Helping families stay together

Vital funding to help transform family support services and reduce the number of children going into care has been announced.

Local authorities will receive £32 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding for 2022-23, with a further £6 million available to support this work.

This will help build services that focus on prevention and early intervention, so families get the support they need to overcome challenges before they reach crisis point.

Arrangements for distributing the remaining £12 million of Whole Family Wellbeing Funding committed for 2022-23 are being finalised.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“It is essential that we provide the right kind of support to enable families to thrive so that, ultimately, fewer children and young people go into care. 

“Whole Family Wellbeing Funding aims to transform the way support is delivered by ensuring families can access seamless support that meets their individual needs.

“The £50 million committed in 2022-23 will focus on building the capacity for further investment from 2023-24 onwards. This funding is a critical part of how we will keep the Promise by helping families access the support they need, where and when they need it.

“Our ambition is that from 2030, we will be investing at least 5% of all community-based health and social care spend in preventative whole family support measures.”

Background

The Scottish Government has committed to investing £500 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding over the course of this Parliament.

Decisions on the use of the £32 million allocated to local authorities for 2022-23 will be made by Children’s Services Planning Partnerships.