No One Left Behind User Experience Research

6. Appendices

6.1 Sample overview

6.1.1 Qualitative consultation survey

An online qualitative survey was circulated with the 32 local authority areas in Scotland (see table below), consisting of consisted of 12 open text questions (including an additional 4 closed quantitative profiling questions and 1 screening question), and 1 closed quantitative rating question. This was hosted on Microsoft Forms.

Respondents included a range of individuals who had worked with or alongside the Local Authority’s Coordinator as part of their role, both within the local authority and other organisations.

Table 1: Figures for final responses achieved for the qualitative consultation survey

Local Authority	Total number of responses(n=47, including 31 internal to the Local Authority, and 16 external)
Aberdeen City Council	0
Aberdeenshire Council	3
Angus Council	3
Argyll and Bute Council	2
Clackmannanshire Council	3
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0
Dumfries and Galloway Council	0
Dundee City Council	3
East Ayrshire Council	0
East Dunbartonshire Council	2
East Lothian Council	1
East Renfrewshire Council	6
City of Edinburgh Council	9
Falkirk Council	1
Fife Council	0
Glasgow City Council	1
Highland Council	0
Inverclyde Council	1
Midlothian Council	0
Moray Council	1
North Ayrshire Council	2
North Lanarkshire Council	0
Orkney Islands Council	2
Perth and Kinross Council	0
Renfrewshire Council	0
Scottish Borders Council	1
Shetland Islands Council	0
South Ayrshire Council	1
South Lanarkshire Council	1
Stirling Council	3
West Dunbartonshire Council	0
West Lothian Council	1

6.1.2 Case study areas

Across 6 local authority areas a 60-minute one-to-one online remote interview with the Coordinator in post, as well as a 60-minute online focus group with individuals who have worked with or alongside the local authority’s Coordinator as part of their role, was conducted.

Table 2: Case study sample

Local Authority	Coordinators (n=6)	Focus group with individuals working alongside the Coordinator (n=31)[11]
Clackmannanshire	1	7
Dundee City	1	4
East Renfrewshire	1	6
Glasgow	1	7
Highland	1	4
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1	3

6.2 Evaluation matrix

Table 3: Evaluation matrix

Theme	Evaluation question	Indicators	Data sources
Organisational resource from LAs to create and maintain role	To what extent have Local Authorities provided the resources and infrastructure for the Coordinator role to exist?	Local authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel that suitable resources and infrastructure are in place for Coordinators.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Annual funding for Coordinator roles from Scottish Govt	Has the Scottish Govt provided the expected funding for the Coordinator role, and his this proved sufficient?	Local authority stakeholders confirm level of funding received from Scottish Govt for Coordinator role	Stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews, Local Authority documentation
Suite of existing employability services operating in LAs	Are Local Authorities (and partner organisations) providing a suitable suite of employability services for parents of low-income families?	Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel that suitable range of employability services are in place in their LA	Stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
No One Left Behind provides strategic and operational foundation for context of integrated, person-centred employability services in Las	Does No One Left Behind guidance provide a suitably clear framework for how employment services should operate in local areas?	Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel that a suitably clear framework for how employment services should operate in their local area exists, and this is provided by No One Left Behind	Stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Existing data/evidence on employability and child poverty in LAs	What data/evidence exists on employability and child poverty in Local Authorities?	Basic statistics on employability and child poverty collected and published in each Local Authority; Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel these are sufficient for good operation of services	Stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Existing networks/ collaboration in LAs	What networks/forms of collaboration existed in Local Authorities prior to the introduction of the Coordinator role?	Information from Local Authority Stakeholders on the extent of networking/collaboration between employability services in their area before introduction of Coordinator role	Qualitative survey, Coordinator interviews
LAs recruit and onboard Coordinators	Have Local Authorities hired individuals to the Coordinator role, and replaced them in good time following any turnover?	Coordinator in place in each local area, with no issues with the post remaining unfilled for extended periods of time	Stakeholder focus groups
Coordinators codesign service pathways with local partners	Has the Coordinator in each Local Authority worked to co-design service pathways with local partners? If so, how?	Service pathways exist (or are in development), and Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinator confirm that Coordinator played (or is playing) a role in establishing these.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Coodinators build and maintain relationships with: Local Child Poverty Leads Third sector partners LA employability service leads	What has the Coordinator in each Local Authority done to build and maintain relationships with key local stakeholders?	Coordinator in each Local Coordinators knows and regularly engages with key local stakeholders (or has regularly attempted to do so); engagement is felt to be meaningful and productive.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Coordinators map services and stakeholders in local area, identifying: Areas of duplication between services ‘Gaps’ in service offering	What has the Coordinator in each Local Authority done to map services and stakeholders in their local area?	Coordinator in each Local Authority has undertaken activity to map services and stakeholders in their local area, including identifying any areas of duplication and gaps in service offering.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Coordinators collect evidence on employability in local area	What has the Coordinator in each Local Authority done to collect evidence on employability in the area?	Coordinator in each Local Authority has undertaken activity to map services and stakeholders in their local area.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Coordinators engage nationally (e.g. LEP Leads) to share learning/best practice	To what extent has the Coordinator in each Local Authority engaged with national networks (e.g. LEP Leads) to share learning/best practice?	Coordinator in each Local Authority has engaged meaningfully with LEP Leads/similar national networks, sharing learning and best practice as part of this.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
New guidance outlining service pathways in local area	Has new guidance outlining service pathways been produced in each Local Authority, and if so what role did the Coordinator play in producing these?	Guidance outlining service pathways in local areas exists; Coordinator played a key role in producing this.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews, local authority documents
New, more productive networks in place for local employability services	Have new networks been put in place in each Local Authority, and if so how well are these working, and what role did the Coordinator play in this?	Networks for Local Authority employability services exist; Coordinator played a key role in creating and maintaining these.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews, local authority documents
Comprehensive, up-to-date service and stakeholder maps, highlighting: ’Gaps’ in service offering that must be filled Areas of duplication, and suggestions for eliminating these	Are there service and stakeholder maps in each Local Authority, and if so, to what extent do these highlight gaps in services and areas of duplication? And what role did the Coordinator play in putting these together?	Service and stakeholder maps exist in each local authority; these highlight any gaps in services and areas of duplication; Coordinator played a key role in creating and maintaining these.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews, local authority documents
Documents/datasets with accurate, up-to-date evidence on employability in local area	What documents/datasets exist on employability in the Local Area exist in each local authority, and to what extent are these accurate and up to date? And what role did the Coordinator play in putting these together?	Documents or datasets on employability in each Local Authority exist; these are accurate and up to date; no major evidence gaps exist.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews, local authority documents
LEP Leads network sees strong engagement, sharing of learning/best practice	To what extent are Coordinators engaging in the LEP Leads network/other similar national networks?	Coordinators in each Local Authority regularly attend LEP Leads meetings (or similar) and are felt to engage meaningfully	Stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Improved integration of local employability services	To what extent are local employability services integrated in each Local Authority? And what role did the Coordinator play in this?	Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel that local employability services are well-integrated, and that the Coordinator played a key role in this	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Stakeholders working in employability/child poverty have clear understanding of services available in local area	To what extent do stakeholders in employability/child poverty in each Local Authority have a clear understanding of services available?	Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators feel that stakeholders have a clear understanding of services available in the local area, and that the Coordinator played a key role in this.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Local services make changes to reduce duplication, meaning: More efficient services, and greater public value for money	To what extent does duplication exist between services? How has this changed since the Coordinator came into post, and what role did they play?	Local Authority Stakeholders and Coordinators identify specific changes that have been made to services to reduce duplication; feel that these have been successful.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Gaps in services are identified and can be filled by LA	To what extent do gaps in services exist? How has this changed since the Coordinator came into post, and what role did they play?	Local Authority stakeholders and Coordinators identify specific gaps in services that have been filled since introduction of Coordinator role; feel that the Coordinator played a key role in this	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews
Local stakeholders design services using evidence	To what extent do local stakeholders feel that local employability services are designed using the latest evidence? And what role did the Coordinator play in providing this evidence?	Local Stakeholders feel that local employability services are designed using the latest evidence; feel that the Coordinator played a key role in providing this evidence.	Qualitative survey, stakeholder focus groups, Coordinator interviews

