Edinburgh’s Children’s Partnership
Terms of Reference
Our Vision
Our vision is for all children and young people in Edinburgh to enjoy being young and to achieve their potential.
Our Mission
Our mission is to place children, young people and families at the heart of all our services and provide support when it is needed throughout childhood and the transition to adulthood.
Our Strategic Objectives
We want all children and young people in Edinburgh to:
1. have the best start in life, be able to make and sustain relationships, and be ready to
succeed;
2. be successful learners, confident individuals, and responsible citizens making a positive
contribution to their communities;
3. have improved life chances, especially for those children, young people and families
who are at risk or who have a disability;
4. be physically and emotionally healthy;
5. be safe from harm or fear of harm within their communities and do not harm others;
6. be free from the effects of poverty and inequalities.
The Children’s Partnership will direct the strategic planning, development and delivery of
children’s services in Edinburgh on behalf of the Edinburgh Partnership by:
• agreeing planning, funding and service-delivery priorities;
• producing an improvement-focused Integrated Children’s Services Plan (ICSP) to
influence and inform agency service planning and performance reporting;
• improving the integration and coordination of services across agency and geographic
boundaries;
• promoting joint strategic funding and commissioning of services;
• acting as the Checkpoint Group in relation to the strategic funding and commissioning of
services in line with the agreed Commissioning Strategy and Framework;
• developing and maintaining effective communication with key agencies and fora;
• promoting the active engagement and participation of children, young people and their
families in the planning, design and delivery of services;
• ensuring effective links to locality-based work through Children’s Services Management
Groups;
• establishing and overseeing sub-groups and short-life working groups as required;
• identifying and addressing barriers to achieving agreed strategic objectives.
Values and Principles
All members of the Partnership commit to supporting the agreed objectives and to:
• proceeding with openness and integrity;
• building and developing trust between themselves and other partners;
• taking back to the body/bodies they represent, issues which fall outside their mandated
authority;
• constructively challenging and dealing with problems which limit the effectiveness of the
group.
Membership Roles & Responsibilities
CEC Children & Families Director
• Representing overall Council policy and providing an overview of all C&F Department
services and resources
CEC Children & Families Heads of Service (3)
• Providing representation and decision making in key areas of activity: planning and
performance, schools and community services and support to children and young people
CEC Services for Communities representative (1)
• Ensuring effective senior management links to housing and community safety
CEC Corporate Services (1)
• Providing senior management links on relevant issues including Health Inequalities
Standing Group and Community Planning
CEC Health and Social Care (1)
• Providing links to adult services in particular those relating to mental health, drugs and
alcohol and criminal justice.
Edinburgh Community Health Partnership General Manager
• Representing overall CHP policy and ensuring the effective planning and service delivery
of children’s health services to deliver agreed outcomes
NHS Lothian University Hospitals Division Children’s Services, Clinical Director
• Representing children’s hospital and community based paediatric and therapy services.
NHS Lothian Child Health Commissioner/Associate Director Strategic Planning
• Representing the strategic health and welfare needs of children and young people and
responsible for ensuring effective links across maternity and child health service planning, commissioning, quality and performance monitoring
Lothian & Borders Police Chief Superintendent
• Ensuring effective links to L&BP city-wide strategies and area based Chief Inspectors to
deliver agreed outcomes
Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (1)
• Providing effective links to Edinburgh locality
Voluntary Sector Network representatives (5)
• Ensuring effective representation – through EVOC - of voluntary agencies providing
children’s services and providing a route for consultation with that sector and, where required, endorsement of Partnership proposals/decisions
Chief Social Work Officer
• Ensuring appropriate links to Child Protection and related services
In attendance
• Early Intervention Strategic Manager
• Finance Officer(s) - as required
• Planning and Performance Officers - as required
CSMG reps will be invited on a rota basis as part of the Strategic Objective reporting schedule.
Meeting administration
Executive roles
• The Executive roles are Chair and Deputy Chair. Executive officers will normally serve for
a period of two years but will be eligible for re-election. Elections will be by secret ballot
• The Chair and Deputy Chair roles will not be filled by officers from the same
organisation/sector.
• In the absence of both Chair and Deputy Chair at a meeting, a Chair for the meeting will
be selected from those representatives present.
• The Chair will also be a member of the Chief Officer Group to ensure continuity and
effective communication.
Lead Officers
A Lead Officer for each Strategic Objective will be appointed from the membership of the
Children’s Partnership. The role of the Lead Officer is to ensure that the Children’s Partnership remains focussed on achieving outcomes which deliver the Strategic Objectives. To achieve this, the Lead Officer will:
• lead the promotion, co-ordination and reporting of activity in respect of Strategic
Objectives;
• produce and present an annual report for the Children’s Partnership;
• support the development of meaningful performance indicators.
Scheduling of meetings
• The Children’s Partnership will meet 6 times per calendar year for business purposes.
• Scheduling of meetings will take account of the planning cycle timetable and deadlines.
• Special meetings of the Partnership may be held as required to consider urgent matters.
Agenda management
The agenda and associated papers will be circulated one week before the meeting to which they refer. Administration will be provided on a shared basis by statutory sector partners
The Children’s Partnership will regularly receive and consider reports on performance against agreed Strategic Objectives as the primary agenda item. Other reports due for consideration by the Partnership will be automatically scheduled on the agenda of the appropriate meeting. These will include:
• feedback from Children’s Services Management Groups;
• annual reports from Lead Officers on Strategic Objectives
• sub-group or working group reports (as required);
• reports from other groups with related remits (as appropriate);
• inspection reports (where appropriate).
Reporting requirements
• Minutes and papers from the Children’s Partnership meetings will be published
• An annual report will be produced in line with single agency requirements and presented
to the Edinburgh Partnership and partner governance bodies as agreed including the Education, Children and Families Committee, NHS Lothian Health Board, Lothian& Borders Police Board, EVOC Board.
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