Publication - Research and analysis

Family Wellbeing Partnership in Clackmannanshire: evaluation

Published: 24 June 2025
From: Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice
Directorate: Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate
Topic: Children and families, Communities and third sector, Equality and rights, +3 more … Programme for Government, Public sector, Work and skills
ISBN: 9781836917991

A report on the findings from the evaluation of the Family Wellbeing Partnership (FWP) in Clackmannanshire.

Annex E: Evaluation Interview Guides

Below are the interview guides for: (1) service users (families engaged with the FWP); (2) practitioners and staff delivering services; and (3) senior leaders and policy/strategy staff.

Topic Guide for Individuals/Families

Interview via teams (45-60 minutes)

Preamble

Hi, my name is xxx, and I’m xxx at Horizons, an independent research consultancy. I’d like to give you some background about this project before we begin.

As you may know, I’m part of a research team that’s been commissioned by the Scottish Government to understand whether the Family Wellbeing Partnership (support for families in need) in Clackmannanshire is working well in its aims to change and improve the way public services are provided to families.

As part of this research, we’re speaking to families within Clackmannanshire to help us understand how the Family Wellbeing Partnership has been implemented and what difference it has made in addressing individual, family and community wellbeing. Once we’ve completed the project we’ll be publishing a report for the Scottish Government.

Before I ask for your agreement to participate in this research, I’d just like to tell you a bit about how your information will be used.

The information you provide will be anonymised, which means your name and any identifiable details will not be used in our report. You can retract any information you provide up to 13th January 2025 (when we will submit our draft final report to the Scottish Government) and you don’t need to give a reason. And during the interview, if you don’t want to answer any of the questions, please know you don’t have to, and we can move on. Finally, our data processing and management is all in compliance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR regulations.

If that’s all clear and alright with you, are you happy to proceed with the interview? It should take approximately 45-60 minutes.

[wait for acknowledgement]

And is it ok for me to record the interview? This is only to help me write notes/transcribe afterwards. I will then delete the recording.

[wait for acknowledgement]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[potential interviewee responds]

Thank you. In this session, I’d like us to explore some specific themes with you:

Some basic questions about the kind of involvement you have had with the Family Wellbeing Partnership
What that involvement looked like for you - what its been like for you and your family
And lastly, some questions around the difference being involved has meant to you and your family.

Let’s start and get you talking..

Introductory and background information

How did you hear about the Family Wellbeing Partnership, or the support you’re receiving?
Can you tell me a bit about the support you’ve received?
Why did you decide to get involved with the activities or support you’ve been engaged with?
What type of activities are you involved in?
What type of activities do your family members engage in?
How long have you been going to these activities?
Why do you go to these activities?
What’s the best thing about coming to these activities?
Are the people who run this place the same as other places you go?

Access and experience with FWP

Could you describe your experience so far in getting support from the FWP?
How have you found the experience of accessing different kinds of support?
Have you received support from any other staff or services, through the FWP?
How would you describe the staff you work with?
Have you felt supported and listened to by staff?
Do you feel that the staff at the different services you use talk to one another about your needs?
Do you feel that staff are trained and knowledgeable about how to best support your needs?
Have you noticed any changes in how activities have been delivered over the last few years?
How easy has it been to get involved with activities or seek help when you’ve needed to?
Do you feel more aware of the support available to you?

Impact on personal and family wellbeing (Short-Term)

Can you describe what the FWP means to you? How is it important to you?
Have there been any changes in the way staff have worked with you, and if so, what are they?
Has your involvement in the FWP had any impact on your life or your family’s lives? If so, in what ways?
How easy or difficult have you found it to access the right support for you and your family?
How has the activity you’ve been involved with helped with your financial situation, if at all?
Have you learnt any new skills? Can you give examples (budgeting, cooking, life admin)?
How do you feel about managing your financial situation?
Can you describe some challenges you’ve been able to overcome by taking part in the activities or services?
How do you feel about your housing? Do you know how to find help for any concerns?
Have you been able to access new support, such as employability services, childcare, benefits, or learning opportunities?
Do you feel any different with regard to your emotional health since taking part in FWP activities?
How have you been involved in local activities or events (school gatherings, community events)? To what extent has the FWP helped you to get more involved, if at all?