6.3 Qualitative consultation survey

Introduction text

The Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) role is now in its third year of existence. We need your help with independent research evaluating the early impact this role has had, and important lessons learnt for the future.

As part of this, we are seeking to hear from staff who have engaged with the ECPC in their Local Authority Area as part of their role. This survey is an opportunity to share your experiences and help us understand how the ECPC role is currently working across Scotland, and how it could be improved in future.

We are conscious that the ECPC role is known by a range of different names across different local areas (e.g. PES leads, Early Years Leads, Children and Families Partnership Leads, etc), and the responsibilities associated with the role can also vary.

For the purposes of this survey, we will be using the title of Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) as a catch-all name to refer to the individual responsible for aligning and integrating parental employability services in any given local area.

Your responses will be treated with complete confidentiality, completely anonymised in any reports or other outputs. Our Privacy Notice www.thinksinsight.com/privacy/ outlines your rights and how we process your data in more detail.

This survey consists of 14 questions. We expect it will require take 20-30 minutes of your time to complete. If you would like to complete it in more than one sitting, please make sure to answer the first question before exiting. Once you do, Microsoft Forms will automatically save your progress. There is no need to do anything else. You can return to the form later and your previous responses will still be there.

Please note: your saved responses will only remain available as long as you do not clear your browser history or cookies. If these are deleted, your saved progress may be lost. You can come back to complete it any time before Friday 23rd January 2025 by clicking the ’save and edit later’ button.

There are no right or wrong answers, and we are very interested in hearing anything and everything you have to say, so please be as honest as you’d like to. If you have any specific examples that can help explain your responses as you go, please do share these.

Thinks Insight and Strategy, an independent strategy and insight agency, has been commissioned by The Scottish Government to conduct this research. If you have any questions or need any support, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us at ecpc.research@thinksinsight.com

Screening question: As part of your role, how often, if at all, do you engage with Employability Child Poverty Coordinators?

As a reminder, we are conscious that the ECPC role is known by a range of different names across different local areas (e.g. PES leads, Early Years Leads, Children and Families Partnership Leads, etc), and the responsibilities associated with the role can also vary.

For the purposes of this survey, we will be using the title of Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) as a catch-all name to refer to the individual responsible for aligning and integrating parental employability services in any given local area.

