Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme - ICIA

2. Impact on Island Communities

The intended impacts and outcomes as part of our ambition, are for children and families to receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place for as long as they need it (as detailed above). The intended impacts and outcomes of the WFWF Programme do not differ across the islands. Island CSPPs are receiving funding to transform their services according to local need, as are all CSPPs in Scotland.

Part 4 of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 (Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)) identifies six local authorities representing island communities. These are: Argyll and Bute Council; Comhairle nan Eilean Siar/Western Island Council; Highland Council; North Ayrshire Council; Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council. Amongst them, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles are entirely island authorities, while Argyll and Bute, Highland and North Ayrshire cover island regions as well as mainland regions.

Rural Scotland accounts for 98% of the Scottish landmass, with 17% of the population residing there (Rural Scotland: key facts 2018 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)). At the time of the 2011 Census, Scotland had 93 inhabited islands, with a total population of 103,700. This was 2% of the Scottish population. Of these islands, only five are connected to the Scottish mainland by bridge or causeway. The average island resident was older than in Scotland – their median age was 45 (it was 41 in Scotland). While 21 per cent of island residents were aged 65 or over, the proportion nationally was 17 per cent. The proportion of island residents aged under 16 fell from 20 per cent in 2001 to 17 per cent in 2011. Households with dependent children accounted for 23 per cent of all island households in 2011 compared with 26 per cent in 2001. The corresponding proportion in Scotland decreased from 29 per cent in 2001 to 26 per cent in 2011 (Inhabited islands analytical report | Scotland's Census (scotlandscensus.gov.uk))

Key stakeholders include CSPP partners and third sector delivery partners, children, young people and their families. A core principle of this Funding was to acknowledge and respond to clear messaging from delivery partners that a multi-year commitment was critical in enabling planning and to implement the system changes desired. As such, Scottish Government has agreed with COSLA that allocations for Element 1 will apply to FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26.

The Programme is providing additional resources to local areas to test new activities focused on supporting families in a way that works better according to each area’s individual needs. Following stakeholder feedback regarding an underlying indicator, changes on the funding methodology for Element 1 were agreed by Ministers and COSLA Leaders from financial year 2024/25. The distribution formula that will be used going forward is as follows:

1. The population of children and young people aged 0-17 (45%).

2. The number of children in low-income families (20%) and the number of children in receipt of SCP (20%).

3. Rurality, estimated number of children aged 0-17 in rural areas (5%).

4. Multiple deprivation, the number of children in low-income families in the top 20% most deprived data zones (5%) and the number of children in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment in the top 20% most deprived data zones (5%).

In particular, the rurality component continues to provide additional weighting to account for the specific challenges faced in delivering services in rural areas, an issue frequently raised by delivery partners. This equates approximately to a 100% uplift for children in rural areas, relative to children in non-rural areas.

For Element 2 we want to ensure that our national support for local delivery continues to offer a package of activity aimed at supporting local transformation, including collaborative partnerships with up to three CSPPs; a Learning into Action Network (LiA Network) to share learning, facilitate peer support and collaborate; a Knowledge Hub; as well as the commissioned evaluation, research and learning partner work for WFWF. Similarly, Element 3 aims to take a cross Scottish Government approach to system change, through the 12 projects led by wider Scottish Government policy teams, which will progress the aims of the WFWF.