spring 2012 - Scottish Children's Reporter Administration

spring 2012Gearing up for theBusiness Plan launchsee page 2Farewell to Liz Baillieturn to page 3Irene bows out after 36 yearssee page 4In THISISSUECase sampling on appeals - specialfeature on pages on 5 and 6Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Actupdate on page 8Welcome to our new AssistantReporters turn to page 9 and 10Participation update – find out thelatest on pages 11 and 12Neil takes to the stageon page 13Tayside and Fife’s LocalityDevelopment Dayfind out more on page 14Data Protection quiz – spot what’swrong and win an Argos vouchersee page 16Tea break teaser – win a £30Homebase voucheron page 19page one

spring 2012SCRA is about to launch its Business Plan for 2012/13Approved by SCRA’s Board earlierthis month, the plan will set out theorganisation’s objectives and workplan for the next 12 months.The Business Plan will be issuedon Tuesday 3 April and will beavailable on Connect, and will beissued to partners via an e-news.The Business Plan 2012/13 has fourkey objectives:Ensure a smooth transition inservices for children, young peopleand families during SCRA’simplementation of the Children’sHearings (Scotland) Act 2011.Improve experiences andoutcomes for children and youngpeople in the Children’s HearingsSystem by working effectively withChildren’s Hearings Scotland.Improve engagement withpartners across the Children’sHearings System byparticipating, influencing andinforming at strategic andcommunity planning levels.Establish nine high-performingand effective Localities, providinglocal leadership for delivery acrossScotland.In his foreword, PR/CEO, NeilHunter explains:“The Business Plan for SCRArepresents an important set ofcommitments that the organisationmakes each year to children andfamilies, its Board, its staff, theScottish Government and ourpartners in the Children’s HearingsSystem.“It underpins how we will deliverour priorities and play our part insupporting and protecting childrenand young people in Scotland,living up to our values of justiceand fairness, and putting intopractice our duties on children’srights.“The Business Plan allows scrutinyof our delivery as an organisationand ensures that our prioritiesare aligned to that of ScottishGovernment, that ourcommitments are consistent withour partner agencies, and that wework as a whole, taking forwardopportunities for joint co-ordinatedefforts to improve the lives ofchildren and young people in thecommunities that we serve.”The four objectives are supportedby a number of actions whichprovide the detail about all thework which will be undertaken inthe year ahead.The Business Plan is supported byindividual plans for each Locality.There is also an Operations Planand a Support Services Plan.All of the plans will be available onConnect shortly.CHAS totalSCRA staff raised a total of£536.68 in 2011 for the Children’sHospice Association Scotland(CHAS). This included funds raisedfrom the cake bake at the StaffEvent in November. The moneywill help the children’s charity,which provides the only hospiceservices in Scotland for childrenand young people who have lifeshorteningconditions.CHS eventsMembers of SCRA staff recentlyhelped facilitate a series ofworkshops for Children’s HearingsScotland (CHS). As part of SCRA’sshared services agreementwith CHS, Victoria Smith,Hazel Young and MaryanneMcIntyre, facilitated consultationworkshops on the draft ServiceStandards which have beenpublished by CHS. The events,which were aimed at PanelMembers and CPAC members,were attended by more than500 people. Twenty workshopswere held across Scotland duringFebruary and March.page two

spring 2012Having an event in your office? Tell us about it.Pedal powerSCRA has launched a new schemewhich encourages staff to cycleto work.The cycle to work scheme, whichwas launched on 14 March, hasalready been adopted by manypublic bodies.It aims to promote healthierjourneys to work and to reduceenvironmental pollution.The idea stemmed from asuggestion to The Box, SCRA’sstaff suggestion scheme.The scheme, which is run byHalfords, allows SCRA employeesto save up to 42% on retailprices, as well as benefit froma long term loan of bikes andcommuting equipment suchas lights, locks and pannierscompletely tax free.For more information andto apply, please visit www.cycle2work.info using theemployer code SCRA2012.Farewell to LizLocality Reporter Manager LizBaillie has said farewell to SCRAafter taking voluntary earlyretirement.Members of staff, formercolleagues, Panel Members andrepresentatives from partneragencies, gathered at the Ayr officefor her leaving presentation onTuesday 14 February.Liz started her career as a socialworker in Ayrshire, eventuallybecoming a senior social worker,before becoming a Reporter inApril 1993.She started her career as aReporter in Irvine, before movingto Kilmarnock in 1997. She thenmoved to Ayr as acting AuthorityReporter in October 1998.Due to internal structural changeswith teams being conjoined, shewent back to being a Reporter inJune 2000. When the East andSouth Ayrshire teams were deconjoinedin August 2006, shewas appointed permanently toLiz is pictured at her leaving presentation with colleaguesthe role of Authority Reporter.She remained Authority Reporterfor South Ayrshire until her recentretirement.LRM Iain Mitchell, who helpedrecruit Liz all those years ago, gaveher leaving presentation. He toldthe National Reporter: “It wassad to see her go. She is a hugeloss to her team as she was highlyrespected by them.“She had a huge amount ofknowledge and she was someoneyou could turn to for advice. Youknew you could trust Liz. I’mpersonally really sad to see her go.”However Liz won’t be putting herfeet up just yet. She is working parttime with North Ayrshire Council asa social work practice teacher.Locality staff presented Liz with apainting of Arran by a young localartist and a bouquet of flowers.page three

