Dumfries and Galloway Council and NHS Dumfries and Galloway have published their Joint Annual Report on the Children’s Services Plan (2025–26), setting out key achievements over the past year. The report was approved at Full Council on Thursday 25 June 2026.
Partners across the council, NHS, Police Scotland and third sector have focused on shared priorities including early intervention, improving outcomes for those most in need, and involving families in decisions about their care.
Progress has been made across six priority areas, including mental health, child poverty, care experience and family support.
More children and young people are now accessing mental health support locally. Over 3,200 one-to-one sessions were delivered in secondary schools, alongside 1,500 participants in primary wellbeing programmes. Drop-in sessions also saw strong demand, with more than 2,300 attendances.
Early help and family support has continued to grow, with 1,481 children supported during the year. Most received help early, preventing issues from escalating. Parenting support has also expanded, with trained staff now delivering programmes across the region.
Support for care experienced children has strengthened, with around 300 families supported through kinship care and a new Intensive Support Outreach Team helping prevent family breakdown.
Tackling child poverty remains a priority. Five new Key Workers are now supporting families in the most disadvantaged communities. While local child poverty levels have improved slightly to 22.7%, this remains a significant challenge.
More than 500 children, young people and parents took part in local engagement events, helping shape services.
A recent Care Inspectorate inspection graded key areas as “Good”, with “Very Good” for how well services involve families. Inspectors praised strong partnerships and relationships, while highlighting workforce pressures, data gaps and consistency as areas for improvement.
Despite progress, demand for services continues to rise, driven by cost-of-living pressures, increasing poverty and growing mental health needs. Workforce and recruitment challenges also remain, particularly in a rural area.
The report also sets out priorities for the next Children’s Services Plan (2026–29), focusing on safety, early support, health and reducing barriers to learning.
Councillor Tracey Little, Convener of Dumfries and Galloway Council, said:
“We’re seeing the impact of strong partnership working, with more families getting the right support at the right time.
“While challenges remain, particularly around poverty and mental health, we are making real progress in strengthening early help and improving outcomes for children and young people.
“We are committed to building on this as we develop our next Children’s Services Plan.”