Medium-Term Impact (6 months to 3 years)

Over the past year or so, do you feel like the FWP has had an impact on your life or your family’s life? If so, in what ways?
Have you noticed any changes in your children’s lives (e.g., educational outcomes, behaviour)?
Have you experienced any changes in your financial stability or ability to work due to FWP involvement?
Has your involvement in FWP activities helped you feel more confident in making decisions and plans for your future?
How would you feel about adjusting these plans if needed (e.g., if a service you relied on became unavailable)?
How would you describe your engagement with services compared to before? Has this changed at all?
Have you noticed changes in your confidence to take part in other activities and find resources for support?
How has your involvement in the local community changed, if at all?

Long-Term Impact (Over 3 years)

How long have you been involved in the FWP activities or programmes?
How has this time helped shape your life and plans going forward (looking back over 6 months to 4 years)?
What differences have emerged for you and your family, particularly in terms of children’s educational attainment, new training or jobs, and financial stability?
How would you describe your wellbeing and your family’s wellbeing now compared to before accessing FWP services?
How have your relationships with other families or staff members changed, if at all?
What does long-term financial stability look like to you and your family?
How do you feel about money and how has your relationship with money changed?
Can you describe the difference that accessing employment and training opportunities has made to you and your family, if at all?

Wrap-Up (2min)

Thank you so much for your answers. To confirm, are you happy for me to use this information you provided for this research project?

[interviewee reconfirms/asks for details of the study or how data will be used to be repeated]

Do you have any last questions for us?

[interviewee responds]

Thank you so much for your time!

Engagement within the community (focus group style etc)

Preamble

Hi, my name is xxx, and I’m xxx at Horizons, an independent research consultancy. I’d like to give you some background about this project before we begin.

This event today is an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and feedback about any of the activities you have engaged in through Clackmannanshire. These include Community Around The School, Child Wellbeing Partnership and employability support. In particular, we’re interested in hearing what has gone well but also what could be improved if anything. This event is part of a larger activity, and we’ll be hoping to use your feedback and thoughts as part of the project. Once we’ve completed the project we’ll be publishing a report for the Scottish Government.

Before I ask for your agreement to participate in this research, I’d just like to tell you a bit about how your information will be used.

The information you provide will be anonymised, which means your name and any identifiable details will not be used in our report. You can retract any information you provide up to 13th January 2025 (when we will submit our draft final report to the Scottish Government) and you don’t need to give a reason. And during this event, if you don’t want to answer any of the questions, please know you don’t have to, and we can move on. Finally, our data processing and management is all in compliance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR regulations.

If that’s all clear and alright with you, we’ll get started.

Our time today is going to focus on a 3 key areas of discussion: Your general experience of the FWP, its impact on your family and any changes you see its brought about, and looking forward and how you see the future:

General

How did you hear about the Family Wellbeing Partnership, or the support you’re receiving?
Can you tell me a bit about the support you’ve received?
What type of activities are you involved in?
What type of activities do your family members engage in?
How long have you been going to these activities?
Why do you go to these activities?
What’s the best thing about coming to these activities?
Are the people who run this place the same as other places you go?
How did you first hear about the Family Wellbeing Partnership, and what has your experience been like since getting involved?
How have you found the experience of accessing support from the FWP and other services?
What has made it easier or more difficult?

Impacts and changes

How has being part of the FWP impacted your life or your family’s lives? Can you share any specific ways it has helped or made a difference?
Have you noticed any changes in how services are delivered since you got involved with the FWP? What has worked well, and what could be improved?
How do you feel about your confidence and skills since participating in FWP activities?
Have you gained any new skills

Looking Forward

Thinking about the future, how has the FWP helped shape your plans or outlook? In what ways (if at all) has it changed your outlook on the future.
Do you see your involvement with the partnership affecting your (and your families) longer-term wellbeing? In what ways?