1. I am currently employed as an Employability Child Poverty Coordinator [screen out]

2. I have previously been employed as an Employability Child Poverty Coordinator

3. Very often (once a week or more)

4. Regularly (at least 2-3 times a month)

5. Sometimes (around 2-3 times in a 6-month period)

6. Rarely (2-3 times a year)

7. I do not engage with them directly, but they do affect my role

8. I do not engage with them at all [screen out]

9. I don’t know, I am not familiar with the role [screen out]

P1. In which of the following Local Authority Areas in Scotland do you mainly work in your current role?

1. Aberdeen City Council

2. Aberdeenshire Council

3. Angus Council

4. Argyll and Bute Council

5. Clackmannanshire Council

6. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)

7. Dumfries and Galloway Council

8. Dundee City Council

9. East Ayrshire Council

10. East Dunbartonshire Council

11. East Lothian Council

12. East Renfrewshire Council

13. Edinburgh Council

14. Falkirk Council

15. Fife Council

16. Glasgow City Council

17. Highland Council

18. Inverclyde Council

19. Midlothian Council

20. Moray Council

21. North Ayrshire Council

22. North Lanarkshire Council

23. Orkney Islands Council

24. Perth and Kinross Council

25. Renfrewshire Council

26. Scottish Borders Council

27. Shetland Islands Council

28. South Ayrshire Council

29. South Lanarkshire Council

30. Stirling Council

31. West Dunbartonshire Council

32. West Lothian Council

33. Other, please specify [open text]

34. I do not work in Scotland [screen out]

P2. Which organisation do you currently work for? Please select from the options, and use select the ‘other’ box below to specify your organisation where instructed.

1. Jobcentre Plus

2. Department for Work and Pensions

3. Skills Development Scotland

4. Citizens Advice Bureau

5. Local Authority

6. Business Gateway

7. Chamber of Commerce

8. Further/Higher Education

9. NHS Scotland

10. Charity

11. Family Support Service

12. Third Sector Interface

13. Third Sector Delivery Partner

14. Local Housing Association

15. Social Security Scotland

16. Health and Social Care Partnership

17. Health board

18. Public Health Scotland

19. Registered Social Landlord (RSL)

20. Other (please specify) [open text]

P3. What is your current role? Please select all that apply.

1. Child Poverty Lead

2. Welfare Rights Officer

3. Housing Officers

4. Employability Officer/Key Worker

5. Employability Lead

6. Early Years Support Worker

7. Family Support Worker

8. Social worker

9. Employability Child Poverty Coordinator [screen out]

10. Other, please specify [open text]

P4. And for how long have you worked in this role?

1. Less than 6 months

2. 6 months to less than 1 year

3. 1 year to less than 3 years

4. 3 years to less than 5 years

5. 5 years or more

Core survey

1. Please could you tell us, in a few words, about your current role and what responsibilities it entails? [open text]

2. To what extent would you say you are familiar with the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role, and its purpose?

As a reminder, we are conscious that the ECPC role is known by a range of different names across different local areas (e.g. PES leads, Early Years Leads, Children and Families Partnership Leads, etc), and the responsibilities associated with the role can also vary.

For the purposes of this survey, we will be using the title of Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) as a catch-all name to refer to the individual responsible for aligning and integrating parental employability services in any given local area.

i. Very familiar

ii. Moderately familiar

iii. Not very familiar

iv. Not familiar at all

v. Don’t know

3. In your own words, what do you understand the purpose and objectives of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role to be?

4. Before the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role was introduced, to what extent do you think there was a need for this kind of role in your area? Please explain your answer.

5. Below is a list of possible activities that may be carried out by the Employability Child Poverty Co-ordinator in your Local Authority Area. From your perspective, to what extent are each of these happening in your Local Authority Area? As part of your answer, please include the following if possible:

• Examples of how and where this is happening
• The specific role that the Employability Child Poverty Co-ordinator is playing or has played in this
• Any outcomes (positive or negative) that you have observed from each activity
• If the activity is not happening, any thoughts you may have on why this is (e.g. any barriers or issues you may have observed)

a. Increasing opportunity for robust referral pathways with local services

b. Maximising service provision e.g. bringing new partners on board, establishing partnership working agreements and service level agreements, etc

c. Building and maintaining relationships with local partners (e.g. local Child Poverty Leads, Third Sector Partners, leads of Local Authority employability services)

d. Mapping employability services in the Local Authority Area, identifying areas of duplication or 'gaps’ in service provision

e. Collecting evidence or statistics on employability in the Local Authority Area

f. Working with partners and participants regarding the design and co-ordination of local provision that meets identified needs

6. Please share examples you may have of any other activities undertaken by the Employability Child Poverty Co-ordinator in your Local Authority Area. As part of your answer, please include the following if possible:

• Examples of how and where this is happening
• The specific role that the Employability Child Poverty Co-ordinator is playing in this
• Any outcomes (positive or negative) that you have observed from each activity

7. What, if anything, do you think is working well about the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role in your Local Authority Area?

8. Have you observed any barriers or challenges that have limited the effectiveness of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator in your Local Authority Area?

9. What, if at all, do you think could be improved about the way the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role works in your Local Authority Area?

10. In your opinion, what are the key resources (if any) that are needed to enable the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role to function well in your Local Authority area? And to what extent are these in place? For example, this may include resources provided by your Local Authority, the Scottish Government, or other stakeholders in your area, such as funding, capacity, training, statistical information about the local area, etc.

