Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund evaluation: final report

Internal Scottish Government processes

The CYPFEI & ALEC Fund has improved internal Scottish Government/Education Scotland processes and ways of working and the Policy Officer role is highlighted as a key factor in this. The role was an integral part of the Fund providing third sector organisations with a named point of contact within Scottish Government/ Education Scotland. The main impact was evident in improved information sharing between Scottish Government/Education Scotland staff and the funded organisations. Although the Policy Officer role was viewed positively overall, variation in how the role was fulfilled was an issue.

Policy Officers

Every organisation supported by the CYPFEI & ALEC Fund had a Policy Officer – a named point of contact within Scottish Government or Education Scotland. Overall funded organisations and Policy Officers reported they had fulfilled their role which involved the following:

• Building relationships with the funded organisation.
• Sharing relevant Scottish Government policy developments, events and consultations with organisations.
• Facilitating contact between organisations and other relevant areas of Scottish Government/Education Scotland.
• Reviewing the funded organisation’s quarterly reports (and providing feedback to Corra Foundation), external evaluation reports and Corra’s annual report.
• Organising at least one meeting per year with the funded organisation and Corra Foundation to discuss progress and address any issues. Where appropriate, lead on meetings with Scottish Government officials and Ministers.
• Make recommendations on annual funding allocations.

Throughout this evaluation, Policy Officers have consistently provided positive feedback on the role and this was confirmed during the final round of consultation with the majority of Policy Officers (12 out of 14) rating their experience positively. 

Having a single point of contact was key to the success of the Policy Officer role. Funded organisations reported this was invaluable to them as they knew they could approach their Policy Officer for information, advice, or support in the first instance and even if they could not help directly they would be able to signpost them to other relevant staff in Scottish Government/Education Scotland. Policy Officers were equally aware of the importance of their role as the key point of contact when questioned about the benefits.

“Having a point of contact who they can speak to about the Fund”. (Policy Officer)

“Having a named officer to contact and one who has an understanding of the organisation's work”. (Policy Officer).

“Having a direct link and working relationship with relevant policy officials”. (Policy Officer).

Scottish Government and Education Scotland staff welcomed the separation of their policy related role from the administration and support role delivered by the Corra Foundation team. Staff who had experience of other Scottish Government funds, including those that pre-dated the CYPFEI & ALEC Fund, were particularly supportive of these separate roles and they felt there had been substantial efficiency savings as a result. More broadly, Policy Officers provided very positive feedback on Corra Foundation’s staff highlighting their approachability, professionalism and specialist knowledge: 

“All support from Corra has been specific, well informed and helpful”. (Policy Officer)

“Corra's support was very professional and efficient”. (Policy Officer).

“They have a great deal of knowledge and their support is invaluable”. (Policy Officer).

“I have found Corra to be very helpful whenever I needed assistance and they helped me and my manager to make decisions with their expertise and advice”. (Policy Officer).

The most significant impacts on internal Scottish Government processes and ways of working of the CYPFEI & ALEC Fund have been:

• Improved information sharing.
• A better understanding of third sector organisations and issues.
• Policy influencing.

Improved information sharing

Improved information sharing between Scottish Government/Education Scotland and third sector organisations has been a recurring theme of this evaluation. It is particularly noteworthy that the improvement has been a two-way process involving information sharing and intelligence from Scottish Government/Education Scotland to third sector organisations and, vice versa, from third sector organisations to Scottish Government/Education Scotland. The following comments illustrate this.

“The allocation of a Scottish Government policy officer offers the opportunity to raise our profile and disseminate our evaluation work on current national policy priorities”. (Third sector organisation).

“We have no doubt over the last few years that our partnership with Scottish Government has improved to a position where we are much more involved in sharing and influencing. We see ourselves as a 'critical friend' whereas previously the relationship was more distant”. (Third sector organisation).

“The Fund has increased our capacity to interact with Scottish Government such as through consultation with, and representation of, our members, presence at national working groups/learning events/Corra events… this has increased awareness of our organisation by Scottish Government which has resulted in increased communication, information sharing and invites to input”. (Third sector organisation).

The majority of Policy Officers (11 out of 14) consulted during this final evaluation agreed the role had helped to enhance the sharing of information and intelligence between Scottish Government/Education Scotland and the third sector. The survey of funded organisations corroborated these findings. Marked improvements were recorded in the way the Scottish Government / Education Scotland disseminates information and intelligence to third sector organisations (+0.7) and the way third sector organisations share information and intelligence with the Scottish Government / Education Scotland (+0.5).

On a scale of one to ten, please rate…	2019 rating	2016 rating	Change 2016 to 2019
The way your organisation shares information and intelligence with the Scottish Government / Education Scotland	8.3	7.8	+0.5
The way the Scottish Government / Education Scotland disseminates information and intelligence to your organisation	7.4	6.7	+0.7

A benefit was also reported in terms of improving internal networking, communications and understanding among staff within Scottish Government and Education Scotland. 

“It has been a good opportunity to network with other policy officers that I would not meet in my policy work. Also learning a lot about how a large Scottish Government fund works”. (Policy Officer)

Better understanding of third sector organisations and issues

Scottish Government and Education Scotland Policy Officers reported the role had enhanced their understanding of the organisations they supported and the third sector in general. They explained it gave them a real insight into the third sector organisations, the needs of their beneficiaries, and the financial and other challenges facing the sector.

