Our bright futures

Drivers of Poverty: Income from Employment

Activity under the Income from Employment driver of poverty is a key priority area over the coming year for the partnership recognising the needs of local people. Work has already started to align the work of the Child Poverty Working Group and Local Employability Partnership to join the pathway from school and enhance local employment opportunities. 

A 5-year Employability Strategy has been commissioned to give additional insight and focus for the work to be undertaken by the Local Employability Partnership with a clear action plan to drive forward work.  The strategy will be finalised by September 2022.

NA - data for this measure is not yet available. Once published, it will be updated and trend information reviewed.

Dundee & Angus College collects data on the destination of Full Time Further and Higher Education students 6-months after they have completed their programme the previous academic year.  Over 85% of eligible student destinations are known. A positive destination is where a student continues to study (full or part time), and/or is in employment (full or part time).

Key activities delivered in the period 2021/22 include:

• A successful Kickstart scheme operated in Angus providing funding to employers to create six-month job placements for young people between 16-24 claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. 
• The Local Employability Partnership have developed a Delivery Plan Framework to drive forward and implement the shared ambitions and actions of No One Left Behind to ensure the right support is available in the right way at the right time.
• Ten clients were supported through the National Transitions Training Fund gaining successful employment.
• The Dundee and Angus College Find Your Future provision (funded Tackling Child Poverty project) has introduced over 400 young people to D&A since the funding started in 2018 (targeting Care Experienced, young carers, young/ lone parents, SIMD10 and school disengagers). This can be broken down to 199 in Touchpoint provision (soft, flexible opportunities both on campus and in the community), 107 in Academy provision (12-week full time, curriculum-based courses), 95 with general promotion of D&A and college enquiries.   
• Dundee and Angus College launched its first College Community Collaborative (CCC) with 25 public and third sector community partners, to explore and develop stronger pathways from community to college provision.
• In the last year Dundee & Angus College produced and offered 46 free online skills boost programmes. 217 individuals completed programmes under the Young Persons Guarantee and 307 under the National Transitions Training Fund.
• Three priority improvement groups have been established through the Local Employability Partnership; Young People, Care Experienced and participation; Health Related Inactivity/women returning to work; SIMD/Area Approach/Poverty. These are informed by consultation, current data and surveys from service users and partners.
• In response to the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government awarded funding to every Local Authority to support the provision of paid (real living wage) work placements either in the public or third sectors.  The programme is designed for individuals aged over 25 years, who have been unemployed for over 12 months and who face additional barriers into employment.  Placements are typically around 30 hours per week and last approximately six months.  To date, 22 placements have been filled, a further two placements are due to start in August and two clients have been referred to employers for interview. Initial feedback from clients is positive:

“I am enjoying the work and earning money again.   It gives you something to get up in the morning for which is great”.  “The placement has given me an opportunity to work in an environment I never thought possible. After studying hard at college as a mature student to change careers life had a different plan for me. Now many years after leaving college, I'm looking forward to my journey on the placement, gaining new skills, experiences and self-confidence.”

“I am delighted, and highly appreciative, to gain practical knowledge and experience through this placement, and to get paid for it at the same time! Finding work after being unemployed for so long is very tough, and this placement feels like the perfect helping hand to get my foot in the door.”

Case Study: Women’s Business Station – Fast Track Arbroath 2022

Women’s Business Station (WBS) were funded by Angus Council to deliver two FastTrack Business Start-Up Success Programmes for women, with a particular emphasis on single mums or those trapped in work or generational poverty. These took place in Arbroath and Brechin during February and March 2022.

Unlike traditional enterprise programmes, FastTRACK is designed to build confidence, connections and create community. These cross-cutting themes are key to each candidates success, making starting or growing a business far more enjoyable and achievable.

This requires a firm commitment as this is run over five consecutive days, followed by a ‘pitch and pledge day’ two weeks later. Before the pitch day each candidate is given 1-2-1 support by a senior WBS team member.  In essence, this programme gives women the opportunity to learn the basics of business in and fun and dynamic way. They will learn and be inspired from each other along with experienced business owners/experts and they will be introduced to local businesses and support organisations.

Topics covered included, values & vision, growth mindset, marketing & branding, digital media, finance, business model canvas, public speaking and sales. 

A successful marketing campaign was devised and promoted through social media generating 21 notes of interest leading to 10 successful candidates across the Arbroath and Montrose areas.  A summary of the candidate profiles is represented in the image to the right. 