spring 2012Irene bows outIt was a sad day for staff in theCentral Locality when a memberof staff retired after more thanthree decades with the Reporter’sService. Irene Tasker officiallyretired on 27 January after 36years. She was presented withseveral individual gifts, as well asflowers and a collection of money.She started in the Stirling office inGladstone Place and then went toFalkirk, where she became ASM.She then returned for her last fewyears to Gladstone Place.Staff marked the special occasionby throwing her a party at arestaurant in Falkirk.Irene is pictured at her leaving partyColleagues, past and presentattended the party, and EwenCameron, Irene’s AuthorityReporter when she worked inFalkirk, gave a heart felt speech.He even composed a song for herto the theme of Flower of Scotland,and a few tears were shed!Irene said she had enjoyed her timeat SCRA. She is very much missedby all her colleagues and friends.Now she has retired, she plansto spend time with family andcontinue teaching Taekwondo.Preparing for Case ManagementPlans continue for the roll out ofCase Management from 28 August.The Business ImplementationNetwork is fine tuning plans toensure as smooth as possible atransition to the system.To prepare for the move, thefollowing steps are being taken:Managers are now receivingweekly data reports which providean overview of each Locality’sprogress in managing casework andreducing delays where they exist.The key focus for Localities intheir casework activities is aroundreducing delay, and managers arebeing asked to co-ordinate thiswork. Some areas are using extrahours to assist in this work.Data cleansing activities continuein Localities to assist with themigration of data and to ensurethat Case Management does notpick up errors in tasks when wemove over.The training plan is beingfinalised to ensure that alloperational staff are fully trained.Reporter staff will receive threedays training and Support staffwill receive two days training.Locality Managers will receiveeither of the above and additionaltraining on managing workflowand work queues.Locality Managers are beingasked to identify their needs forOutlook calendars, asarrangements for themanagement of Hearings will allbe done on Outlook calendars inthe new system.There is a presentation on CaseManagement available onConnect. Although many staffhave attended informationsessions which have now beenheld in most Localities, a memberof the Business ImplementationNetwork can attend a teammeeting if you want to know morebefore the training programmegets underway.page four

spring 2012Case sampling exercise on appealsOver the last four years, there hasbeen an increase in the numberof appeals against decisions ofHearings.Although still a small fraction of thetotal number of decisions madeby Hearings (2.9% of decisionswere the subject of an appeal in2001/12), there has been a rise inthe proportion of appeals wherethe decision of the Hearing was notconfirmed.In 2011 between April and June 46%of appeals were successful.During August and Septemberof last year, a case file samplingexercise was undertaken by theQuality Assurance Team to lookat the reasons behind successfulappeals. The exercise involved areview of the 78 successful appealswhich were concluded betweenJanuary and March 2011.Key findingsThe key findings were as follows:97% of appeals were against themaking of a SupervisionRequirement and 3% were against awarrant.53% of appeals againstSupervision Requirements relatedspecifically to a condition (in relationto conditions of residence in 14% ofall cases and in 38% of all cases inrelation to contact) (or, in a fewcases, both).In several cases, the Hearing’sreasons were criticised becausethey sought to justify a reductionin contact by reference to ongoingpermanence proceedings.There was no link between thepercentage of successful appealsand the changed role of theReporter in Hearings.In none of the successful appealshad the Reporter at the Hearingbeen an Assistant or TraineeReporter.appeal succeeding, making up 64%of cases (47 cases). 40% of those,and nearly 25% of all of the casessampled, related to decisions madeabout someone’s designation as arelevant person.The sample period immediatelyfollowed the decision of theSupreme Court in the case ofPrincipal Reporter v K (Appellant) &Others (Scotland).In some cases, appeals wereconceded because Hearings hadmade substantive decisions inthe absence of a child or relevantperson, in circumstances where theHearing members might reasonablyhave been expected to continuethe hearing to allow the child orrelevant person to attend.It was not part of the exercise thatReporters were spoken to, so thelevel of intervention by Reportersin Hearings where proceduralirregularities arose was not known.SPECIALFEATUREInadequate reasons: 36% of appeals(26 cases) were allowed because ofinadequate reasons.In a significant proportion, noreasons at all had been given forthe Hearing being satisfied thatcompulsory measures of supervisionwere necessary.Factors wrongly or not considered:in 22% of cases (16 cases) themajority of appeals related toinformation which was disputedor inaccurate, or where it wassuggested that the Hearing hadnot given sufficient weight to amaterial change in the family’scircumstances.In 21% of cases (15 cases) theHearing had failed to consider animportant factor that may haveimpacted on the decision.Change of circumstances: in 8% ofcases (six cases) there was a changein circumstances that led to theappeal being allowed.97% of appeals had been raisedby a relevant person, and 3% by achild.Reasons for allowing the appeal:Procedural irregularity: this was themost frequently cited reason for anThis will be built into any futuresampling exercise.Outcome of the appeal82% of successful appeals wereconceded by the Reporter. In thepage five