11. What tangible or concrete outputs (if any) have you observed from the work of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator in your Local Authority Area? For example, this may include new documents setting out guidance, new networks or groups, new interventions, or new forms of evidence/statistics

12. And how useful, if at all, have each of these outputs been for improving how employability services work for parents in your Local Authority Area? If there is any specific evidence you can point us to in regard to these improvements, please do share this.

13. Thank you for all your responses so far. We have some final questions for you before the survey concludes. Overall, what difference do you think the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) role has made in…

a) Improving the integration and coordination of employment services for parents in your area? Please rate this from a scale of 1-5, where 1 is no difference at all and 5 is a big difference.

b) Helping parents of low-income families into stable (sustainable and appropriate) work? Please rate this from a scale of 1-5, where 1 is no difference at all and 5 is a big difference.

Closing message

Thank you for your responses and taking part in this survey. Your feedback will be very helpful in understanding how the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role is currently working and what could be improved.

At the end of the research period, we will be conducting knowledge sharing workshops where findings across all phases are shared with interested LAs. These workshops will be an opportunity for you to listen in the evaluation of the role, and share feedback or other thoughts.

If you are interested in attending an online knowledge sharing workshop at the end of this research project, please indicate your preference and share your details below:

1. Yes – I would like to attend [collect email address]

2. No – I would not like to attend

Case study opt in: Thank you for your participation in this survey. We will be conducting further research on this topic at the end of the year. This would involve participating in a 60-minute focus group with 4-6 other people from your Loal Authority Area who have experience of engaging with the ECPC role.

The session would take place remotely (over Zoom or Teams software) and be scheduled during working hours at a time that is convenient for all participants. An experienced researcher from Thinks will moderate the discussion.

If you would like to receive further information about this, and are interested in taking part, please select from one of the below options and we will be in touch. For this phase of research we will be focusing on 6 Local Authority Areas, so if you do not hear from us this is why. You will still be invited to the Knowledge Sharing Workshops should you be interested in attending.

1. Yes – I am interested in taking part [collect email address]

2. No – I am not interested in taking part

6.5 Case study research instruments

Discussion guide for focus group

Section 1: Introduction

Objective: To introduce the research and warm up participants

Moderator to introduce Thinks and the research:

• My name is [XX] and I’m a researcher from Thinks Insight & Strategy, an independent research agency. We conduct research on a range of topics and with lots of different people across the UK.
• We are conducting this research on behalf of the Scottish Government, who have asked us to conduct an evaluation of the roll out of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) role, and the impact this has had so far.
• This is the second phase of our research, where we are also currently conducting a qualitative survey with individuals in 32 Local Authority Areas in Scotland who have experience of engaging or working with Employability Child Poverty Coordinators as part of their role. In today’s session, we are interested in hearing your views and experiences of the ECPC role, to help us understand the early impact this role has had, and any important lessons learnt for the future.
• As a reminder, we are an independent research agency, and your participation is completely voluntary. While we have been commissioned by the Scottish Government to carry out this evaluation, case study findings will not be used to inform funding decisions for the post of the ECPC in those areas in the new financial year for either temporary or current employees. The purpose of this evaluation is to provide national-level learning by looking at local experiences.
• We know that the ECPC role can be known by a range of different names across different local areas and the responsibilities associated with the role can also vary. For today, we will be referring to them as the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC), who is the individual responsible for aligning and integrating parental employability services in your local area.

Moderator to explain terms of the session:

• We’ll be here for one hour, finishing up at [XX:XX].
• We’re an independent research agency so I’m here to understand your experiences and listen to your honest views and opinions – there are no right or wrong answers. If there is anything you are less sure about, or haven’t come across before, don’t worry. We also know that the level of experience and familiarity with ECPCs can vary, and our questions have been designed with this in mind.
• As a company, we abide by the MRS Code of Conduct. This means that whilst the Scottish Government team is aware you have volunteered to participate in this research, all findings will be anonymised and treated in total confidence. We will not attribute any quotes to you personally when reporting on the findings.
• The only time we would break confidentiality is if you say something that makes me think that you, or someone else, is at risk of harm, in which case I’d have to pass this information on to the relevant authorities.
• Thinks will hold your name and contact information for up to 12 months for quality monitoring purposes only and will not pass on any personal data to any third party.
• You can opt out of the research at any time.
• Obtain permission to record and recap how the recording will be used.

To start with, could you please tell me:

• Your name
• What your role is and where you currently work
• A brief overview of how your role connects to employability or child poverty work in your Local Authority Area.

Time: 5 mins (∑ 5 mins)

Section 2: Inputs - Understanding the current landscape of child poverty support, and understanding of the ECPC role

Objective: To capture how child poverty/parental employability support are working across Local Authority Areas, and understanding of the ECPC role

To start us off, I’d like to understand more about your Local Authority Area.

How would you describe your local authority area in terms of opportunities for parents from priority groups? If needed, moderator probe on opportunities for support/work/employment in the local area.

• What are some of the biggest day-to-day challenges faced by families and parents in this area?
• How does this compare to other local authority areas in Scotland?
• How, if at all, has this changed over the last few years?
• If not covered, probe on:

a) Poverty rates

b) Social issues (e.g. crime rates)

What does the landscape in your local authority area look like in terms of employability support services for parents from priority groups?

• What kinds of services/forms of support are available?
• Who is responsible for offering/delivering these services?
• To your knowledge, how does this compare to other local authority areas in Scotland?

