Councillors Endorse Disability Services Exercise
17th November 2023
Members of The Highland Council's Health, Social Care and Wellbeing have endorsed a scoping exercise currently being carried out on services available for children with disability in Highland.
Included within the exercise is the consideration of Self-Directed Support and residential and respite provision which provides short break accommodation for children and young people with complex health and disability needs.
Chair of Health, Social Care and Well Being Committee, Cllr David Fraser said: "The ongoing work of this scoping exercise with NHS Highland, the Third Sector and families reflects the Council’s ‘Our Future Highland’ Programme which is ‘working together to improve quality of life and opportunities for Highland people’."
He added: “I would like to thank all the many teams, staff and partners who are working together to support families to stay together and thrive in their local communities.”
A key requirement of the exercise is engagement with NHS Highland on the transitions and education for young people with a disability who may not be known to the Children’s Disability Service in Highland, as well as with Third Sector partners.
The outcomes of the exercise will inform the Council what is required to ensure an improved strategic overview, planning and collaboration for children, families, and carers within disability services.
A report to councillors highlighted that engagement with education is key in terms of transitions so that all children and young people who are affected by a disability - and are likely to be eligible for an adult care service - are identified at an early stage.
Councillors were informed that scoping work has commenced in Caithness and Sutherland with Third Sector partners and parent representation to map current disability services provision. Early feedback from this exercise has shown that “building more supportive fun and recreational activities was a priority for 35% of parents”.
The Council and NHS Highland are working hard to get respite provision back in place that is currently being ‘blocked’ due to long term stays of children with complex disability needs.
Members were informed that regarding the transition to adult services - the Council has been engaging with NHS Highland and a ‘pathway’ has been agreed setting out timescales of future planning for children and young people who will be eligible for adult care services.
Following completion of the scoping exercise, the Council will be more informed as to what next steps are required to ensure that there is strategic overview, planning and collaboration for children, families, and carers within disability services.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Todays Audit Scotland report Local government budgets 2024/25 reveals how dire council budgets are. This makes many more cuts in services likely in coming years.
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028. The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply.
Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. Convener of the Council, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council.
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