spring 2012Are you studying in or out of work? Email the National Reportermajority of these cases the meritsof conceding were immediatelyobvious to the reviewers. In only16% of cases, was there evidencethat the Locality Reporter Managerhad approved that course of action.89% of cases were remitted backto a Hearing, and in 11% of casesthe sheriff substituted his/her owndecision.What’s next?A management action plan, drawnup in the Practice and QualityNetwork, was agreed by the Board’sAudit Committee in February.The findings and action plan reflectthe need for a joint approach withChildren Hearings Scotland andChildren’s Panel Chairmen’s Groupto eliminate or reduce irregularitiesand to improve the standard ofreasons for decisions at thoseHearings.A further case file sampling exercisewill take place which will enable usto draw some comparisons.Head of Practice and Policy,There was nolink between thepercentage ofsuccessful appealsand the changed roleof the Reporter inHearings.Malcolm Schaffer said: “There arelearning points for Panel Members,Sheriffs and Reporters in this anda core issue for SCRA is ensuringthat local Panel Members getfeedback, both for the next Hearingto aid their decision making, and ingeneral to aid their future practice.“The report has been well receivedin meetings with Panel Membersat national level, and we hope itis being discussed at local level aswell. The follow up will be of greatinterest.”Open University successSeven members of staff havesuccessfully completed OpenUniversity qualifications.After nine months of study, theycompleted the Open Universitycourse and have now receivedtheir assessor and internal verifierqualifications.This means they will be able todeliver the Diploma in Children’sReporter Practice in a consistentway.Alistair Hogg, Gordon Brechin,Lindsay MacFadyen and EricaMurray received their A1 (assessor)qualification. While MalcolmSchaffer, Carol Thomson and EricaMurray received their VI (internalverifier) qualification.They are currently delivering theDiploma in Children’s ReporterPractice to the nine TraineeReporters and four Reporters.Reporter Erica Murray said: “Thisis the first time a group of staffhave undertaken the qualifications.Pictured back row left to right are: Lindsay MacFadyen,Malcolm Schaffer, Gordon Brechin and Susan Drew.Front row: Erica Murray and Karen Wallace. Missing fromthe photograph are Alistair Hogg and Carol Thomson.Previously SCRA had just one memberof staff qualified, so this ensures wehave a larger pool of people to assessthe Diploma and it also ensures thatwe are all assessing to the samestandard.”Reporter Susan Drew has recentlybecome an assessor and willundertake the assessor qualification.Karen Wallace who started asAccreditation Manager in January, willundertake both awards in due course.page six

