Access to Childcare Fund: phase 2 - evaluation report

Appendix Two: Information sheets

Information sheet for project leads

Research to inform the Evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund

Further information

Why do you want to speak to me?

Ipsos Scotland (an independent research organisation) is carrying out an evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. As part of this, we would like to hear the experiences of project leads. This will contribute to the overall research objectives of understanding to what extent projects achieved the intended outcomes for children, parents and families and to explore the project processes, including if and how projects overcame access and participation barriers.

What will the research cover?

The research will cover:

• What your project involves
• Target audience of project
• Design of your project/decisions about what to deliver and how it differs from previous models and approaches
• The intended outcomes of your project and how the project processes help to achieve them
• Communicating the project to your target audience
• If and how your project has changed over time
• Engagement with the project
• Barriers to attendance and overcoming these
• Perceived impacts of the Access to Childcare funding:
  • For children, young people, parents/carers
  • For their project, providers and partners
• Partnership working
• Lessons learned/ideas for improvement

How will my answers be used?

Your responses to the interview will be completely confidential and anonymous and will not be seen by anybody outside of Ipsos Scotland, the independent research organisation, and the transcriber.

We will use the interviews to inform the findings of the evaluation. They will be used alongside the findings of the interviews with project stakeholders, interviews with families and the analysis of monitoring data to write a report that will be published by the Scottish Government. Any quotes included in the report will be anonymised. However, given the small number of projects involved in the evaluation, we cannot fully guarantee that someone would not be able to make an educated guess at the quoted project. After the interview, we would give you the opportunity to note any comments you would not like to be included as quotes as well as offering you the chance to review any elements of the draft report we feel may be identifying.

With your consent, we would like to audio-record the discussion (to save us taking notes), but you can still take part even if you would prefer us not to do this. All your data will be securely stored on our servers by Ipsos in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and deleted after the end of the project.

You can read the privacy notice for the project here: Evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund Privacy Notice v1.

How can I take part?

Please get in touch if you’d like to take part, by responding to this email, or phone me on the number in my email signature.

Information sheet for families

Research to help understand the impact of the Access to Childcare Fund

Ipsos Scotland (an independent research organisation) is carrying out an evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund (ACF) on behalf of the Scottish Government. The ACF provided funding to 10 childcare projects, including the one you use, to make them more accessible, flexible and affordable for families.

We are interested in hearing about your experiences of the project you attend, including what has worked well and what could be improved.

How can you help?

Ipsos would really like to talk to parents/carers, children and young people who took part in a project funded by the Access to Childcare Fund.

This would involve a short (around 30-40 minutes) one-to-one interview with a researcher from Ipsos via telephone or video call, depending on what suits you. The interview would be at a time that works for you and will be informal and relaxed – you don’t need to prepare or to know anything to take part. We want to hear about your experiences and there are no right or wrong answers. We are hoping to speak to people during February.

We would like to hear both parents/carers and children/young people (if they feel able to). We will speak to families together for the first half of the discussion, while the second half will be questions just for parents/carers. We will do our best to put children at ease in the interviews and ask questions in a child-friendly manner, for example we may use smiley faces as a way for children to express their views.

As a thank you for taking part you or your family will receive £35 (this can be cash via bank transfer or vouchers for Amazon or Love2Shop). Please note that receiving a bank transfer may sometimes impact on any benefit payments or tax positions, so it is worth checking this before choosing whether you would prefer a voucher or a bank transfer. Receiving an e-voucher will not impact on any benefit payments or tax positions.

How will we use the information you provide?

Ipsos will use information from the interviews to write a report for the Scottish Government that will be published but we will not include anything that could identify you or your child, for example your name or contact details. It will not be possible for the Scottish Government to know who has taken part in the research or what they have said.

Everything you say will be confidential and your data (e.g., your contact details and notes on your interview) will be stored securely and deleted at the end of the project.

With your permission, the discussions will be audio recorded. Only the research team will have access to the recording, which will be securely destroyed after completion of the research.

Taking part in the research is completely voluntary. If you agree to take part, you are free to change your mind at any time without giving us a reason.

We have a privacy policy with more information about how we handle your data which you can see here: Evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund Privacy Notice v1.

How can I take part?

If you have any questions or would like to take part, please contact the research team using the following details:

email: access2childcarefund@ipsos.com

phone: 0131 385 1064

text: 07581 015453

It would be helpful if you can mention the name of the project you attend when you contact us.

Once you get in touch, we will give you a quick call to explain more details about the research and answer any questions you may have. We’ll also ask you a few questions about yourself to check that you’re eligible to take part. We will need to get permission from a parent or carer to speak to any young people under 16 to take part.

If you or your child need any additional support in order to take part in the interview i.e., a language interpreter or a BSL interpreter let us know and we will provide this for you.

Information sheet for stakeholders

Research to inform the Evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund

Further information

Why do you want to speak to me?

Ipsos Scotland (an independent research organisation) is carrying out an evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. As part of this, we would like to hear your perspective of the funded project you are involved with as a local delivery partner or stakeholder. We would like to know what has been delivered, how it has worked for families and any lessons learned. This will contribute to the overall research objectives which are to understand the extent to which projects achieved the intended outcomes for children, parents and families and to explore the project processes, including if and how projects overcame access and participation barriers.

What will it involve?

It will involve a conversation with a researcher for up to an hour, either via video call (Teams/Zoom) or telephone. The interview would be at a time that works for you and will be informal and relaxed – you don’t need to prepare anything before taking part. We want to hear about your experiences and there are no right or wrong answers. We are hoping to speak to people during February.

What will the research cover?

The research will cover:

• Design of the project
• Partnership working
• The intended outcomes of the project and how the project processes help to achieve them
• Communicating the project to the target audience
• Engagement with the project
• Barriers to attendance and overcoming these
• Perceived impacts of the ACF funding:
  • For children, young people, parents/carers
  • For their project, providers and partners
• Lessons learned/ideas for improvement

How will my answers be used?

Your responses to the interview will be completely confidential and anonymous and will not be seen by anybody outside of the Ipsos research team and the transcriber.

We will use the interviews to inform the findings of the evaluation. They will be used alongside the findings from interviews with project leads, interviews with families and the analysis of monitoring data to write a report that will be published by the Scottish Government. Any quotes included in the report will be anonymised.

With your consent, we would like to audio-record the discussion (to save us taking notes), but you can still take part even if you would prefer us not to do this. All your data will be securely stored on our servers by Ipsos in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and deleted after the end of the project.

You can read the privacy notice for the project here: Evaluation of the Access to Childcare Fund Privacy Notice v1.

How can I take part?

If you have any questions or would like to arrange an interview, please contact the research team using the following details:

email: access2childcarefund@ipsos.com

phone: 0131 385 1064

text: 07581 015453

If you need any additional support in order to take part in the interview i.e., a language interpreter or a BSL interpreter let us know and we will provide this for you.