UNISON Scotland has supported the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) since its inception and we believe that many of the measures contained in the proposed Bill can only strengthen the policies contained within it.
However, there are several areas which we believe merit further consideration prior to the Bill being passed and other issues which we feel will need to be addressed to enable it to bring about the improvement it aims to introduce.
The most important of these is, we believe, the need for adequate resources to be guaranteed to ensure the improvements can be implemented. While training, cultures and ‘silo’ thinking may be obstacles to delivering the full ethos of ‘Getting it Right’, the biggest block comes from staff being unable to deliver due to workloads and resource pressures. The Government needs to recognise this if it to turn the aims of the Bill into a reality for children in Scotland.
https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/Consultation_ChildrenYoungPeopleBill_Sep2012.pdf