Would you say that the employability services offering for low-income parents in your local area is designed around any particular national guidance or framework?

• If not mentioned, probe on frameworks such as ‘PES’, ‘Tackling Child Poverty’, ‘Best Start, Bright Future’, ‘no-one left behind’.

Are you aware of any of funding or resources are in place to underpin the delivery of parental employability services in your local authority area? Where relevant moderator to probe on whether these are from the Local Authority, Scottish Government, other bodies or organisations, etc.

• If aware: Can you share some examples? Moderator to probe on resources, funding, training, up to date data or statistical information about the Local Authority Area, etc.

To what extent are these sufficient or insufficient, in your opinion?

• What, if at all, is missing that would enable the better functioning of these services in your local area?

Thank you. I’d now like to get your understanding of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role, and how this fits into your Local Authority Area. I’ll refer to the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator as the ‘ECPC’ for the session.

How familiar are you with the term Employability Child Poverty Coordinator, or ECPC?

• Do you have someone in this role in your local area? If yes, what is that role normally called in your local area?

In your own words, what do you understand the purpose, role and objectives of the ECPC role to be?

• How clear do you feel on what the role of the ECPC is? Moderator to gauge participants understanding of where the ECPC role sits within the structure of their Local Authority Area/ service delivery
• What does the governance structure for the ECPC role look like? Moderator to probe who ECPCs typically report to, and gauge how close participants themselves work alongside ECPCs.
• When, to your knowledge, was the ECPC role was introduced in your Local Authority Area?
• If participant(s) were in their role prior to ECPC implementation in their area:

a) How much of a need do you feel there was for this role?

b) What, to your memory, did the integration of the ECPC role look like?

c) Are there any areas where your roles overlap?

• What, if anything, do you feel differentiates the ECPC role from other existing roles in parental employability support?
• How do the needs of your Local Authority Area inform the work of the ECPC role, if at all?

Time: 15 mins(∑ 20 mins)

Section 3: Activities and outputs deep-dive

Objective: To capture what activities are being undertaken by ECPCs, and measure perceptions on effectiveness

Thank you. We’re now going to move on to thinking about the type of work/activities currently being carried out by the ECPC in your Local Authority Area.

To start, please could you share any examples of the key things the ECPC in your local authority does as part of their role?

Moderator to capture spontaneous responses and note down, using the below to probes where relevant for each activity mentioned:

• What do you think the direct outputs or results from this activity have been in your local area?
• Are there any examples of other activities you have seen or heard about ECPCs doing in other Local Authority Areas?

Moderator to consider how these fit in to the categories developed in the theory of change:

• Increasing opportunity for robust referral pathways with local services
• Maximising service provision e.g. bringing new partners on board, establishing partnership working agreements and service level agreements, etc
• Building and maintaining relationships with local partners (e.g. local Child Poverty Leads, Third Sector Partners, leads of Local Authority employability services)
• Mapping employability services in the Local Authority Area, identifying areas of duplication or 'gaps’ in service provision
• Collecting evidence or statistics on employability in the Local Authority Area
• Working with partners and participants regarding the design and co-ordination of local provision that meets identified needs

For any not spontaneously mentioned, moderator to probe on:

• Is this something you have seen or heard about anything like this happening in your local area?
• How much of this do you feel is reflected in your own Local Authority Area/ experience with ECPCs?

a) Can you think of any specific examples?

b) What impact do you think these activities are having in your local area?

For those they are less aware of happening, moderator to probe on perceived barriers:

For activities which are not happening currently, why do you feel this may be?

Thanks for sharing your experiences of the kinds of things the ECPC in your local area has been doing. Before we move on, I'd like to understand whether your local ECPC has been involved in producing any of the following things:

Moderator to share a slide with the different outputs below in boxes on screen, and probe on each, asking for specific examples if they have any.

We are aware that these sorts of outputs do not always fall into the remit for the ECPC in every local authority areas.

Outputs:

• Guidance outlining service pathways in the local area
• New/more productive networks in place for local employability services
• Maps - Comprehensive, up-to-date service and stakeholder maps, highlighting:

a) ’Gaps’ in service offering that must be filled

b) Areas of duplication, and suggestions for eliminating these

• Documents/datasets with accurate, up-to-date evidence on employability in local area
• Strong engagement (seen by LEP Leads network if relevant),and sharing of learning/best practice

Time: 20 mins (∑ 40 mins)

Section 4: Outputs, outcomes, and examples of best practice

Objective: To gather insight into outputs from ECPCs and the results of these, and examples of best practice

Thank you for your responses so far. Now I’d like us to think about the impact that the introduction of the ECPC role has had.

What types of outcomes or impact, if any, has been achieved through the work of the ECPC in your Local Authority Area?

• Do you have any specific examples you can give?
• How exactly do you think the ECPC has made that impact?

If not mentioned, moderator to probe on some of the following:

• Improving the integration and coordination of employment services for parents in your area
• Clear(er) understanding of the services available in the local area for stakeholders working in employability/child poverty
• Reduction in duplication of local services, meaning more efficient services and greater public value for money
• Identification of gaps and how these can be filled by LA
• Designing of services using the latest evidence
• Adoption of best practice across Scotland

Time: 5 mins(∑ 45 mins)

Section 5: What’s working well and less well

Objective: To gather insights into what participants feel is working well, and any barriers/ challenges that have limited effectiveness of the ECPC role

Thanks for all of your contributions to the discussion so far. In the last part of this section, I’d like us to wrap up by sharing some overall thoughts on what is working well, and what is working less well, about the introduction of the ECPC role so far.

