New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project: funded projects analysis

Introduction

This report details the findings from analysis of monitoring and evaluation data captured by projects funded through the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project to support refugees and people seeking asylum in Scotland.

The New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project is led by the Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA, Scottish Refugee Council and the UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow. This project has been part funded by the European Union Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

The project is part of the New Scots refugee integration strategy (2018-2022), which aims to ensure refugees live in safe and welcoming communities that enable them to rebuild their lives from the day they arrive in Scotland.

The strategy

The New Scots refugee integration strategy sets out an approach to support the vision of a welcoming Scotland where refugees can rebuild their lives and integrate into society from the day they arrive. To achieve this, the strategy works to ensure Scotland follows a rights based approach to integration that reflects both the formal international obligations the UK has, and the long-standing commitment of successive Scottish Governments to address the needs of refugees and people seeking asylum, based on principles of decency, humanity and fairness. To achieve this vision the strategy works to ensure that Scotland:

• Is a place of safety for everyone, and where people are able to live free from persecution as valued members of communities.
• Enables everyone to pursue their ambitions through education, employment, and in culture and leisure activities.
• Has strong, inclusive and resilient communities, where everyone is able to access the support and services they need and is able to exercise their rights.
• Is a country that values diversity, where people are able to use and share their culture, skills and experiences, as they build strong relationships and connections.

The projects and tools developed under the strategy to date seek to enable refugees in Scotland to understand their rights, responsibilities and entitlements, and to access well-coordinated services to allow them to pursue full and independent lives.

The New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project

On 19 March 2021 the Scottish Government announced the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project (NSRIDP). The project disbursed £2.8 million of funding awarded through the European Union Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to offer small, medium and large grants to organisations helping refugees to settle in Scotland. The grants were used to fund projects which aimed to widen existing work, building on good practice and to support innovation in relation to refugee integration. The project was led by Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA, Scottish Refugee Council and the UNESCO Chair at the University of Glasgow.

This paper presents analysis of the projects funded through the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project using data gathered through the application process and directly from the projects themselves as part of the required monitoring and evaluation processes.

The funded projects

Background

The New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project was developed and managed by the Scottish Government, the University of Glasgow, COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council. This broad partnership allowed for NSRIDP to be developed quickly, incorporating high levels of due diligence, and ensured strong outreach to organisations and communities across Scotland.

The application process was coordinated by Scottish Government and supported by a team of panel members recruited from across Scotland to score applications, including members with lived-experience, members from refugee-assisting organisations (including third sector organisations and local authorities) and members from refugee-led organisations. Application forms and guidelines were made available via the Scottish Government website. Applicants were encouraged to apply online via the portal developed by a contracted third party, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). Applications could, however, also be completed in Word document format and emailed to the project team.

The fund was open for applications to the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project between the 19^th of March and the 22^nd of May 2021.

The following organisation types were eligible to apply to the fund:

• Scottish Incorporated Charitable Organisation (SCIO)
• Company Limited by Guarantee
• Community Interest by Guarantee
• Public Body
• Community Benefit Society
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Co-operative Society
• Constituted Group
• Social Enterprise
• Voluntary Group
• Community Group
• Community Housing Association
• Community Trust / Community Development Trust
• Local Authority
• Health Board

Non-constituted groups could also apply in partnership with an organisation of this type.

Applicants were required to submit proposals that addressed one of the following 16 topics related to the themes of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy:

1. Language / Education (Social Connections) - Projects improving access to and availability of appropriate language and literacies learning and practice which build refugees” social connections.

2. Language / Education (Employment) - Projects improving access to and availability of appropriate ESOL learning and practice which directly build refugees” capability for employment

3. Language / Education (Young Refugees) - Projects improving access to and availability of appropriate ESOL learning and practice which build young refugees” confidence and abilities to progress in education and integration.

4. Health & Wellbeing (Mental Health) - Projects improving mental health, and reducing loneliness and social isolation of refugees and separated children.

5. Health & Wellbeing (Physical Health & Access to Health) - Projects increasing refugees” understanding of and access to health care services and health improvement strategies.

6. Employability & Welfare Rights (Employers) - Projects improving engagement with local and national employers to promote the right to volunteer and encouraging employers to recruit refugees into their workforce.

7. Employability & Welfare Rights (Professional Occupations) - Projects improving employment pathways to specific professional occupations.

8. Employability & Welfare Rights (Vocational Qualifications) - Projects improving access to Modern Apprenticeships or specific vocational qualifications.

9. Employability & Welfare Rights (Entrepreneurship) - Projects improving opportunities for refugees to realise entrepreneurial skills and talents involving local and /or national business development services.

10. Digital Inclusion - Projects improving the digital inclusion of refugees and separated children.

11. Communities & Social Connections (Refugee Community Development) Projects to enable the creation, development and participation of refugee-led community organisations (RCOs).