“It has been a great experience visiting the organisations, learning about new resources, or training opportunities and linking key work to areas within the policy portfolio”. (Policy Officer).

“It has improved my understanding of CLD outcomes being delivered by national partners”. (Policy Officer).

“Seeing what funding support the organisations are receiving from other funders has been an important insight”. (Policy Officer).

“It has provided me with some additional information in different policy areas and general knowledge of some health conditions and how people deal these”. (Policy Officer).

“It has been good to get experience of some form of financial management and to learn about how organisations funded by the Scottish Government report on their progress towards outcomes”. (Policy Officer).

A particularly impressive legacy of the Fund comes from evidence that some Scottish Government and Education staff have formed long-lasting relationships with third sector organisations which have outlasted their formal relationship as a Policy Officer. For example, a funded organisation revealed that their previous Policy Officer had stayed in contact with the organisation. 

“They came to one of our events which was celebrating participants’ achievements and they’re coming again to this event even though they’ve moved on just because they are really interested in what we do”. (Third sector organisation).

One of the Policy Officers described how they have also maintained links with one of the third sector organisations they previously worked.

“I have gained massively in confidence when dealing with external stakeholders which has ultimately culminated in me having a strong relationship with the organisation who I have responsibility for. I have recently moved teams in the directorate I work in and I am hopeful that [organisation] can hook in with the work I am now focussed on - they are very keen to assist”.

Policy influencing

There was evidence that the Fund has improved policy development and use of evidence in Scottish Government/Education Scotland. Policy Officers explained that their knowledge and understanding of third sector organisations, and the issues they are addressing had directly informed their policy work. 

“I have used the knowledge I gained from the organisations I work with to help inform the work that I do and call them whenever I need their advice or viewpoint”. (Policy Officer)

“Although the projects I am responsible for are not education focused, I have used evidence from CYPFEIF reports to support the direction of policy work”. (Policy Officer)

Funded organisations provided numerous examples of occasions when they had contributed to Scottish Government/Education Scotland meetings, working groups, committees and consultations. Generally, they rated their ability to influence the development of Scottish Government policy relatively high (7.4 out of 10) in 2019. It was noteworthy however that the rating had decreased from 7.8 from the baseline survey in 2016. There appears therefore to be a discrepancy, at least for some third sector organisations, in their view of their ability to influence policy and the reality of how officials including Policy Officers have utilised information and knowledge they have provided. Some funded organisations also felt they could have a stronger role in policy development if Scottish Government/Education Scotland gave them the opportunity. There were some examples given of how the Fund had enabled third sector organisations to influence policy 

“It has also increased the voice of people we support and our ability to shape national policy”. (Third sector organisation).

“The Fund enabled us to create a job post within our Development Team which created capacity to respond to and influence government policy”. (Third sector organisation).

Policy Officer input

Over the period covered by this evaluation it has been apparent that not all funded organisations have benefitted from the Policy Officer input described above. Where this issue has been reported it tended to coincide with a change in Policy Officer or when the Policy Officer had limited capacity because of other work commitments. There has been considerable turnover in Policy Officers with approximately three quarters of funded organisations having a different Policy Officer in 2019 to the one they had in 2016. Changes in policy responsibility for youthwork and adult learning within Scottish Government and Education Scotland added to the turnover of Policy Officers during 2018. In addition, the Interim Report found that the amount of time Scottish Government and Education Scotland staff spent fulfilling their role as Policy Officer varied with the monthly totals ranging from 25 minutes to three days and this was not directly linked to the number of organisations they supported. Not only does this issue have drawbacks for the support provided to funded organisations, it also means that the benefits in terms of information sharing, understanding and policy development will not accrue to Scottish Government and Education Scotland. On a practical level changes in Policy Officer have, at times, created challenges for the Corra Foundation team.

Although most Policy officers reported the time commitment was manageable and the benefits made it worthwhile, there were others who were concerned about the demands of the role. The following example demonstrates how big an impact the Policy Officer can have although the circumstances involved were atypical.

“Time was something I didn't have a lot of when my organisation looked like they could fold. I couldn't do my own job for all the work that it entailed over around eight months”. (Policy Officer).

“Time given to do the role has not been forthcoming and the spreading/sharing of the organisations has not been the best”. (Policy Officer).

Since the start of the Fund, there have been calls from Policy Officers for the role to be acknowledged by line managers and senior staff within Scottish Government and Education Scotland. This has been partly met as the role has now been recognised in the staff appraisal process by some line managers. This welcome addition values the time input and potential benefits of the role. Notwithstanding this, there was a view among a handful of Policy Officers that the role should be a dedicated one.

“The role is taken on by staff who already have substantive roles - a dedicated role would help improve quality ensuring the right amount of time is given to carry out the role effectively” (Policy Officer).

Overall, Policy Officers were positive about the support provided by Scottish Government/Education Scotland to fulfil their role. There were some suggestions on potential improvements particularly around training: 

“It would be helpful to have ongoing central training or resources on the Policy Officer role and engaging with stakeholders, especially for new starts, and regular updates or group catch ups”. (Policy Officer).

“Some training on what's expected of you in the role and the process. I feel that I just had to learn from others in my directorate who had done the role previously and people have slightly different views on what the role entails”. (Policy Officer).