spring 2012Long service award for CarolineA member of staff from theDumbarton office has recentlycelebrated 21 years with theorganisation.Locality Support Manager, CarolineMcCall, was presented with herlong service award just beforeChristmas. Caroline joined whenshe was just 18 years old and hasbeen here ever since!She spent 14 years in total as aSupport Assistant in Dumbarton,with a year’s secondment in 2002to the RAD team in West andCentral West Regions.Caroline returned to Dumbartonafter her secondment, and in2004 she became ASM. She toldthe National Reporter: “We havea great team here. I know I ambiased, but we have the best teamever!”She added: “In this job, no twodays are ever the same. That’swhat I like about the job - thevariety and that things are alwayschanging.”Caroline is pictured receiving her long service award from LRM Douglas Hill, along with the rest of the team.Caroline was presented with herlong service gift by LRM DouglasHill, and was joined by hercolleagues.She received £200 of voucherswhich she plans to spend onspecially made trainers as thewhole team are taking part in theShine Walk this September.The night time walk, which covers26.2 miles around Glasgow, aims toraise money for Cancer Research.One of their colleagues Eileen Sheeris ill at the moment, and this hasspurred the team on to help raisefunds for the charity.The Dumbarton office certainlyhas a track record of clocking uplong service. Also in December,IT Support & Training Officer,Lesley McIntyre, celebrated 30years with the organisation and in2009, Support Assistant CatherineMcGlashan marked 20 years!Visit by GuernseySafeguardersFour Safeguarders from theChannel Islands visited SCRAearlier this month to find outmore about the Children’sHearings System.The delegation was led by SueVaughan, Head of SafeguardersServices in Guernsey, along withher colleagues Jackie Furness,Gay Hollingworth and YvonneSmith.The guests met with staff fromGlasgow, and they also observedHearings in Bell Street. Twoof the visitors then attendedGlasgow Sheriff Court with LRMsPaul Harkness and Eileen Taylorto observe court proceedings,while two observed courtproceedings at Edinburgh SheriffCourt, accompanied by LRM PaulMulvanny.During their three day visit,they also met with PanelMembers and representativesof the Scottish SafeguardersAssociation.page seven

spring 2012Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act - updateSCRA is continuing to preparefor the implementation of theChildren’s Hearings (Scotland) Act2011.SCRA’s Legislative ChangeProgramme, which consists ofthe Practice Instruction andTraining Project and the Policyand Legislative Change Project,is ensuring that we are doingeverything we can for the new Actbeing introduced later this year.The Practice Training is already wellunderway. Day 1 Practice Trainingwas completed on 9 March andparticipant feedback was verypositive. Day 2 training is scheduledto run in late May/June and datesand venues are available on Connectfor booking by 20 April.Day 3 training remains scheduledto run in September. However,in order to fit with the revisedtimetable for Case Managementroll out, the training will take placefor all Reporters during the weekof 17 September. External venueswill be used to accommodate largernumbers of Reporters at eachtraining event that week.The Practice Training will besupplemented by other materialsand e-learning once there issufficient certainty on the content ofrelevant secondary legislation.Events for Locality SupportManagers are taking place at theend of March. LSMs will be giveninformation and training on themost significant changes beingbrought about by the Act. Theywill also consider what informationsupport staff will require and thebest way to provide this.As well as the major programmeof training, a great deal of workis ongoing to develop the variouspieces of secondary legislation. Sofar, SCRA has responded to sevenconsultations, covering 10 sets ofsecondary legislation, the mostsignificant of which are:Children’s Hearings ProceduralRules,Movement Restriction Conditionregulations,Definition of Relevant Personregulations,Secure AccommodationAuthorisation regulations.Meanwhile, discussions arecontinuing between SCRA andkey partners, including Children’sHearings Scotland and the ScottishLegal Aid Board.One of the key pieces of workthat needs to take place beforeimplementation of the newlegislation, is the revision of theletters and other communicationsthat SCRA sends out.Work has already begun onrevising the letters for children,but volunteers are needed to workon the letters for adults (linking inwith the children’s letters group toregularensure consistency and a commonapproach). Please contact NickHobbs, who is leading the Policyand Legislative Change Project, ifyou would like to get involved withupdating the letters -nick.hobbs@scra.gsi.gov.ukGill Short, project manager for thePractice Instruction and TrainingProject, told the National Reporter:“I would like to thank all themembers of the Practice Instructionand Training Group for the workthey have carried out so far.“A significant amount has alreadybeen done to ensure we areprepared for the introduction of theAct, but there is still a lot to do.“I would encourage anyone whois able to do so to take up theopportunities to become involvedin some of the development work– such as new letters. I wouldalso welcome comments ondraft Practice Instruction as it isdeveloped and published over thecoming months.”page eight