Nine out of the ten candidates successfully completed the course leading to several wins for candidates

• New shop opening in Brechin – Chaplin's Refill Station
• Three new businesses launched
• New drama programme for kids launched in Angus
• Three focus groups planned
• Set up of a new charity – Script
• New job appointment – two days per month
• Two further education programmes started
• Two new school contracts for Adventures in Angus
• Retail outlet sourced to stock and sell products
• Set up of new Angus Mums in Business Networking Group
• Greater understanding of costs to get started
• Five funding grants applied for
• Nine out of ten candidates are active members Women’s Business Statio

Feedback was extremely positive with 100% of candidates saying they would recommend the programme to a friend.  The most noticeable increase was self-confidence and self-belief which showed a 38% average increase.  All other topics showed an average increase between 24% to 33%. 

Successful candidates profiles

• 10 out of 10 are mums 
• 6 out of 10 have dependent children
  • - 3 of which are single parents
  • - 2 of which have children with additional needs
• 2 out of 10 were self-employed 1 out of 10 is working part-time
• 10 out of 10 wanted to start and grow a business that would give them flexibility, financial stability and security 
• 8 out of 10 described themselves as having a low confidence and self esteem 
• 7 out of 10 said they suffered from anxiety and depression 
• 5 out of 10 suffered from chronic illnesses that affected their ability to remain in paid employment 
• 6 out of 10 said they have financial worries

"This course completely exceeded my expectations. I found it quite life changing actually."

Costs of living

We anticipate that given the double fuel price hikes (+54% April 2022 & estimated +65% Oct 22) the fuel poverty rate in Angus may reach around 45% (based on average earnings Vs average bills).

 *New Scottish Government Fuel Poverty definition (adopted March 2020). Source Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) 2017-19. The latest SHCS, 2018-20, was hampered by Covid and thus the next release will be in 2023.

Key activities delivered in the period 2021/22 include:

• Through partnership working with Angus Cycle Hub (ACH) a bike recycling project was set up with Angus schools for parents to recycle unused bikes.  The bikes then go back into ACH Recycles project providing bikes for children in Angus and Dundee who may not necessarily be able to get access to a bike.  The project has seen 203 bikes issued since the project started in August 2021 with over 122 people participating.    
• Schools and Learning received an additional £102,035 through the Winter Wellbeing Funding for schools to provide additional support for families on low incomes. 33 schools applied with families receiving support with supermarket vouchers, food bank supplies, warm clothing supplies and help with energy costs. Healthy snack provision and free breakfast was also available for children. 
• Scarf in partnership with Angus Council secured Scottish Welfare Fund backing to provide fuel vouchers to Angus residents whose household income had been adversely affected by COVID-19.  Prepayment vouchers and direct payments to energy suppliers were offered to offset the increase of fuel bills due to the impact of covid and rising energy prices. The fund supported 630 households in Angus with £100,000 worth of payments made to energy suppliers and prepayment meters.  The households that benefited from the program had 976 people living in the homes and the fund benefited 817 children and 26 Carers.
• Live Warm & Well - Hospital Discharge Pilot – Paediatrics and Respiratory Nov 2021-May2022 - The Directorate of Public Health, NHS Tayside, have been working closely with colleagues within Respiratory and Paediatrics as part of the Respiratory Winter Action Plans generated at Scottish Government level, acknowledging that cold homes, poor nutrition and poverty caused by the cost of living and energy can impact hugely on respiratory development in children and is very damaging to the fragile respiratory health and wellbeing of those with chronic and life limiting conditions.  The Dundee Citizen Advice Bureau has dedicated a full-time resource through SSEN in which a full-time welfare and energy advisor can take referrals from the two specialities.  Total financial gains to date are in the region of £40,000.
• Carnoustie Fire Station have developed a food storage facility for those in need in their local community where they can help themselves to any goods on offer.  They also worked in partnership with Morrisons to collect food parcels and used the doors open day at Arbroath Fire station to pass on the food donations to the public when they visited the Fire Station.
• Home-Start Angus have provided crisis support to 24 families (46 children) experiencing disadvantage with poverty, lack of social opportunity, poor housing, poor parental mental health and disability.
• The Directorate of Public Health and the University of Dundee (Duncan of Jordanstone) collaborated through the new Master of Science Health Care Design post-graduate course.  A small group of students developed a Fuel Poverty E-Learning Sway Module which we aim to roll-out across Tayside.  Both student and professional feedback was very positive.
• A successful Summer of Fun programme was delivered with additional Scottish Government funding.  This allowed for a co-ordinated approach which catered for the specific needs of families in the local community. Families had access to welfare rights information and advice, resulting in additional successful benefits payments, helping to reduce child poverty. Community engagement was improved by bringing many voluntary and community-based partners together and establishing new and lasting links and local businesses benefitted in a rise in turnover as a direct result of the additional investment in the local economy.  Relationships between parents and staff were nurtured and as a direct result family engagement with statutory work had a marked improvement. 155 new volunteering and employment opportunities were created over the summer holidays, 17 of which have turned into either full or part-time permanent positions.  Speaking of the support made available, one Mum said:

“These trips allowed me to spend some quality time with my child. I would never have been able to afford to do this.”

