Category

• Emerging Local Practice

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Poverty impact

• Prevention
• Reduction

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Poverty driver

• Increase income from benefits

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Keywords

• Research, Data and Evaluation
• Digital and Technology
• Child Poverty

Aim

The aim of the project is to publish a Child Poverty Index (CPI) for West Lothian which can be used by services to target activity to areas that need it the most.

Summary

The Child Poverty Index (CPI) is designed to provide additional insight into child poverty in the West Lothian Council (WLC) area. Specific data on the different types of poverty is limited and most services tend to rely solely on SIMD data which lacks specificity. The CPI was originally developed by the Scottish Borders Council and is now being undertaking in WLC as part of a national pilot scheme with the Improvement Service (IS). By utilising data from partners, WLC will be able to provide a more comprehensive picture of gaps and identify areas of low and high uptake of benefits.

What difference does it make?

The project has produced an up-to-date CPI incorporating all available data. WLC have been able to identify data zones with both higher and lower levels of education benefit uptake throughout West Lothian. For example, 4 data zones had lower than predicted rates of School Clothing Grant take-up and 9 data zones with higher than predicted take-up. 6 data zones had lower than predicted rates of Free School Meals take-up and 6 data zones with higher than predicted take-up. 2 data zones had lower than predicted rates of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) take up and 7 data zones with higher than predicted take up. This information has allowed WLC to make an informed decision on where they could carry out targeted door-knocking to support residents and inform where additional outreach provision might be a worthwhile option.

Key take-aways

• Coordination and working in partnership are key to the success of a project like this
• As there were numerous people involved in collecting data, it’s important to keep on track with each partner and what they are doing to ensure it can be moved to the next stage
• Regular meetings and catch-ups are important to monitor progress

 

Organisations

West Lothian Council, Economic Development & Improvement Service.

Location

West Lothian.

Contact