spring 2012Welcome to our new batch of Assistant ReportersSCRA has welcomed another batchof Assistant Reporters.14 members of staff wereappointed to the new posts at theend of last year. SCRA now has23 Assistant Reporters across theorganisation.The group started an intensetraining programme in January,covering a host of topics fromPractice, to communicating withchildren and young people.The new batch of AssistantReporters were all recruitedinternally and come from a varietyof different roles, including SupportAssistant, ASM and PersonalAssistant.The National Reporter spoke tothree of them to find out how theywere getting on…Until September, John Petrieworked as an ASM in Edinburgh,but after eight years with theorganisation, he fancied a change.He explained: “I’d been an ASM forquite some time, and I wanted anew challenge.“I knew change was coming tothe organisation and I wanted tocontribute, but in a different role.I was delighted when I got offeredthe post.”Still based in the Edinburgh office,John has been enjoying his newrole. He has been schedulingAnnual Reviews and has been doingHearings on his own since January.He said: “I’m really glad I made thechange. It’s given me a fresh leaseof life. I would recommend it toanyone!”Lorraine Shanks became anAssistant Reporter in January afterseven years with SCRA. Prior totaking up her new post, she workedin reception in Glasgow, and thenshe was given a secondment.Her secondment involvedcentralising the receipt of GlasgowPolice referrals. This included beingthe main contact for the allocatorsand supporting the AuthorityReporters with joint discussioncases. After this secondment,Lorraine worked as a SupportAssistant in the West Team.However, she saw the advert forAssistant Reporter and thought shecould bring some of her skills fromprevious jobs to the post. Lorrainehas also been involved with youthwork and has done outreach workwith victims of domestic abuse.Based in the Dumbarton office, sheexplained: “I really fancied a newchallenge and this post soundedideal. I also wanted to have moredirect contact with children andfamilies, which this job brings.”Front row left to right are: Valerie Cowen, Karen Garside Stephanie Bitten, Sandra Stewart Back rowleft to right are: Lorraine Shanks, Lisa Sutherland, Keddie Borham, John Petrie, Laura Perston and EilidhDuncanson. Missing from the photograph are: Richard Kingston, Corrine Carson and Danielle Smithpage nine

spring 2012Lorraine has been enjoying thestructured training programmewhich includes group training andindividual training.She particularly enjoyed thetraining session on communicationwith children. Lorraine has beenshadowing Reporters and is nowdoing some Hearings on her own.She added: “I have been enjoyingevery minute of it and I’m reallygrateful to have been given thisopportunity.”Until the organisational restructuring,Eilidh Duncansonworked as a Personal Assistantin the East Regional Office inEdinburgh.Originally from Inverness, Eilidhmoved to Edinburgh where theAssistant Reporter post was beingpiloted as she was interested in therole.She explained: “I thought the roleof Assistant Reporter soundedreally interesting and a role whereyou could make a difference, butthe opportunity never came upwhen I was living in Edinburgh.“Having moved back to Inverness,the posts were advertised againand I wanted a new challenge, so Idecided to go for it.”Eilidh took up her post inSeptember and since then she hasbeen enjoying the work, particularlythe work with partner agencies.Eilidh, who has been with SCRA 10years this August, explained:“I started as Receptionist, thenmoved to Regional SupportAssistant and more recently PA, sothis post has given me a completelydifferent perspective on SCRA.“I have found the work extremelyinteresting and challenging.“I’ve particularly enjoyed the moredirect contact with children andfamilies, and building relationshipswith our partners.”Malcolm Schaffer, Head of Practiceand Policy told the NationalI’m really glad Imade the change.It’s given me afresh lease of life. Iwould recommendit to anyone!Reporter:“The new intake of AssistantReporters are all reallyenthusiastic about their new role.“They are fulfilling the remit oftheir job description by assistingReporters in a variety of tasksaround Hearings and court.“I have received several piecesof informal feedback from PanelMembers and experiencedReporters about their addedvalue.”All about me eventsOne of SCRA’s Modern Apprenticeshas helped out at two ScottishGovernment events for childrenand young people.MA Zoie Montgomery helped planfor the two days, as well as helpingout at the actual events. The firstevent was held in Dundee on 14March and the second one washeld on 28 March in Glasgow.The events were aimed at childrenand young people aged five to 16with experience of the Children’sHearings System, as well as theirparents/guardians.The aim of the events was toget their views on the HearingsSystem, and to find out if there ismore that can be done to improvethings for children and youngpeople.The workshops included activitieslike sport, drama, storytelling, facepainting and drumming classes.Zoie said: “It was really interestingbeing involved with these events.”page ten

spring 2012Participation with children and young people - updateSCRA has launched a second suiteof new information materials forchildren and young people.The new batch of material wasdistributed to offices at the end ofFebruary and follows on from thefirst set of materials which waslaunched in September.In addition, offices have alsoreceived new leaflet racks forwaiting rooms to ensure the newleaflets and booklets are on display.LSMs were also given a smallbudget to purchase new toys andother materials for the waitingrooms, such as crayons andcolouring in pencils.A pilot is also going to getunderway in four offices with TVscreens in waiting rooms showingthe Going to a Hearing DVD whichwas made last year for SCRA byYoung Scot.All the new developments arethanks to the work of SCRA’sIndividual Participation in Hearingsgroup (IPIH).available in Hearing waitingrooms. Staff may also wish topost a copy of this flyer to youngpeople. This provides informationabout Children’s Hearings courtproceedings and where to get moreinformation.Your Rights cube: This is a fun gameaimed at young people waiting fortheir Hearing. It provides somebasic information about their rightsand promotes SCRA’s website.regularColouring in book: The Chloe andBilly story book is now availableas a colouring in book and shouldbe available in waiting rooms foryoung children to colour in.Cartoon poster: The story of Chloeand Billy attending a Hearing hasalso been turned into a poster. A3laminated versions of the posterhave been sent to offices, butlarger A1 posters are also availableon request.One of the new leaflet racksSince it was created in 2009, thegroup has been working hardto improve the communicationmaterials available for children andyoung people going to a Hearing, aswell as the facilities available whenattending a Hearing.The new suite of informationmaterials includes:Going to Court flyer: This is anA5 flyer which should be madeThe colouring in wall in the Dumbarton officepage eleven

