The Scottish Government

Task Groups

Four task groups were set up to take forward the work on the early years framework and they developed their proposals from April to June 2008. Individual task groups each produced the following reports on specific areas of the framework:

1. Building parenting and family capacity pre and post birth
2. Creating communities that provide a supportive environment for children and families
3. Delivering integrated services that meet the holistic needs of children and families
4. Developing a suitable workforce to support the framework

All task groups took into consideration the following overarching tasks:

• Reflecting the four principles of early intervention
• Making the links to the principles of Getting It Right for Every Child
• Within the context of the Concordat, developing success measures and accountability arrangements for implementation of the framework
• Ensuring that the needs of children requiring additional support (including looked after children and those at risk of becoming looked after) and their families are specifically considered in developing the framework
• Developing an approach to support for disadvantaged and vulnerable families that integrates with the Government's development of a framework for tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation

Programme Board

The work of the task groups was overseen by a programme board, members of which came from a range of backgrounds including the Scottish Government, local government, NHS Scotland, the voluntary sector and ACPOS. The programme board was chaired by Colin MacLean, Director, Children, Young people and Social Care, Scottish Government and Rory Mair, Chief Executive, COSLA.