West Dunbartonshire becomes first Scottish council to announce support for 70/30 Campaign

Monday, August 30, 2021

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Thanks to the efforts of 70/30 Campaigners, West Dunbartonshire Council has become the first in Scotland to officially endorse the 70/30 Campaign to reduce child maltreatment (abuse, neglect, domestic violence) by 70% by 2030.

They join the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth councils in a growing list of local authorities passing motions in support of the campaign.

70/30 ambassador and local resident George Drummond, whose efforts were instrumental to this success, said: "I am delighted that West Dunbartonshire Council has become the first council in Scotland to become trauma-informed and support the WAVE Trust's 70/30 Campaign.

"I would like to pay particular thanks to Councillor Ian Dickson and Councillor Karen Conaghan for their extensive support. That also branches out to fellow WAVE Trust peers and employees, including Jay Haston, Lead of Operations here in Scotland.

"Now the hard work begins. For me it is important to allow time for a report to being compiled into what we already do well in West Dunbartonshire and what we need to improve on.

“I need to build and establish more links in West Dunbartonshire to ensure maximum outreach and I look forward to working with all groups, political parties and relevant bodies to ensure the implementation of the 70/30 Campaign and its objectives."

WAVE Trust are equally delighted to see this motion pass and would like to extend our appreciation and admiration to George Drummond, as well as all other ambassadors in Scotland who helped to make this achievement happen.

 

Scottish 70/30 ambassadors meet up following the council meeting to celebrate this success. From left to right: Angela Haston, Jay Haston, Michelle Friel, William Anderson, George Drummond.

 

The first 70/30 motion in Scotland

Following the meeting, George Drummond shared the speech of Councillor Ian Dickson (SNP), who proposed the motion, with his fellow 70/30 ambassadors. The motion read:

"Today I ask for your support for the WAVE Trust's 70/30 Campaign and for you to agree to my motion today. First though I would like to thank the lacal ambassador for the WAVE Trust in West Dunbartonshire (WDC), George Drummond, for bringing this to my attention, and for meeting with me to discuss the 70/30 Campaign's objectives.

"The First Minister ordered a report on the future delivery of public services and that report was released in 2011 by the Christie Commission. It laid out the landscape and the stark reality that as much as 40% of public spending was only necessary because of a lack of early intervention. When it comes to adverse childhood experiences, a stitch in time saves nine is a well-known and very applicable proverb.

"This is a multivariate issue and that means we need to take a collective approach. It is about health, education, social work, justice, welfare and many other elements all working together to challenge the myriad issues that children face and we need people who work in those services working alongside each other to effectively challenge and address problems that we see are very often passed down through generations.

"In exploring this subject with our Chief Social Work Officer and Head of Children's Health, Care and Justice, I was impressed to see so many good local examples already, far too many for me to recall or list just now. This gives me real confidence in the solid foundation WDC and partners have to build on.

"If this motion is passed today, we’ll be the first council in Scotland that has formally committed to working with the WAVE Trust to address this issue. We have an opportunity to set down a marker, to show the rest of Scotland how seriously we take these issues and we have an opportunity to demonstrate our serious commitment, within this council, to addressing and preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences at the earliest opportunity. I commend the motion and ask you all to vote in favour of the opportunity that is in front of you."