spring 2012Win a £30 Homebase gift card click hereThe existing SupervisionRequirement leaflet and SecureAccommodation leaflet are bothbeing updated with new contentand a fresh look. These arecurrently being finalised and will besent to offices at the beginning ofApril.In addition to the new informationmaterials, improvements are beingmade to waiting rooms.Jennifer Orren, SCRA’s ParticipationOfficer, who leads the IPIH, secured£5,000 in funding from EMT atthe end of last year to purchaseadditional toys and colouring inmaterials (to use with the newcolouring in books).A significant amount of toys weredonated by staff to waiting roomsduring the recent Toy Drive, but theFit for Us report by SCRA’s ModernApprentices identified that moreage appropriate toys and readingmaterials were required.The £5,000 was split between theLocalities, and LSMs were allocateda set amount to spend in theirareas.Following on from the Fit for Usreport, SCRA has also securedsome funding from the ScottishGovernment which has enabled theIPIH group to look at making otherimprovements to waiting rooms.Plans are underway to paint thewalls of waiting rooms in brightcolours, while a pilot will belaunched shortly with TV screens inwaiting rooms.The pilot will run in Aberdeen,Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hamilton.Nineteen screens are beingpurchased for the waiting roomsin these offices which will play theGoing to a Hearing DVD which wasmade by Young Scot for SCRA lastyear.The screens, which will bemounted on the walls, will alsoplay an information slide showfor children and young peopleabout their rights, who will be inthe Hearing, where they can getmore information etc. The screenswill not be showing televisionprogrammes.Jennifer Orren told the NationalReporter:“Over the last few months we havemade real progress.“We know there is still work tobe done and we are committedto making further improvements,however, we now have an excellentsuite of information materialsavailable for children and youngpeople.“I’d like to thank everyone whohas been so supportive. It’s vitalthat the new materials are sentout to children and young peopleand made available in the waitingrooms.”Drawing easels are just one of the toys purchasedby local officesMeanwhile, the suggestion boxpilot is continuing in the Aberdeenoffice and in the Inverness office.A colourful suggestion box hasbeen placed in the reception area,and children and young people inparticular, are being encouragedto post any ideas about how wecan improve our services/facilities/information material etc.Two key suggestions are comingthrough – cold drinks and moreage appropriate reading materialsfor young people. The IPIH groupis looking into whether thesesuggestions are feasible.Staff are coming up with their owncreative ideas of improving thefacilities for children and youngpeople attending Hearings. In theDumbarton office, Support Staffhave created a colouring in wallnear reception using pages fromthe Chloe and Billy colouring inbook.If you’ve introduced somethinglike this in your office, thenwhy not tell us about it? Emailcommunications@scra.gsi.gov.ukpage twelve