What, if anything, do you think is working well with how the ECPC role is being delivered at the moment?

• Are there any specific examples that come to mind?
• What or who, in your opinion, has enabled this?

What, if anything, do you think is working less well with how the ECPC role is being delivered at the moment?

• Are there any specific examples that come to mind?
• What are the challenges that you feel have limited the effectiveness of the ECPC in your Local Authority Area?
• Why? Moderator to probe on integration, service duplication, gaps in services, any new measures implemented, feedback loops, etc.
• What impact do you feel this has had, whether internally or in service delivery?

What, if anything, do you think needs to change in order for the ECPC role to work as effectively as possible in your local area?

• What resources do you feel are needed? How realistic do you feel these will be to implement?
• Probe on type of support, e.g. funding, training, etc, and where this support should be coming from, e.g. Local Authority, Scottish Government, external organisations/stakeholders, etc.
• Are there things you would like to be changed but can’t be at the moment? Why is that?

Time: 10 mins (∑ 55 mins)

Section 6: Wrap up and close

Objective: To wrap up the session and thank participants for taking part

Thank you so much for your time today, it’s been really helpful to hear your views.

I have one final question before I let you go:

• If there was one thing you felt most important for the Scottish Government should know about how the ECPC role is currently working, what would that be?

Moderator to thank participants for their time and close the group. Remind of next steps for this research – continuing to speak to other Local Authorities, as well as interviews with ECPCs themselves, and remind about knowledge sharing workshops happening at the end of the project.

Time: 5 mins(∑ 60 mins)

Discussion guide for depth interview with Coordinator

Section 1: Introduction

Objective: To introduce the research and warm up participants

Moderator to introduce Thinks and the research:

• My name is [XX] and I’m a researcher from Thinks Insight & Strategy, an independent research agency. We conduct research on a range of topics and with lots of different people across the UK.
• We are conducting this research on behalf of the Scottish Government, who have asked us to conduct an evaluation of the roll out of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC) role, and the impact this has had so far.
• This is the second phase of our research, where we are also currently conducting a qualitative survey with individuals in 32 Local Authority Areas in Scotland who have experience of engaging or working with Employability Child Poverty Coordinators as part of their role. In today’s session, we are interested in hearing your views and experiences of the ECPC role, to help us understand the early impact this role has had, and any important lessons learnt for the future.
• As a reminder, we are an independent research agency, and your participation is completely voluntary. While we have been commissioned by the Scottish Government to carry out this evaluation, case study findings will not be used to inform funding decisions for the post of the ECPC in those areas in the new financial year for either temporary or current employees. The purpose of this evaluation is to provide national-level learning by looking at local experiences.
• We know that the ECPC role can be known by a range of different names across different local areas and the responsibilities associated with the role can also vary. For today, we will be referring to them as the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator (ECPC), who is the individual responsible for aligning and integrating parental employability services in your local area.

Moderator to explain terms of the session:

• We’ll be here for one hour, finishing up at [XX:XX].
• We’re an independent research agency so I’m here to understand your experiences and listen to your honest views and opinions – there are no right or wrong answers. If there is anything you are less sure about, or haven’t come across before, don’t worry. We also know that the level of experience and familiarity with ECPCs can vary, and our questions have been designed with this in mind.
• As a company, we abide by the MRS Code of Conduct. This means that whilst the Scottish Government team is aware you have volunteered to participate in this research, all findings will be anonymised and treated in total confidence. We will not attribute any quotes to you personally when reporting on the findings.
• The only time we would break confidentiality is if you say something that makes me think that you, or someone else, is at risk of harm, in which case I’d have to pass this information on to the relevant authorities.
• Thinks will hold your name and contact information for up to 12 months for quality monitoring purposes only and will not pass on any personal data to any third party.
• You can opt out of the research at any time.
• Obtain permission to record and recap how the recording will be used.

To start with, could you please tell me:

• Your name
• What your role is and where you currently work
• A brief overview of how your role connects to employability or child poverty work in your Local Authority Area.

Time: 5 mins (∑ 5 mins)

Section 2: Inputs - Understanding the current landscape of child poverty support, and understanding of the ECPC role

Objective: To capture how child poverty/parental employability support are working across Local Authority Areas, and understanding of the ECPC role

To start us off, I’d like to understand more about your Local Authority Area.

How would you describe your local authority area in terms of opportunities for parents from priority groups? If needed, moderator probe on opportunities for support/work/employment in the local area.

• What are some of the biggest day-to-day challenges faced by families and parents in this area?
• How does this compare to other local authority areas in Scotland?
• How, if at all, has this changed over the last few years?
• If not covered, probe on:

a) Poverty rates

b) Social issues (e.g. crime rates)

What does the landscape in your local authority area look like in terms of employability support services for parents from priority groups?

• What kinds of services/forms of support are available?
• Who is responsible for offering/delivering these services?
• To your knowledge, how does this compare to other local authority areas in Scotland?

Would you say that the employability services offering for low-income parents in your local area is designed around any particular national guidance or framework?