• A pilot Local Authority Flexible Eligibility energy efficiency scheme was launched (previously delayed due to Covid-19) - targeting private sector properties with poor energy efficiency and/or low-income households, offering grant funded (or low household financial contribution) measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel costs, ensuring households live in warmth and comfort whilst reducing spend.      
• Over the period 2017/18 to 2021/22 there were 20,904 referrals from Angus households to Home Energy Scotland, almost 40% of all households. The average annual referrals were between 3,500 & 4,000 until 2021/22, when they significantly increased to almost 5,400 as people dealt with the cost of living crisis. Since 2017/18 almost 2,000 measures have been installed to improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel poverty. In addition, around 730 (tbc) households have benefitted from Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland (HEEPS) funding.

Case Study – Get into Summer

Angus Council and The Wee Childcare Company worked together to provide funded holiday club spaces at both Monikie Primary School and Abbey View Campus during the summer holidays of 2021.

At Monikie Primary, we offered a service from 10am - 3pm for 2 weeks from12th to 19th July 2021.  

The service was offered to a total of 21 children from 11 families (of which 10 families were already existing service users of the term-time after school club that was being funded by Children in Scotland, Scottish Government’s Access to Childcare Fund).We catered for 16 spaces per day of which the average uptake was 82%

Three staff members benefited from the additional employment and income opportunity.

Children had the opportunity to plan out their daily sessions together. Various activities that explored all curricular areas both indoors and out were on offer with a mix of adult led and free play opportunities throughout. Children were offered a healthy morning snack (which was provided by the service) and a cold packed lunch (which was provided by Tayside Contracts).

Example of activities offered included role play, small world imaginative play, art and craft experiences and baking and food activities. 

Future Learning

Several other working families were keen to access the provision although the holiday club opened at quite short notice and so the session times were not suitable for all, with some already having other childcare arrangements in place. There was a request from the parent partnership to provide holiday cover at every school holiday and for longer opening times. Our working families struggle to meet the cost of school aged childcare, particularly in the holiday periods, as the level of care required is for a much longer period of time and subsequently, service costs must rise. In order to remove financial barriers for working parents all year round, subsidised childcare during the holidays helps parents in particular to commit to and maintain their hours of employment without compromising on their child's needs being met.

Drivers of Poverty - Income from Social Security Benefits and Benefits in Kind

Data shows we are continuing to see a year-on-year reduction in homeless applications.  The number of households accessing temporary accommodation (both with and without children) has also reduced significantly in the last year. The average length of time in temporary homeless accommodation has reduced from 226 days in 2020/21 to 158 days in 2021/22.