[please note the questions will be adapted to suit the group. Words like ‘service’, ‘FWP’ and ‘support’ ‘activities’ may be swapped in and out depending on relevance to the group]

Topic Guide For Practitioners

Interviews by Teams (lasting approx. 60 min)

Preamble

Hi, my name is xxx, and I’m xxx at Horizons, an independent research consultancy. I’d like to give you some background about this project before we begin.

As part of this research, we’re interviewing key individuals who work within Clackmannanshire to participate in this project through semi-structured interviews. Our aim is to better understand how the Family Wellbeing Partnership has been implemented, and ultimately how place-based initiatives focused on whole system change like the FWP can help to address child poverty and improve individual, family and community wellbeing. In particular, we are interested in both the process of implementation, delivery and transformation of services in Clackmannanshire, and the impacts of the Family Wellbeing Partnership.

Once we’ve completed the project we’ll be publishing a report for the Scottish Government.

Before I ask for your agreement to participate in this research, I’d just like to tell you a bit about how your information will be used.

If that’s all clear and alright with you, are you happy to proceed with the interview? It should take approximately 60 minutes.

[wait for acknowledgement]

And is it ok for me to record the interview? This is only to help me write notes/transcribe afterwards. I will then delete the recording.

[wait for acknowledgement]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[potential interviewee responds]

Thank you. I’d like us to cover a number of different themes and topics in our time together today: some background information, engagement, service delivery, trust, data sharing, impact, system change, leadership, finances, and concluding reflections. I’d like to begin by asking some questions about the nature of your work. Could you first tell me …

There’s a range of themes I’d like us to cover today-

Introduction questions
Engagement and recruitment
Service delivery and collaboration
Perception and trust
Service integration and data sharing
Capabilities approach in service design
Impact on families and staff (Short and Medium Term)
Long-term system change
Leadership and organisational culture
Concluding questions

I’d like to begin by asking some questions about the nature of your work. Could you first tell me

Background Information

…about the nature of your work and the work of your organisation?
How long have you been aware of, or involved in, the FWP programme?
How long have you been working within Clackmannanshire and with the FWP?
Can you explain how you became involved in the FWP?
How is this different from what your role was prior to working with the FWP?
What are your overall thoughts of the FWP?

Engagement and Recruitment

How does engagement and recruitment take place with eligible families, and what are the enablers and barriers to engagement?
Who are the priority groups for the FWP, and to what extent have they been reached?
What issues or needs do those eligible for support or engaging with FWP services identify? What aspirations or hopes do they express?

Service Delivery and Collaboration

Looking back, do you feel the FWP has aligned with its initial aims? What aspects have worked well, and where do you see room for improvement?
Can you think of an example of a major barrier you were able to overcome?
Can you think of an example you were not able to overcome?
Can you describe the values, culture, and behaviours of those involved in FWP? How do these align with the concept of value-based leadership?
How are families experiencing the support offered by the FWP? Does it feel different from previous support, and if so, how? Do families feel it is meeting their needs? Examples?
How have different FWP initiatives worked together to support outcomes for families?
How effective has cross-sector collaboration (e.g., between education, social services, health care) been in addressing community needs through FWP?
To what extent has the introduction of [the STRIVE, CWP, CATS, employability] approach reduced reliance on crisis services? How has it improved the timeliness of interventions?
How have services adapted to continuously meet changing community needs?

Perception and Trust

Ask about the groups that have been set up to support the FWP? Improvement groups, implementation groups, implementation groups, task and finish groups, collaboration groups?
How did those group come about, how are decisions made?
How is the work of these groups resourced, how are they plugged into other decision making groups?
To what extent do you feel you have the authority and trust to act within the framework of the FWP? What does that look like?
Has there been any shift in the kinds of roles within the council due to the FWP way of working? Which ones?
Do you feel the FWP has increased trust between the community and service providers? Can you provide any examples?
Do you feel that the FWP has created more trust amongst staff delivering services across different sectors and organisations?

