Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund: Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment

Summary of aims and expected outcomes of strategy, proposal, programme or policy

The Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund (“The Fund”) will provide up to £20m to support third sector organisations to provide more support that wraps around families in their communities.

We know that the third sector are a critical partner in delivering Whole Family Support (WFS). The Fund aims to enable third sector partners to strengthen and scale up interventions that are already demonstrating positive outcomes for families experiencing or at risk of child poverty. The Fund supports holistic, person-centred support within communities with high levels of deprivation and is intended to improve family wellbeing, reduce barriers to accessing services, and reduce the risk and impacts of child poverty over the long term.

The Fund supports up to ten third sector organisations or partnerships across Scotland and contributes to the National Performance Framework outcomes for Children and Young People, Communities, Education and Health. The Fund is also a key element of the Scottish Government’s wider commitment to tackling child poverty and enabling the delivery of WFS, which includes work to enable systems change through an integrated WFS Programme.

The Fund will enable the provision of holistic support 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. The Fund is expected to benefit families most at risk of poverty, particularly the six priority family groups identified within Scotland's child poverty strategy: lone parent families, minority ethnic families, families with a disabled adult or child, families with a younger mother, families with a child under one year old, and larger families.

The Fund also seeks to strengthen collaboration between national and community-based third sector organisations, increasing the reach, sustainability and effectiveness of support for disadvantaged families.