Bairns' Hoose Pathfinder Phase – Research Report
This report shares key learning gathered as part of the Bairns' Hoose Pathfinder Phase in Scotland. The mixed-method research explores the operation of six Bairns' Hoose partnerships, highlighting successes and areas for development.
3. Overview of partnership funding
The Scottish Government Bairns’ Hoose Fund supports Pathfinders and Affiliates in implementing Bairns’ Hoose in their area. The Fund can be used for resource costs, including staff and delivery, as well as capital costs. The 2024/25 funding period covered 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
Additionally, the Scottish Government Thematic Fund supports “test of change” projects. Partnerships can apply to this fund for specific, innovative short-term projects which contribute learning to the national model, with funding available for resource costs only. The 2024/25 funding period ran from 1 July 2024 to 31 March 2025.
For the Bairns’ Hoose Fund, six Pathfinders were awarded close to the maximum of £500,000 per partnership, and four Affiliates were awarded close to the maximum of £300,000 per partnership. Of the capital funding, £289,000 was distributed directly to Police Scotland to support the purchase and installation of Video Recorded Interview across the partnerships. The remaining capital funds were distributed directly to partnerships. For the Thematic Fund, applicants were awarded almost the full fund value of £800,000.
The table below sets out the funding allocated and spent by partnerships during the fund period. Calculations of partnership spending do not include capital funds distributed to Police Scotland for interview equipment.
| Budget Overview | Pathfinder Fund | Affiliate Fund | Thematic Fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amount awarded | £2,991,184 | £1,183,221 | £746,156 |
| Total Resource awarded | £2,045,158 | £759,621 | £746,156 |
| Total Capital distributed direct to partnerships | £657,026 | £336,600 | N/A |
| Total Capital distributed to Police Scotland | £289,000 | £87,000 | N/A |
| Partnership Resource spend | £1,727,199 | £549,001 | £659,829 |
| Partnership Capital spend, excluding Police Scotland | £394,068 | £84,077 | N/A |
| Partnership Resource underspend | £317,959 (16%) | £210,620 (28%) | £86,327 (12%) |
| Partnership Capital underspend, excluding Police Scotland | £262,958 (40%) | £252,523 (75%) | N/A |
Across the Bairns’ Hoose Fund and the Thematic Fund, partnerships incurred slight resource underspends. However, the capital underspend of the Bairns’ Hoose Fund was more significant, with 40% of the capital funds distributed to Pathfinders and 75% of the capital funds distributed to Affiliates remaining unspent.
Partnerships emphasised the limits of annual funding, rather than multi-year funding, in addition to challenges with lengthy staff recruitment timelines, difficulties with retention, prolonged procurement processes, delays in transferring funds between partners, contractor timescales and delays in installations and building works. These challenges were compounded by a delay in receiving funding. Finally, partnerships found that delivery costs did not match budget projections. In several partnerships, adjustments to the allocation of funds between resource and capital costs were approved to prevent unnecessary underspend.
Contact
Email: dafni.dima@gov.scot