spring 2012Got a suggestion? Email The BoxThe Ochils are alive to the ‘Sound of Music’HR’s Neil Murdoch recentlyunearthed a passion for amateurdramatics when he took part in theStirling and Bridge of Allan OperaticSociety’s production of the Soundof Music.By day, Neil is an HR BusinessPartner, but earlier this month, hetook to the stage for the first time,in a number of different guises.Neil, who appeared as a Nazi guard,a dancer and a priest’s assistant,became involved in one of thenation’s most loved musicalsalmost by default. The productionwas short of men and Neil’s wifeEmma, who was playing a nunand a dancer in the production,encouraged him to volunteer.Neil’s acting debut was witnessedby almost 3,500 people at theMacRobert Theatre, during thecourse of eight performances overa week. The show had a budget of£60,000, boasted a brand new setand had a 16-piece orchestra toboot.Neil and Emma are pictured all set to take to the dancefloor in one of their costumes from the show.Neil said he really enjoyed himself.He told the National Reporter: “Itwas a completely new experience,and I would love to do more, but Iwon’t miss putting on the makeup.”Not one to be dazzled by theglittering lights and smell of thegreasepaint, he commented that itwas “a lot of hard work”, adding “Ican now appreciate how much goesin to a production like this.”As well as learning some lines, Neilhad to learn to dance a waltz andalso helped behind the scenes.It’s good to talk!We have a new piece of softwareinstalled on SCRA’s externalwebsite.ROKTALK is an incredible piece ofsoftware which enables peoplewith visual impairments, learningdifficulties and dyslexia, enhancedaccess to our website. In addition,it also provides translation in sixlanguages.It was installed on our websiteearlier this month after a memberof staff had made a suggestionto The Box, suggesting we getROKTALK on SCRA’s externalwebsite www.scra.gov.uk.It enables visitors to our website tohear written text spoken aloud in alife-like voice in six different accentsand languages without the need forvisitors to our website to downloadany software.We have opted for some of themost requested languages fortranslation services within SCRA -Polish, Mandarin, Turkish, Russian,Arabic and Slovakian.In addition, it allows the font size toincrease and for the colour of thescreen to change to suit differentvisual impairments.Maryanne McIntyre, SCRA’s Pressand Communications Managerexplained: “We are committed tocontinually improving our websiteand making it more user friendly.“Our website attracts more than50,000 unique hits a year, so it isimportant we keep it fresh and upto date.“ROKTALK is an excellent additionto the website, as it greatlyimproves the accessibility of ourinformation.“I’d like to thank the member ofstaff who made the suggestion toThe Box about this. We have beenreally pleased with the softwareand we look forward to gettingsome feedback from visitors to oursite.”page thirteen

spring 2012Discovery day for Tayside/Fife LocalityMore than 40 members of stafffrom the Tayside/Fife Locality cametogether for a day of discovery lastmonth.They attended their LocalityDevelopment Day at the RRSDiscovery in Dundee on Tuesday 28February.The aim of the day was to bringall the staff together from withinthe Locality to get to know eachother better and help preparefor the forthcoming changes andchallenges of 2012.After a welcoming cuppa to warmthe atmosphere, the team foundcommon ground by sharing tastesand opinions, of life in general andlife in a Locality.During the day, staff heard inputsfrom Kirsty MacDiarmid, SCRA’sQuality Assurance Manager andDouglas Cameron, IT ApplicationsOwner. Douglas provided a detailedvisual account of how the CaseManagement System should lookand function when implemented,and Kirsty’s presentation, aptlycalled ‘Getting ready for business’aimed to prime the team to beready for action when the ‘CMSship’ sets out on its maiden voyage.They couldn’t have had a moreinspirational venue for their daythan the Discovery, which wasmade famous for it’s expeditionall the way from Dundee to theAntarctica under the command ofCaptain Scott.The day ended with a tour of theship and a chance for some photos.Speaking afterwards, LocalityReporter Manager MaureenManns, told the National Reporterit had been a great day.She said: “We are very happy abouthow well our first Tayside/FifeLocality Development Day went.“All available staff members werepresent, and we are grateful forcolleagues in the neighbouringLooking ship shape! Staff from the Tayside/Fife Locality gather in front of the DiscoverySouth East Locality for supplyingemergency cover. We all certainlybenefited from some ‘away fromthe office’ time.“The venue was excellent and itwas great that all team membersentered into the spirit of the icebreakersession with their “AllAbout Me” forms, which in somecases proved a real eye-opener!Based on some of the answersTayside/Fife is well on its way tohaving its own football team!”Maureen added: “The main pointof the day was to get to know eachother better – always a challengewhen Locality teams are split overmore than one base. It was a goodstart, and we hope to repeat theexercise again some time in thefuture. It will certainly be in ourLocality Plan.”Are you having a Localitydevelopment day? Contactthe National Reporter – emailcommunications@scra.gsi.gov.ukpage fourteen

spring 2012SPECIALData Protection – spot what’s wrongLast year every member of staff received training in Data Protection. We want to know justhow much you remember!We’ve mocked up three photographs with some obvious clangers, but will you spot them all?Let us know what you think they are. There’s 11 in total.Handy hint – some are difficult to find, so remember to increase the size of your screen to tryand spot them all!If you spot all the Data Protection blunders, you could win a £30 Argos voucher.Email your answers to communications@scra.gsi.gov.uk – please mark the subject field as DPAquiz. The closing date is Monday 23 April.1.COMPETITiON2.3.page sixteen