12. Communities & Social Connections (Safer Communities) - Projects reducing hate crime, racism and anti-social behaviour and fostering good relations and understanding of refugees.

13. Communities & Social Connections (Building Social Connections) - Projects increasing the social connections of separated children and refugees in and beyond their local area.

14. Arts / Culture / Sport - Projects improving refugees” cultural rights, access to sport and leisure; and opportunities through the arts for creative expression.

15. Housing - Projects to improve refugees” understanding of their rights and entitlements in relation to housing.

16. Legal Rights & Citizenship - Projects to improve refugees” understanding of and practical access to settlement and citizenship

Applications were also required to relate their projects to one of the following two categories:

1. Spreading good practice: proposals that seek to widen the impact or reach of successful documented integration projects, approaches and practices previously or currently developed in Scotland. This might involve taking an approach applied locally to a larger scale, or adopting good practice and applying it to a different population or in another geographic area.

2. Supporting innovation: proposals that aim to pilot or test new approaches, practices or tools to refugee integration in Scotland. This might involve establishing wider partnerships, piloting approaches aimed at meeting gaps in current provision, testing new practices or tools or adopting projects tested elsewhere in Europe or beyond.

Each of the proposals allowed for the application of one of three levels of funding, each with a maximum grant allocation of:^[1] small (£5000) medium (£25,000) and large (£115,000). The NSRIDP procured the services of the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to develop a web-based scoring platform based on the Salesforce system. Applications to the fund were made through this platform. Organisations were able to submit applications individually or in partnership with other organisations. Organisations applying individually were allowed to submit a maximum of two applications at any funding level for different topics. Organisations applying as part of a partnership were not limited in the number of applications they could make. More information on the process can be found in the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project guidance, published on the Scottish Government website.

Successful applicants

A total of 211 applications were made to the fund by 164 organisations. Of these applications, 49 (23%) were made for small grants, 51 (24%) for medium grants and 111 (53%) were made for large grants. The total value of funding requested was £10,503,413, with applications for large grants accounting for 87% of the funding requested.

Following the scoring and funding allocation, 55 applications - made by 50 organisations - were selected for funding, with a total funding allocation of £2,775,219. The remaining £24,781 of unallocated funding was allocated to the next highest-scoring applicant applying for a medium grant of £25,000, with the agreement of the partnership management board. This brought the overall total of funded projects to 55 applications, made by 51 organisations.

The 55 awarded projects aimed to deliver their work in 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities. Of the awards, 22 (39%) projects aimed to provide services in Glasgow, 9 (16%) aimed to provide services in Renfrewshire and 9 (16%) aimed to provide services in Edinburgh. While this reflects the major concentrations of refugee populations in Scotland, the fund also reached many areas where there are smaller but significant refugee communities and supporting organisations.

The full list of funded projects can be found in table 1 below.

Table 1: Projects awarded funding through the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project by theme, project name and lead organisation

Arts

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Common Ground - Centre For Contemporary Arts
• Dumfries International Street Food Festival - Massive Outpouring of Love (MOOL) SCIO
• Family Art Club - Scrap Antics C.I.C
• In the Frames - Ignite Theatre
• Music Connects - Music Broth
• Pen Pal Project - Renfrewshire Leisure Limited
• Refugee Community Integration Project (RCIP) - West Of Scotland Regional Equality Council
• Salaam Weekend Club Project - Edinburgh City Mission
• Serve2020 – Zoom Club… Zooming Out - Glenburn Independent Baptist Church
• Transforming & Creating Employment Through Sports - Universal Football Club

Communities

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Active Citizens Class for Women - Grampian Regional Equality Council Ltd
• Changing the Narrative - Media Education CIC
• Faithful Welcome - Faith In Community (Scotland)
• Glasgow UASC co-housing Safeguarding project - Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership
• Moments of Freedom - Outside The Box Development Support Limited
• Our Rights, Our Communities - Govanhill Baths Community Trust
• Porridge & Play Castlemilk and Porridge & Play East End - Licketyspit Limited
• SIYAKHULUMA We Talk Podcast - Castlemilk Baptist Church
• Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Peer Flat Mates project - Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership
• Unknown Lives - World Spirit Theatre
• Young minds - Kurdish women Community Group

Digital Inclusion

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Digital Library - TinCat CIC
• Entrepreneur Through Creativity & Innovation - Turn Flicks
• Get New Scots Digital - Safe In Scotland
• New Scots Digital Inclusion Project (DIP) - Grampian Regional Equality Council Ltd
• Staying connected - Refuweegee
• The Welcoming “3Ds Project” (Digital Diversity and Development), - The Welcoming Association

Employability

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Building skills for construction certification - Dundee City Council
• Childcare Future - Saheliya Steering Group
• Financial Accessibility and Inclusivity: Refugee Community in Scotland - Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education
• Integrated communities: Employment and training support - West of Scotland Regional Equality Council