• If not mentioned, probe on frameworks such as ‘PES’, ‘Tackling Child Poverty’, ‘Best Start, Bright Future’, ‘no-one left behind’.

Are you aware of any of funding or resources are in place to underpin the delivery of parental employability services in your local authority area? Where relevant moderator to probe on whether these are from the Local Authority, Scottish Government, other bodies or organisations, etc.

• If aware: Can you share some examples? Moderator to probe on resources, funding, training, up to date data or statistical information about the Local Authority Area, etc.

a) To what extent are these sufficient or insufficient, in your opinion?

• What, if at all, is missing that would enable the better functioning of these services in your local area?

Thank you. I’d now like to get your understanding of the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator role, and how this fits into your Local Authority Area. I’ll refer to the Employability Child Poverty Coordinator as the ‘ECPC’ for the session.

How familiar are you with the term Employability Child Poverty Coordinator, or ECPC?

• Do you have someone in this role in your local area?
  • If yes, what is that role normally called in your local area?

In your own words, what do you understand the purpose, role and objectives of the ECPC role to be?

• How clear do you feel on what the role of the ECPC is? Moderator to gauge participants understanding of where the ECPC role sits within the structure of their Local Authority Area/ service delivery
• What does the governance structure for the ECPC role look like? Moderator to probe who ECPCs typically report to, and gauge how close participants themselves work alongside ECPCs.
• When, to your knowledge, was the ECPC role was introduced in your Local Authority Area?
• If participant(s) were in their role prior to ECPC implementation in their area:

a) How much of a need do you feel there was for this role?

b) What, to your memory, did the integration of the ECPC role look like?

c) Are there any areas where your roles overlap?

• What, if anything, do you feel differentiates the ECPC role from other existing roles in parental employability support?
• How do the needs of your Local Authority Area inform the work of the ECPC role, if at all?

Time: 15 mins (∑ 20 mins)

Section 3: Activities and outputs deep-dive

Objective: To capture what activities are being undertaken by ECPCs, and measure perceptions on effectiveness

Thank you. We’re now going to move on to thinking about the type of work/activities currently being carried out by the ECPC in your Local Authority Area.

To start, please could you share any examples of the key things the ECPC in your local authority does as part of their role?

Moderator to capture spontaneous responses and note down, using the below to probes where relevant for each activity mentioned:

• What do you think the direct outputs or results from this activity have been in your local area?
• Are there any examples of other activities you have seen or heard about ECPCs doing in other Local Authority Areas?

Moderator to consider how these fit in to the categories developed in the theory of change:

• Increasing opportunity for robust referral pathways with local services
• Maximising service provision e.g. bringing new partners on board, establishing partnership working agreements and service level agreements, etc
• Building and maintaining relationships with local partners (e.g. local Child Poverty Leads, Third Sector Partners, leads of Local Authority employability services)
• Mapping employability services in the Local Authority Area, identifying areas of duplication or 'gaps’ in service provision
• Collecting evidence or statistics on employability in the Local Authority Area
• Working with partners and participants regarding the design and co-ordination of local provision that meets identified needs

For any not spontaneously mentioned, moderator to probe on:

• Is this something you have seen or heard about anything like this happening in your local area?
• How much of this do you feel is reflected in your own Local Authority Area/ experience with ECPCs?

a) Can you think of any specific examples?

b) What impact do you think these activities are having in your local area?

For those they are less aware of happening, moderator to probe on perceived barriers:

c) For activities which are not happening currently, why do you feel this may be?

Thanks for sharing your experiences of the kinds of things the ECPC in your local area has been doing. Before we move on, I'd like to understand whether your local ECPC has been involved in producing any of the following things:

Moderator to share a slide with the different outputs below in boxes on screen, and probe on each, asking for specific examples if they have any.

We are aware that these sorts of outputs do not always fall into the remit for the ECPC in every local authority areas.

Outputs:

• Guidance outlining service pathways in the local area
• New/more productive networks in place for local employability services
• Maps - Comprehensive, up-to-date service and stakeholder maps, highlighting:

a) ’Gaps’ in service offering that must be filled

b) Areas of duplication, and suggestions for eliminating these

• Documents/datasets with accurate, up-to-date evidence on employability in local area
• Strong engagement (seen by LEP Leads network if relevant),and sharing of learning/best practice

Time: 20 mins (∑ 40 mins)

Section 4: Outputs, outcomes, and examples of best practice

Objective: To gather insight into outputs from ECPCs and the results of these, and examples of best practice

Thank you for your responses so far. Now I’d like us to think about the impact that the introduction of the ECPC role has had.

What types of outcomes or impact, if any, has been achieved through the work of the ECPC in your Local Authority Area?

• Do you have any specific examples you can give?
• How exactly do you think the ECPC has made that impact?

If not mentioned, moderator to probe on some of the following:

• Improving the integration and coordination of employment services for parents in your area
• Clear(er) understanding of the services available in the local area for stakeholders working in employability/child poverty
• Reduction in duplication of local services, meaning more efficient services and greater public value for money
• Identification of gaps and how these can be filled by LA
• Designing of services using the latest evidence
• Adoption of best practice across Scotland

Time: 5 mins (∑ 45 mins)

Section 5: What’s working well and less well

Objective: To gather insights into what participants feel is working well, and any barriers/ challenges that have limited effectiveness of the ECPC role

Thanks for all of your contributions to the discussion so far. In the last part of this section, I’d like us to wrap up by sharing some overall thoughts on what is working well, and what is working less well, about the introduction of the ECPC role so far.