spring 2012New network round upPractice and Quality Network updateThe Practice and Quality Networkhas been meeting every six weekssince the beginning of November.The network is made up of a LocalityReporter Manager from eachlocality, Practice Team Manager,Head of Practice and Policy andQuality Assurance Managers.The work that the network hasundertaken to date includes thefollowing:A workshop on developing SCRAsservice standardsReviewing the case samplingresults on the appeals case samplingexercise, and agreeing themanagement action plan arisingfrom thisAgreeing the national approach tocase file sampling exercisesAgreeing a national programme ofcase file sampling exercises on aquarterly basis, to provide the AuditCommittee with assurance aboutthe quality of practiceA monthly case file samplingexercise on cases subject to nondisclosureis underwayResponding to the CareInspectorate’s consultation on theirnew approach to inspections ofchildren’s servicesDiscussion on futurearrangements for the handling ofnon-disclosure filesDiscussion about the introductionof the senior practitioner rolePractice and Quality Networkmembers are already finding thegroup useful.David Jones, Lanarkshire andDumfries & Galloway lead, said:“The Practice and Quality Networkis made up of representativesfrom each of the Localities and istherefore a vehicle for ensuringconsistency of practice on aPractice and Quality Network members are pictured at their latest meeting on 9 Marchnational basis and indeed in makingimprovements in the quality of thispractice.”Moyra Gordon, Highlands & Islandslead said: “I am finding membershipof the network really interesting –and supportive - in my role as anLRM in Highlands & Islands.“It also makes me feel a real part ofthe organisation nationally, ratherthan just an outpost in the NorthSea!“We are continuing to develop a rangeof effective means to communicateinformation and to share ideas andgood practice within our Localityteam.”Lesley Siewert, South East lead added:“The network encourages good qualitydiscussion about practise issues both inthe network meetings and afterwardsin the Localities.“It helps promote both goodpractise and consistency across theorganisation.”page seventeen

spring 2012Performance and ImprovementNetwork updateThe Performance and Improvementnetwork (PIN) is continuing to gofrom strength to strength.The PIN, which meets every fourweeks, has now met on threeoccasions.The network is made up of aLocality Reporter Manager fromeach Locality, the Head of Planningand Strategy, the Delivery andPerformance Manager and obtainsinputs from a range of colleaguesas required.The work that the network hasundertaken to date includes thefollowing:Agreeing the Terms of Referencefor the NetworkA workshop on business readinessfor the implementation of casemanagement, discussing issues andresource implicationsAgreeing the data sets which willsupport localities with assessingtheir business readiness and giveassurance to the business thatlocalities are “ready”Developing a model for localityplanning both in the short term(focussing largely on businessreadiness) but also for 2012/13Developing a network workplan for2012/13 which includes developingperformance improvement methodsand sharing best practiceDeveloping an area on Connect toimprove awareness and promoteinformation sharingSouth East Locality Reporter Manager,Paul Mulvanny sits on the PIN, hesaid:“The key purpose of the PerformanceImprovement Network is to look athow we can drive better performancethroughout the organisation.“It also provides an essentialfocus in helping to prepare forthe implementation of the CaseManagement System.”Update on itrentThe roll out of submitting travel andexpense claims via itrent will becompleted later this spring.The final three Localities (Tayside/Fife, South East and NorthStrathclyde) will go live shortly, whichwill mean every member of staffwill soon be able to submit theirexpenses electronically.This follows on from the introductionof electronic payslips in October lastyear.In addition, a pilot is underway inHead Office for staff to requestannual leave electronically as well.The plan is to roll this out across theLocalities by later in the year.In the meantime, colleagues fromthe Transactions Team have beencarrying out training in the Localitiesto ensure staff get the maximum outof itrent.Payroll Officer, Marjorie Riddellexplained: “Initially some membersPayroll Officer, Majorie Riddell using itrentof staff were a bit unsure aboutusing the system, but staff are nowseeing the benefits of the system asit is pretty user friendly.“We have already had somepositive feedback from peoplesaying they prefer it to the old waysof working.”If you have any questions pleasecontact the Transactions Team.More information about usingitrent is available on Connect.page eighteen

spring 2012The next edition of the National Reporter will be published in mid JuneTea-break word searchU S S L S L N L U G E S MT L C Y P B I B R C L P MR S N O W D R O P C S A IM O S S O L B Y R R E H CR E O F V B L C I R U T AB E F F T C U L M P E N AL A I F U M E I R T I I ED T C R R L B L O E L C UB L T L P Y E A S L R A RA B I F Y I L L E O D Y AP A L I U W L M C I C H FE I R I L N A U S V I O IF L I F F C S I T P O Y AWelcome to our interactive tea-break teaser.Simply click on the word search and it will open upa new window for you and it will show you the 10words you need to find.Now that spring is here, all the words this timerelate to spring flowers. The competition closes onMonday 23 April. The winner will receive a £30 giftcard for Homebase.page ninteteen