish Government 
• Mary McAllan, Scottish Government
• Iona Colvin, Scottish Government
• Mairi Macpherson, Scottish Government
• Gordon Paterson, Scottish Government
• Tom Andrews, Scottish Government
• Sara Hampson, Scottish Government
• Rachel Bell, Scottish Government
• Graham Macleod, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome 

Andrew Watson welcomed attendees, noted apologies, provided an overview of the agenda, and gave a short recap of the discussion from the previous meeting on 19 August which focussed on the children’s services workforce.

Update on Whole Family Support

Mary McAllan, Director for Public Service Reform, was invited to provide an update on Whole Family Support (WFS). Key points provided were as follows:

• WFS has been a commitment in the Programme for Government for the last 2 years and is a key priority for the First Minister
• Ensuring that families can access the support they need, when and where they need it, is essential in efforts to eradicate child poverty
• This means public services which are integrated, equipped and empowered to support families, proactively offering the help families need, and working across organisations to make sure support is easy to access.
• The Scottish Government wants to remove barriers to create an enabling environment for delivery partners to work in an integrated way, building on existing good practice across Scotland. The First Minister has created a public platform to underline his commitment to WFS
• Across the past year, we have been working to increase the flexibility our local partners have to work collaboratively and respond to the needs and assets of their communities, and to develop local ways of working grounded in flexible services which adapt to the needs of those who use them
• We are in discussions with 7 early adopter local authority areas: Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire, Aberdeen City, North Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Dundee on how specific flexibilities can better enable partners to deliver WFS
• A key strand of work within this is creating a streamlined outcomes framework which responds to feedback about the complexity of current reporting arrangements attached to funding

The rest of this agenda item was given over to Q&A. The group welcomed the commitment to WFS, and offered the group's support as a problem-solver alongside Scottish Government.

The discussion also emphasised the importance of recognising that WFS sits within an existing framework of children and families policy, and there is a need for e.g. Getting It Right For Every Child and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to be recognised within this work.

Following the meeting, some group members requested written materials on WFS, which will be provided in due course.

Action - Secretariat to disseminate written materials on WFS

Further consideration of the group’s remit in relation to the children’s services workforce

Following the conversation, above, there was insufficient time to comprehensively address this agenda item.

Concluding remarks, any other business and date of next meeting

Kathryn Lindsay noted that the group had shared a wide range of different perspectives in the meeting today. We heard that WFS is a key mission of the First Minister and, as such, asked attendees whether the group should focus on this so that this becomes the primary purpose going forward. 

Iona Colvin noted that if it would be helpful for the group to take a balanced view over future priorities - including looking at risk and the safety and protection of children as well as the early intervention and preventative approaches, then the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Group could report to the group on their work at the next meeting.

No additional business was raised. The next meeting of the group is scheduled for 9 December.