The leader of West Dunbartonshire Council says a new £604,000 family fund will "transform services" for families and children across the community.

Councillor Martin Rooney hopes the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) will allow families to flourish by ways of focusing on "early intervention and prevention at its core."

The WFWF is being invested by the West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership (WDCPP) and is part of the Scottish Government’s £500 million investment in transforming the way family support is delivered and ensures "person-centred holistic support" is available to help those in need.

Cllr Rooney explained fund will offer support every year until at least 2026.

He said: “This is an opportunity to transform services for families and children and develop a strategic approach that focuses more on prevention.

"It is essential all our partners work together to re-align our resources and priorities to meet the needs of children, young people and families with early help as we progress towards 2026.

“The Community Planning Partnership will receive funding each year to 2026 to support the changes to our services for families and young people.

"We must work together to make the changes to ensure the needs of families and young people get the right support at the right time.”

A WFWF officer has been appointed and three family hubs will be set up in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Alexandria to improve family well-being, reduce inequalities between the most and least disadvantaged communities, reduce the number of families needing crisis intervention and reduce the number of children and young people living away from their families.

This comes after feedback from meetings with parents and Kinship Carers and information from planned focus groups with key partners including the Champions Board, Y-Sort-It WDC Youth Council and Young Ambassadors.

The information and views gathered from the focus groups will help to develop family support available across West Dunbartonshire via the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

Councillor Michelle McGinty, vice chair of WDCPP, added: “The diverse range of specialist services that will be available across the Council area will include Neurodevelopmental workers; Includem; Education Outreach workers; Specialists in Family Group Decision Making; Speech and Language Therapists; Occupational Therapists and Family Nursing staff."

Families will also contribute to the development and planning of services ensuring they are sustainable and lead to long-term positive outcomes for children and young people.