Taking a whole system approach to tackling child poverty in Scotland?Kerry McKenzie

Organisational Lead – Child Poverty

NHS Health Scotland

OutlineWhat’s the potential of taking a whole system approach to tackling child poverty at a local level?

• Context of child poverty in Scotland

• Overview of the ‘local duty’ in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 and support in place

• What’s happened? Highlights from the first year of local child poverty action reports in Scotland.

• What next?

Whole system approachapplying systems thinking to improving population health and wellbeing.

Complex systems

Signs you are dealing with a complex problem:

• There are many different perspectives on the problem and no agreement on what should be done to tackle the issue.

• The outcome you are trying to influence is produced by many different factors which interact with each other and are continually changing.

• No one person or organisation has control over all elements of the system.

Whole system approach

Source: Resolution Foundation (2019) The Living Standards Outlook 2019. Available from: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-living-standards-outlook-2019/

Money makes a difference to children’s health, social, behavioural and cognitive outcomes

…causal link

Source: Cooper, Kerris and Stewart, Kitty. “Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes? An update.” Centre for Analysis of Social LSE, July 2017 http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/case/_new/research/money_matters/report.asp

Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017

• Income based targets• SG Delivery Plan• Measurement Framework • Local child poverty action

plan report• Independent Poverty and

Inequality Commission

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2017/6/contents/enacted

Drivers of child poverty

Source: Scottish Government (2018) Every child, every chance: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan

Local Child Poverty Action Report Guidance

• 1st report due June 2019• 5 steps:- identify your local partners- identify and assess child poverty in the local area- identify and assess existing plans that seek to

reduce or mitigate child poverty- identify new action to reduce child poverty or

expansions or modifications to existing action to increase impact

- identify and share ‘what is working’ and lessons learned

https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-child-poverty-action-report-guidance/

National partners:

Local Child Poverty Co-ordination Group

• Organisation

Scottish Government

NHS Health Scotland

Improvement Service

Poverty Alliance

Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland

COSLANHS National Services

Scottish Poverty and Inequality Unit

National partners:

Local Child Poverty

Co-ordination Group

• OrganisationLocal Child Poverty

Leads (LA + NHS)

Community Planning

Partnerships

Support available• Organisation

• Name

National partners:

Local Child Poverty

Co-ordination Group

• OrganisationLocal Child

Poverty

Leads (LA + NHS)

Community Planning

Partnerships

Heads of Planning (HOPS)

Scottish Government

(All Directorates)

Scottish Directors of

Public Health

UK Government

Chief Housing Officers

(ALACHO)

Heads of Transport (SCOTS)

Economic Development

(SLAED)

Society of Local Authority Chief

Executives (SOLACE)

NHS Chief Execs; Directors

of Planning; Procurement

Leads; HRAnd other national networks

Health & Social Care

Partnerships

• Sharper focus on tackling child poverty at a local level

• Buy-in from leaders, elected members, senior officers, CPP and community groups

• Development, or enhancement, of local relationships, partnerships and collaborative structures

• Focus on understanding local need and role of place

• Focus on the 3 key drivers of poverty

• Increasing involvement of families and children with experience of living in poverty

So, what has happened as a result of the local duty?

Challenges• Difficulties translating that understanding of child poverty locally and enthusiasm into

concrete action especially housing, transport, childcare, economic development

• Keeping a focus on the drivers – on all of them

• Limited resources but duty helping to make case against cuts

• Ensuring high level buy-in and understanding across partnerships are maintained

• Understanding impact in a complex area

• ……the wider political and economic context

Whole system approach

• Leadership and influence across the local system, both internally (across services) and externally (Community Planning Partnerships; Integrated Joint Boards);

• Developing effective partnerships with local authorities and with the Third Sector;

• Advocacy on the causes and consequences of poverty on outcomes for children (workforce learning and communications plans around child poverty);

• Advocacy on evidence-based policy and practice;

• Adopting an outcomes based planning approach;

• Advising on, and undertaking, needs assessment

What’s public health got to do with it?

• Further explore the potential for wider adoption of whole system approaches to strengthen the local action on child poverty

• Consider what local partnerships might need from local public health teams

• Consider what local partnerships might need from Public Health Scotland

Are we there yet?