Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund: Equality Impact Assessment

Background

The Fund is intended to provide funding to third sector organisations who provide Whole Family Support (WFS) to families experiencing or at risk of child poverty across Scotland.

The most recent Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan ^[1] announced a range of initiatives intended to strengthen the provision of WFS across Scotland. This Fund is part of that overall commitment. It will therefore be necessary to ensure that any funded activity clearly and effectively links with wider work on Whole Family Support across Scotland.

The Fund aims to provide funding to third sector bodies, or partnerships of third sector organisations, with existing, proven expertise in delivering WFS, in order to support families and individuals to access services they may not have otherwise. The Fund will enable the provision of holistic support, including within communities with high levels of deprivation, with a view to improving family wellbeing and reducing the risk and impacts of child poverty over the long term.

Data shows that children in priority families are more likely to be in poverty. The Scottish Government has compiled an evidence review on each of the priority family groups which details the unique structural barriers they are likely to face and emphasises the need for services which address these barriers.

In addition, providing support to third sector organisations directly can mitigate against inequalities when accessing support services. Evidence from programme delivery ^[2] and evaluation ^[3] indicates that local and third sector organisations can have stronger engagement with priority families, particularly those facing multiple barriers to accessing services.

Evidence ^[4] has shown that Third sector organisations are often embedded within communities and can often be more agile and trusted ^[5], enabling more effective local targeting of resources and improved engagement with families experiencing inequality, including those defined by protected characteristics or socio-economic disadvantage. Further research ^[6] has suggested that Direct funding to the third sector can therefore strengthen engagement and reduce access barriers supporting more inclusive delivery.

The Scope of the EQIA

This EQIA considers the strategic aims of the Fund and does not assess the potential impact of each of the 10 funded projects. The EQIA will be reviewed as the Fund progresses into the delivery phase, as we work with delivery partners to evaluate and monitor the impact of their project on the delivery of WFS and the outcomes for the families they will support. We will aim to gather further data on families within each of the priority family groups, as well as protected characteristic data, so that we are able to consider the impact of funded activity in this way. Data collected will influence the ongoing development of funded projects.

The data and evidence show that some groups are at increased risk of child poverty and that efforts to tackle child poverty are therefore likely to be of particular benefit to those groups (aligned to the protected characteristics of age, disability, race, sex, pregnancy and maternity).

Assessment approach and methodology

The assessment drew upon:

• National child poverty and equality evidence.
• Scottish Government analytical publications.
• Evidence reviews of effective child poverty interventions.
• Learning from place-based and whole family support programmes.
• Stakeholder engagement and consultation activity.
• Assessment of how Fund design and delivery arrangements may affect groups with protected characteristics.

Evidence gathering and engagement

Evidence was gathered through literature reviews, analysis of published poverty and equality data, stakeholder engagement and policy development activity. Engagement included:

• Third Sector Interface Network engagement events.
• A webinar attended by approximately 150 third sector representatives.
• Consultation undertaken during development of the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
• Learning from Fairer Futures Partnerships.
• Input from lived-experience representatives through participation in funding assessment arrangements.

This engagement highlighted the importance of targeting support towards marginalised groups, improving accessibility and ensuring that services are designed around lived experience.