A new report published by the Improvement Service highlights evidence of continued progress in local approaches to tackling child poverty.
Local Action on Child Poverty: Insights from Year 7 LCPARs presents key findings from a review of all 32 2024/25 Local Child Poverty Action Reports (LCPARs), alongside insights gathered through feedback discussions with local child poverty leads from Local Authorities and relevant territorial Health Boards.
The report highlights emerging trends, examples of local practice, areas of progress and opportunities for improvement in local approaches to tackling child poverty. It is intended to support ongoing learning and improvement at both local and national levels.
Analysis of Year 7 reports shows that the overall direction of travel in local child poverty action reporting remains positive. There is evidence of year-on-year improvement across a range of thematic areas, including the use of data, consideration of priority groups, integration of lived experience, and consideration of child poverty as a cross-cutting systems challenge rather than a collection of individual interventions.
While progress remains uneven - with variation in the extent to which local areas effectively articulated the impact of their activity, particularly the long-term impact on families - the National Partners continue to provide improvement support at the hinge point between national and local need.
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The headline findings include:
- Year 7 marks a milestone in Local Child Poverty Action Reporting, with all 32 reports published within the timeframe for analysis.
- Local areas are increasingly taking a preventative and whole system approach to child poverty, continuing to extend activity beyond income maximisation and children’s services into wider policy areas such as housing, childcare and transport. However, reports vary in their ability to demonstrate how these interventions form part of a coherent preventative strategy linked to the three drivers of child poverty.
- The use of data and intelligence as a key enabler of change is playing a more prominent role in understanding local need and targeting support. While many local areas are investing in new datasets, dashboards and analytical tools, challenges remain in translating intelligence into strategic action and demonstrating impact.
- Consideration of the priority groups and the voice of lived experience continue to progress, with stronger examples emerging of targeted interventions and engagement approaches. However, the extent to which priority groups and lived experience are systematically embedded within strategic decision-making, service design and outcomes frameworks remains variable across local areas.
- Strong partnership working is widely recognised as an enabling condition of effective child poverty action. Most reports provide evidence of collaboration between partners, though opportunities remain to strengthen shared accountability and strategic coordination, including between local authorities and health boards.
- Year 7 reporting demonstrates a growing focus on outcomes and impact measurement with an increasing number of areas developing clearer outcomes frameworks and indicators, suggesting progress in local approaches to evaluation. However, demonstrating long-term change for families experiencing poverty, alongside stronger outcomes frameworks and clearer measures of progress towards those longer-term outcomes, remains a significant challenge.
- Feedback discussions revealed a number of persistent barriers to progress, including short-term funding arrangements, extensive reporting requirements, a complex policy landscape, difficulties measuring impact, and the need for greater recognition of rural and island realities.
- The overall direction of travel in reporting local action on child poverty remains positive. National Partners’ assessments suggest an increasing proportion of reports demonstrate stronger strategic thinking, use of evidence, partnership working, and consideration of child poverty as a cross-cutting system challenge rather than a collection of individual interventions.