Health

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Caring and sharing: psycho-social support for refugees - Jasmine and Thistle
• Enkula Refugee Health Project - Enkula Wellness Hub C.I.C
• Improving the mental health of young refugees and separated children in Edinburgh - City of Edinburgh Council
• New Scots - Addressing Mental Health (AMH) - Youth Community Support Agency
• Resilient Communities The Braveheart Association
• Unity Sisters Mental Health Support Project Unity Sisters
• West of Scotland Refugee Support Service Renfrewshire Council

Housing

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• Women and Asylum Seeker Housing Project (WASH) - Community Infosource

Language

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• ﺳﻭﺍ Sawa - Argyll and Bute Council
• Assessing the needs of the refugee community in Dundee accessing higher education - University of Dundee
• Building Roots Ayrshire - The Conservation Volunteers
• Creative Writing Classes - Pollokshields Development Agency
• Cross Ethnic Back To Work Project - Cross Ethnic
• Driving and Employability in remote rural Regions - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
• ESOL for Employability - Midlothian Council
• ESOL: Beyond the classroom - East Lothian Works
• Glasgow’s Learning Refugee Language and Integration Project - Culture and Sport Glasgow
• Initial Language Assessment and Advice for New Scots in Glasgow - City of Glasgow College
• New Scot Youth Educational Project - Glasgow Afghan United
• New Scots Get Connected (Get Connected) - Inverclyde Council
• Serve 2020 – Reading and learning together - Glenburn Independent Baptist Church
• Settling in in Glasgow South - Castlemilk Baptist Church
• Supportive Communities Teens - Inverclyde Community Development Trust
• Teaching English as a foreign language at Sunday youth club - The Spartans Community Football Academy

Legal

Project Name - Lead Organisation

• East Glasgow Asylum Support Outreach - Govan Community Project

Monitoring process

Detailed financial and progress monitoring processes were developed in line with requirements of the European Union’s Asylum Migration and Integration Fund. Scottish Government and partners were aware that some organisations had not had to produce financial and progress monitoring data of this scope previously and, as a result, it was decided that significant support should be provided to these organisations at the onset of the project.

All successful organisations were asked to attend monitoring and evaluation sessions with staff from Scottish Government and the partner organisations, detailing the financial return and monitoring requirements. At these sessions, projects were provided with detailed instructions on the processes involved and were supported to develop a series of “Output/Activity”^[2] and “Outcome”^[3] indicators. Projects were also provided with one-to-one analytical support by Scottish Government and financial support by Scottish Government and partners outside of these sessions if needed.

From the beginning of their projects all organisations were required to submit quarterly monitoring and evaluation returns via an online form developed by Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), and held on the Salesforce platform^[4]. These returns took on three different forms:

Short reports - Quarters 1, 3, 5, etc. were minimal and asked only for:

1. A brief update detailing the plan for that quarter.

2. The progress against the planned activities, the main successes and achievements in that quarter.

3. Whether anything had had to change.

4. Any challenges that had been faced.

5. Any emerging risks that had been identified.

6. Whether project funding had been spent in line with original plans (with a follow up question asking “why not” if the answer to this question was no).

Long reports - Quarters 2, 4, etc. required projects to provide this update again alongside:

1. More detailed information on the number of people they had reached.

2. The specific progress against each of the indicators that they had developed at the start of the project as well as a series of questions around the achievements and challenges of the project.

3. Any feedback they had received from participants.

4. Changes or improvements made to the project as a result of learning or feedback.

5. How refugees have been involved meaningfully in the project to date, and any other comments the project might have to share.

Final report - Upon completion of the activities, the projects were then asked to submit a final monitoring report. This report required projects to provide the final quarters data similar to quarters 2, 4, etc. but asked for final tallies on the numbers of participants supported, and a series of reflective questions on organisational learning as a result of the project.

Challenges

There were a number of significant challenges faced throughout the span of the New Scots Refugee Integration Project. Most notable, was that the staff turnover and absence was high across both the funded projects, and within the partner organisations. This had a significant impact on the project’s ability to successfully meet the financial and progress monitoring requirements. A loss of staff within the funded projects with detailed knowledge of project progress and financial spend meant the quality of the returns varied significantly from quarter to quarter and project to project. Similarly, knowledgeable staff within partner organisations leaving or falling ill for significant periods of time left those remaining or replacing them with the difficult task of attempting to pick up partially completed work with limited understanding of its complexity.

Of the 55 projects initially funded, 53 successfully completed their projects. 2 projects withdrew and returned the money they had been awarded and two projects were not able to fully complete all financial and monitoring returns within the timeframe of the qualitative analysis. The data analysis below, therefore, draws upon the returns of the 53 projects that successfully completed their work but has some notable caveats around missing and/or incomplete data.