Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme templates: year 3 analysis - 2024-2025

8. Conclusions

This analysis provides a descriptive overview of Year 3 WFWF activity, based on information provided in annual reporting templates and supporting documentation. The purpose of the review was to collate and summarise information provided by CSPPs about Year 3 WFWF activity, and to identify thematic insights to support policy development and future analytical work.

Within these parameters, the analysis highlights a broad range of work taking place to improve holistic whole family support for children, young people and families across Scotland, reflecting the diversity of local need and the complexity of systems change efforts.

Analysis of Year 3 WFWF templates indicated:

• Clear evidence of engagement with children, young people and families across CSPPs, with many areas detailing how lived experience and continuous engagement have shaped service planning, design and delivery.
• Improvements in access and availability of family support, including streamlined referral routes, flexible and community-based delivery models and targeted supports for groups with different needs.
• Examples of whole systems working, including the development of multi-agency hubs and workforce development.
• A shift towards prevention and early intervention, with activities focused on supporting families earlier and reducing the likelihood of escalation to statutory services.

Interviews with practitioners involved in WFWF implementation provided valuable additional insight into the programme at a local level. These conversations have formed the basis of four positive practice case studies which describe initiatives taking place as a result of WFWF and offer opportunities for learning.

CSPPs continue to face challenges in the delivery of WFWF activities, with many experiencing recruitment and retention difficulties, financial constraints, and increasing demand across services. While these challenges reflect systemic pressures and are not unique to WFWF activity, such barriers have resulted in some projects being postponed, scaled back or hindered.

Overall, Year 3 templates demonstrated how CSPPs are utilising WFWF to progress activity that aligns with the programme’s ambitions for more responsive, holistic and preventative family support. The findings offer a useful foundation for understanding local implementation and for informing ongoing development of WFWF policy. They also provide contextual insight that can complement findings from the evaluation of Years 3 and 4, which will assess the programme’s effectiveness and its contribution to outcomes in more depth.