Growth and development.pdf

7. Modernising servicesA local working group, comprising representatives of Council services and voluntary andcommunity organisations, has examined the implications of the Race Relations (Amendment)Act and disseminated information among represented services. A local Race Equality Schemeneeds to be prepared as part of implementing the legislation.The Council subscribes to Citizen Focus, the Modernising Government funded project operatedby a number of Scottish authorities. The Services to People Department is involved in acustomer relationship management system being developed over the next three years.8. The FutureThe Council is working closely with the Health Board in establishing and bringing into operationjoint management and budgeting arrangements, in order to realise the objectives of communitycare. Specific aspects of implementing community care which call for early attention are:• strengthening partnership with carers and with people using services in planning services,particularly in mental health;• giving greater priority services to meet the needs of people with sensory impairment, thereis an urgent need to take forward the recommendations of Sensing Progress in collaborationwith health and education services; and• establishing a system of needs assessment for those with learning difficulties and to buildfurther on earlier progress in improving services for those with learning difficulties.The low level of educational provision for children in the residential home should be addressedas a matter of urgency. The combination of education and child care services in one departmentof a small authority creates the potential to tailor services to the needs of looked after children.The Council needs to promote good practice on exclusions, enable the smooth exchange ofinformation about looked after children and promote joint professional development forteaching and social work staff.Aftercare of young people is a particularly difficult function for smaller Councils to dischargeeffectively, in view of the variety of needs which can arise and the specialist skills required todeal with them. The Council has placed working responsibility on generic social workers but itshould make efforts to ensure that they have access to specialist knowledge and practice tosupport them in their work.Deciding and implementing standard procedures and systems for the new Forth Valley criminaljustice group is now a matter of some urgency, so that the flow of referrals can be dealt withsmoothly and consistently.The Council continues to have significant problems in terms of childcare staffing and there isrecent evidence to suggest that criminal justice services are also starting to experience difficultyin recruitment. The Council should adopt measures specifically designed to retain and recruitsocial work staff, based on best practice.Established client information systems for adults and children need to be reviewed in order toestablish better links with health and education: linking data systems is vital to support positivedevelopments such as single shared assessment.46