Access to period products: monitoring and evaluation strategy 2021/22 to 2024/25

Annex E – Benefits and risk of proposed approach

Benefits

The following benefits of the proposed approach to monitoring and evaluation have been identified:

• A proportionate, pragmatic approach to monitoring and evaluation that minimises the demand on data providers and ensures consistency across delivery bodies.
• A funding model that is fair and reflects spending
• The independent evaluation and externally commissioned baseline survey will gather the views and lived experience of product users.

Risks

The following risks have been identified:

• There is no exact measure of uptake. Uptake will be estimated based on the number of products purchased and from reported usage from a sample of product users in the independent evaluation.
• There will remain difficulties in interpreting routine monitoring data on spend as increased spend could result from increased uptake, higher cost products, or product stockpiling and bulk ordering patterns.
• Whilst conducting an independent evaluation after three years provides time for statutory provision to become established, it limits the availability of real-time data for learning and accountability purposes.
• The proposed approach is reliant upon the collaboration of local authorities, further and higher education providers in collecting and providing data to the Scottish Government on a non-statutory basis.
• COVID-19 restrictions may mean that baseline data collected in 2021/22 is not representative of typical delivery which may limit this data usefulness in adjusting ongoing funding allocations.
• Baseline data will not be available in advance of the finalisation of the 2022/23 funding allocations, requiring any adjustments on the basis of this data to be made in year (i.e. increases from 2021/22 allocations).