Service Integration and Data Sharing

How has service collaboration improved the delivery of preventative interventions
To what extent has data sharing been achieved? Can you provide examples?
Has data sharing and coordination among services improved the efficiency and impact of service delivery? How were any barriers overcome?

Capabilities approach in service design

How have you seen the ‘capabilities approach’ influence service design and delivery within FWP?
What changes in participants’ capabilities or outcomes have you observed as a result of FWP support? [break this down into examples of change in experience of services and changes in material circumstances for people.. Press for examples of both]

Impact on Families and Staff (Short and Medium Term)

What do you see as the impacts resulting from a family’s engagement with FWP? What difference do you think the FWP has made to the families using the services?
Do you think these differences will last long term, and why?
Are there particular groups of users who benefit more (or less) from FWP initiatives?
Which aspects of FWP support do you feel are the most (and least) important in driving the changes experienced by families?
To what extent do you believe that being involved with the FWP has benefitted you and other practitioners? What positive outcomes have resulted for staff involved in the FWP?

Long-Term System Change

In what ways do you think the FWP is trying to change the system of services and support locally?
To what extent has the FWP been effective in changing the system of services and support locally?
What system change outcomes are sought by the FWP, and what actions are planned to achieve these outcomes?
How has the shift towards holistic, person-centred service models based on the FWP improved the long-term resilience of community support systems?

Leadership and Organisational Culture

Do you feel that leaders within the council think differently about service delivery as a result of the FWP? In what ways?
To what extent have senior leaders in Clackmannanshire put their weight behind the FWP? What evidence do you see of Values Based Leadership (VBL) approaches?
In what ways has your practice changed as a result of working through the FWP model? Do you feel you have more time for reflective practice and to develop your skills?
Financial Implications and Resource Allocation:
Do you think the FWP is more or less costly to deliver than previous services? Can you explain why?
What areas of FWP investment are regarded as “spend-to-save,” and how has this been quantified?
How do you think the costs of service delivery have changed compared to previous models?

Concluding Questions

What do you see as the main value or impact of the FWP, and how successful have you found it?
How could delivery be improved for families?
What changes in capabilities or other positive outcomes have resulted for participants from FWP support?
Which aspects of support are most (and least) important in driving any changes?
Is there anyone else we should talk to or documents we should look at?
Is there anything you would like to add?

[This guide contains more questions than can be covered in a one-hour interview. It may be that specific questions will be selected based on the relevance to the interviewee’s role and experience to ensure the conversation remains focused and meaningful.]

Wrap-Up (2min)

Thank you so much for your answers. To confirm, are you happy for me to use this information you provided for this research project?

[interviewee reconfirms/asks for details of the study or how data will be used to be repeated]

Do you have any last questions for us?

[interviewee responds]

Thank you so much for your time!

Topic Guide for System Leaders

Interviews by Teams (lasting approx. 60 min)

Preamble

Hi, my name is xxx, and I’m xxx at Horizons, an independent research consultancy. I’d like to give you some background about this project before we begin.

Once we’ve completed the project we’ll be publishing a report for the Scottish Government.

Before I ask for your agreement to participate in this research, I’d just like to tell you a bit about how your information will be used.

If that’s all clear and alright with you, are you happy to proceed with the interview? It should take approximately 45-60 minutes.

[wait for acknowledgement]

And is it ok for me to record the interview? This is only to help me write notes/transcribe afterwards. I will then delete the recording.

[wait for acknowledgement]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

[potential interviewee responds]

Thank you.