Key activities delivered in the period 2021/22 include: -

• NHS Tayside, Adult Inpatient Nursing Admission Documentation - Documentation has been updated to include questions on money worries and employment have been embedded within nursing admission documentation.  A referral pathway has been included which is then triaged to services across Tayside.  The documentation been tested within Perth Royal Infirmary and Ninewells this year.
• The Directorate of Public Health delivered two ‘Grand Round Sessions’ for Paediatric & Community Child Health Colleagues on Child Poverty and Income Maximisation (50 NHS colleagues).  Feedback was very positive, and teams are exploring how they can embed money worries as part of their routine practice.
• The midwifery training was largely put on hold during 2021/22 due to covid-19 and staffing pressures.  The project midwife has successfully engaged staff teams across Tayside with regards to income maximisation pathway support and the use of the Badgernet data system to refer women to welfare teams.  Midwifery colleagues are routinely referring women for financial support and have now added a direct pathway to Home Energy Scotland to maximise energy efficiencies within homes.  A series of information leaflets and posters have been displayed within staff and patient waiting areas to raise awareness of the support which is available.
• Health & Welfare Referrals - During April 2021-March 2022, 1,151 pathway referrals were made by Universal Health Services (Maternity, Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership) to welfare rights teams across Tayside, with financial gains identified of £1,519,501.  The average successful financial gain identified was (£3,608).   Feedback from the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP), NHS Tayside: “FNP Tayside has valued the welfare and health pathway.  Family Nurses have found this an easy referral system to use, which supports them to get the best information for their clients.  Clients mostly report that they are contacted quickly by the welfare rights service and that they feel supported through their welfare questions and queries”.
• Review of the Angus Mental Health and Wellbeing Network to increase coordination of services to support local people.
• Welfare Rights Service and NHS Tayside Health Visitors - Direct referrals for income maximisation checks and debt advice from NHS Health Visitors.  Health Visitors will include financial inclusion discussions at 4 interventions points (8 week post-natal / 13-15m / 27-30m and pre-school).
• An Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Children and Young People in Tayside 2021-2023 was launched informed by children and young people. 
• A £130 Low Income Pandemic Payment (LIPP) was paid to households in October 2021 who were either: in receipt of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) or were within agreed groups exempt from Council Tax or who have no liability.
• £520 paid in 2021 for each child in receipt of Free School Meals on the basis of low income. Payments were made quarterly aligning with the commencement of school holidays. This payment is due to continue for 2022.
• Child poverty and financial inclusion training was delivered by Public Health & Welfare Right Services across pre-birth and early years networks.
• Education & Lifelong Learning - Long Term Pupil Absence Free School Meal Provision – Head Teachers referred eligible families (who have a child off on long term absence) for a direct payment/supermarket voucher allocation.
• Poverty and Hardship Fund: a total of £12, 361.54 has been awarded to three families (£6983.05, £4076.44, £1302.05).  The most common debts have been Council Tax and Rent Arrears.
• New poverty task force group set up in NHS Tayside being led by workforce development.
• Health Visiting/ Family Nurse – Child Poverty & Financial Inclusion Training Session (over 150 people staff engaged).
• Members from TRIC Priority Group 1 – Support for Families (Welfare & Poverty) are actively contributing to a national e-learning module on Child Poverty. This is being led by Public Health Scotland.
• A Financial Wellbeing Coordinator has been appointed to oversee the Angus/Perth strand of the Poverty and Hardship Fund through the Aberlour project. 
• Dundee & Angus College have supported students who are in financial hardship. Funds are allocated to the College in discrete pots to distribute to students based on specific criteria.  The following funds were allocated to students in financial need in Academic Year 2021/22:

The above information relates to all students studying at Dundee & Angus College. The data is not available by Local Authority area.

*Other - includes providing support for fuel bills, increasing food costs, replacement of essential household equipment when it fails (cooker, microwave, washing machine, fridge), supporting vulnerable students get established in their own tenancies (out with what starter packs and essential grants provide), support where there has been flood/fire damage when students have no insurance, basic care repairs (burst tyre), winter clothing and shoes, bedding.

Case Study – Maximise Angus

Dedicated Financial Wellbeing staff were attached to schools to support staff with dealing with financial crisis intervention for families in need. This involved ensuring all entitlements are claimed, benefit decisions challenged where appropriate and debt advice and intervention given. Advice and support were also provided also for families with children who have additional support needs to ensure they are receiving appropriate disability payments, etc.

An initial five schools were selected to get the project up and running in a manageable way before then rolling out to other schools.  The schools were selected using various criteria including Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data and information from head teachers through a survey carried out at the start of term.  Even though we will be focussing on the selected schools initially there will still be access to Welfare Rights staff by other schools as referral pathways will be developed.  We did not focus heavily on the secondary schools to start with as there are already resource workers in those schools that we can link in with during the initial stages and such resource workers can contact the Welfare Rights staff as needed.   The plan is that we will embed staff in the school process, so they are attending induction meetings and other opportunities for parental engagement.  We will also provide key points of contact for school staff where they are already engaged with families experiencing financial hardship and crisis.    

One of the issues we found with engaging families in the school setting in the past is the term “welfare” being used by staff.  The plan is to change the emphasis on “welfare” and the stigma this often generates by changing the job titles of the staff to financial wellbeing practitioner and income maximisation adviser.  The project as a whole is titled Maximise Angus!  The focus will be on the staff working with individual schools to best adapt the service to the needs of that particular school.  Staff being a normal part of induction settings and parent’s evenings etc will “normalise” the idea of checking entitlements etc.  We also have a programme of school leaflets and literature linking in with school communications.

A dedicated mailbox and established referral pathways were place for all schools.  We will be monitoring closely throughout the project and will be recording financial outcomes such as financial gains, household composition etc. as well as case studies and softer outcomes.

Next: Looking Ahead 2023 - 2024