West Dunbartonshire experiences some of the highest levels of socio-economic deprivation in Scotland, with many families facing persistent poverty and its associated impacts on housing, education, health and wellbeing. In response to these challenges, West Dunbartonshire Council recognised the need for a more structured and collective reflection on how effectively local systems were addressing child poverty.
The local child poverty self-assessment was initiated as a way to strengthen strategic coordination across services and ensure that local planning was firmly grounded in evidence and lived experience. The Improvement Service provided support to partners, helping to frame the purpose of the Child Poverty Self-Assessment Tool and facilitating early discussions. This input positioned the exercise as a developmental process focused on improvement and learning.
The process brought together representatives from across council services, including children’s services, housing, employability and economic development, alongside NHS partners, third sector organisations and the Family Prosperity Network. Importantly, with support from the Poverty Alliance, it sought to incorporate the perspectives of families with lived experience of poverty to ensure that strategic reflection was informed by everyday realities.
Rational for the Self-Assessment and the Process
The partnership recognised that while significant activity was already underway to tackle child poverty, there was a need to step back and assess how well these efforts were aligned, coordinated and delivering impact. The self-assessment process encouraged partners to consider the wider system and reflect on:
- how well local need was understood;
- whether policy and resources were aligned to priority groups;
- what evidence existed regarding impact; and
- how effectively partners were working together.
Structured workshops using the self-assessment framework created space for honest and constructive dialogue. Partners reflected on strengths, such as strong income maximisation activity, while also identifying areas requiring improvement, including the need for clearer outcome measures and more systematic feedback loops.
Outcomes
The self-assessment has had both strategic and practical impacts. It strengthened the shared understanding of child poverty across partners and improved alignment between services and priorities. By bringing data and lived experience together, it enhanced the local evidence base and supported more informed decision-making.
The process also contributed to clearer governance arrangements. The Family Prosperity Network now provides a more coherent mechanism for monitoring progress, coordinating thematic workstreams and linking operational activity to strategic oversight. Findings from the self-assessment have informed Local Child Poverty Action Reports and wider improvement planning.
Perhaps most significantly, the self-assessment fostered a culture of reflective practice. It created space for partners to examine assumptions, challenge fragmentation and recognise the importance of coordinated, preventative approaches. This cultural shift, towards collective ownership and continuous improvement, is likely to have lasting value beyond the immediate outputs of the assessment itself.
Further information
SPIRU Tackling Poverty Locally Directory
If you have any questions regarding the process in West Dunbartonshire, please contact Stephen Brooks
If you would like to learn more about the self-assessment process, please contact Child.Poverty@improvementservice.org.uk
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