What, if anything, do you think is working well with how the ECPC role is being delivered at the moment?

• Are there any specific examples that come to mind?
• What or who, in your opinion, has enabled this?

What, if anything, do you think is working less well with how the ECPC role is being delivered at the moment?

• Are there any specific examples that come to mind?
• What are the challenges that you feel have limited the effectiveness of the ECPC in your Local Authority Area?
• Why? Moderator to probe on integration, service duplication, gaps in services, any new measures implemented, feedback loops, etc.
• What impact do you feel this has had, whether internally or in service delivery?

What, if anything, do you think needs to change in order for the ECPC role to work as effectively as possible in your local area?

• What resources do you feel are needed? How realistic do you feel these will be to implement?
• Probe on type of support, e.g. funding, training, etc, and where this support should be coming from, e.g. Local Authority, Scottish Government, external organisations/stakeholders, etc.
• Are there things you would like to be changed but can’t be at the moment? Why is that?

Time: 10 mins (∑ 55 mins)

Section 6: Wrap up and close

Objective: To wrap up the session and thank participants for taking part

Thank you so much for your time today, it’s been really helpful to hear your views.

I have one final question before I let you go:

• If there was one thing you felt most important for the Scottish Government should know about how the ECPC role is currently working, what would that be?

Moderator to thank participants for their time and close the group. Remind of next steps for this research – continuing to speak to other Local Authorities, as well as interviews with ECPCs themselves, and remind about knowledge sharing workshops happening at the end of the project.

Time: 5 mins(∑ 60 mins)

6.6 Child Poverty Co-ordinator Job Description

June 2022

The Child Poverty Co-ordinator will play a pivotal role in advancing our commitment to reduce child poverty and support the achievement of both interim and 2030 targets. With this key role in mind they will be expected to have extensive experience of strategic planning, partnership working and encourage all partners to play a their part in developing and delivering local, regional and national actions to address child poverty in Scotland.

Focussed on partnership working to reduce the levels of child poverty and drive forward the transformational change required in collaboration with the key actors in localities and regions.

The Child Poverty Co-ordinator will take a lead role to support partners in the Scottish Government, Local Authority, Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs), health board and wider public, private and voluntary sector to develop, deliver and report on actions that will substantially help reduce the risk, experiences and instances of poverty.

Developing and disseminating an understanding of the causes, consequences and possible solutions to child poverty in their locality. The role will require excellent communication (written and oral) skills, presentation skill, analytical skills and the ability to work with a range of people in different organisations and roles, including people with direct experience of poverty or other forms of exclusion and disadvantage, to identify, agree and deliver shared goals.

The main objectives/expected outcomes:

• Establish the extent of Child Poverty amongst the key target family groups identified within the Best Start, Bright Futures plan.
• Support Local Authority and LEP members to develop child poverty actions and interventions that deliver the reduction in instances of Child Poverty required in 2023 and 2030.
• Providing analytical support to identify key areas of focus and support robust relation to the evaluation and monitoring process.
• Establishing a network for sharing best practice across Scotland; sharing information and advice on what works to tackle child poverty in Scotland.
• The Child Poverty Co-ordinator will act as a “champion” for child poverty, ensuring all key actors including Local Authority, Public bodies and the third and private sector see poverty reduction as a priority issue.
• Produce high quality learning materials and other resources as required.
• Monitoring progress in impact of actions in reducing poverty.
• Implementing guidance on local reporting.
• To build capacity and expertise with LA’s.
• To facilitate a “whole council” approach.
• To facilitate a “whole system” and no wrong door approach
• To identify and source appropriate data/statistics to identify family groupings across geographical area of council to target services and support appropriately.
• To identify key business organisations that could offer employment opportunities for parents, establishing the links to facilitate matching of (un) employed parents to existing vacancies to enable entry to and progress in employment.

Targets/milestones:

• Recruitment of child poverty co-ordinator by 1 October 2022.
• Support Local Authority, Health Boards and partners to develop annual local child poverty action reports by xxxxxx 2022
• Establishment of a network to share best practice by 1 November 2022

Eligible costs:

• Salary for the Child Poverty Co-ordinator post.
• Employer on-costs relating to employer’s NI and pension contributions – amounting to 30% of the salary.
• Overhead recovery; to cover equipment, line management, office accommodation etc., not exceeding 10% of the total salary each year.
• Travel expenses, not exceeding £1500 per annum.

Eligible costs exclude:

• Any Value Added Tax (VAT) reclaimable by the Grantee
• Redundancy payments
• Capital expenditure, including the purchasing of property
• Dissemination of funds to other recipients

Once appointed the new co-ordinator will:

• Work closely with the Scottish Government, Local Authority, LEPs and other stakeholders such as the Poverty Alliance to help local partners to develop their delivery reports.
• The Child Poverty Co-ordinator will act as a “champion” for child poverty, encouraging the Local Authority and Partners to treat it as a priority issue.
• Establish a network for sharing best practice across Scotland, sharing information and advice on what works to tackle child poverty in Scotland. This could include, for example, helping local authorities to explore a more proactive approach to benefits grants and payments in kind.
• Play a key role in supporting the implementation of the Offer to Parents and Child poverty interventions.
• To facilitate a “whole system” and no wrong door approach.