There’s a range of themes I’d like us to cover today-

Introduction questions
Implementation effectiveness
Authorising environments
Facilitators and barriers to innovation
Authority and empowerment
Capabilities approach in service design
Policy context
System change and outcomes
Systems leadership and innovation
Concluding question/ anything more to add

I’d like to begin by asking some questions about the nature of your work. Could you first tell me

Introduction questions

…a bit about yourself and your work with the FWP?
What did you want to work there? When did you start with FWP and where were you before.
What was it like working with FWP? Big change or similar?
How has your awareness or involvement with the FWP evolved over time, and what has that experience been like?

Implementation effectiveness

Looking back, do you feel the FWP has aligned with its initial aims? What aspects have worked well, and where do you see room for improvement?
Can you think of an example of a major barrier you were able to overcome?
Can you think of an example you were not able to overcomes?
Can you describe the values, culture, and behaviours of those involved in FWP? How do these align with the concept of value-based leadership?

Authorising environments

How would you describe the environments created by political, policy, and community leaders that support innovation and collaboration in FWP?
Ask about the groups that have been set up to support the FWP? Improvement groups, implementation groups, implementation groups, task and finish groups, collaboration groups?
How did those group come about, how are decisions made?
How is the work of these groups resourced, how are they plugged into other decision making groups?
To what extent do you feel you have the authority and trust to act within the framework of the FWP? What does that look like?
Has there been any shift in the kinds of roles within the council due to the FWP way of working? Which ones?

Facilitators and barriers to innovation

What factors, in your experience of FWP facilitate or hinder innovation and collaboration in this setting? Are there specific examples that stand out?
Capabilities approach in service design
How have you seen the ‘capabilities approach’ influence service design and delivery within FWP?
What changes in participants’ capabilities or outcomes have you observed as a result of FWP support? [break this down into example of change in experience of services and changes in material circumstances fro people.. Press for examples of both]

Policy context

Are there specific areas within FWP that are seen as "spend-to-save"? How has this approach been measured, talked about?
How well do you think the FWP aligns with broader national policy priorities. Can you give some examples?

System change and outcomes

What are your thoughts on the types of system changes that the FWP aims to achieve? How would you describe the actions taken toward these outcomes?
In your perspective, what shifts have you observed in how service systems are operating? What do you think has influenced these changes?
How would you describe the role of the FWP in these system changes? Do you feel these shifts are a result of the FWP model specifically?
What elements do you believe are essential for sustaining the changes seen? Are the current changes sustainable in the long term?
In what ways do you feel the FWP has impacted inequality, child poverty, or inclusion? Where has it not be successful in these areas?
What additional support might be necessary?
Where do you see positive signs of change for people over the longer period. Looking back to when families became involved with FWP, what changes have you observed for them?
What are your thoughts on the sustainability and scalability of the FWP? What systemic adjustments would support its continuation?

Systems leadership and innovation

How have leaders at different levels supported FWP? What examples of positive, Values Based Leadership (VBL) have you seen?
What do you understand by the term systems leadership. Have you observed this within FWP’s approach? Examples? What impact has this had on service delivery?
From your perspective, what leadership qualities are most important to the FWP, and how have you seen these enacted?
What has collaboration across departments, organisations, or sectors looked like within FWP? Examples of this way of working?
Reflecting on your experience, what are some key learnings from the FWP, and how have these insights impacted your approach to your work?
Concluding questions
Overall, what do you see as the value of the FWP approach, and how successful have you found it?
Is there anyone else we should talk to or any documents we should review?
Is there anything you would like to add? Anything we’ve not covered?

Concluding questions

Overall, what do you see as the value of the FWP approach, and how successful have you found it?
Is there anyone else we should talk to or any documents we should review?
Is there anything you would like to add?

Wrap-Up (2min)

Thank you so much for your answers. To confirm, are you happy for me to use this information you provided for this research project?

[interviewee reconfirms/asks for details of the study or how data will be used to be repeated]

Do you have any last questions for us?

[interviewee responds]

Thank you so much for your time!

Contact

Email: social-justice-analysis@gov.scot

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