Background
The Improvement Service and West Lothian Council have been working in partnership to develop and deliver a project using data to identify areas of unmet need. The purpose of the project is to address the persistent challenge of child poverty by making better use of local data to identify areas where people, particularly families, are not receiving the entitlements and support they are entitled to. By using these findings, the project aims to inform focused interventions to maximise uptake, improve income, and reduce poverty rates. The initiative is a partnership between West Lothian Council and the Improvement Service, which is funded through the Child Poverty Accelerator Fund.
Project Overview
The project is structured around four key stages:
- Discover – scoping data and learning from others
The first stage involves identifying and accessing council datasets relevant to child poverty. This includes information on free school meals, clothing grants, housing benefit, Universal Credit, foodbank usage, and advice services. In addition, we are scoping data and dashboards being used by other local authorities. The goal is to build an evidence base and understand what works in presenting and analysing these data. - Define – dashboard development
A dashboard will be developed which will integrate the data and learning from phase 1 to allow West Lothian and partners to interrogate their data and identify areas of unmet need. - Develop – turning data into action
The IS will support West Lothian to make use of the analysis in the dashboard and turn the insights into action. West Lothian are already taking steps to deliver interventions in areas identified as having unmet need. As part of this work we will record interventions, understand “what works”, and develop case studies. - Deliver – scaling and adapting
We will work with a small number of other local authorities to explore whether the same or similar data can be accessed. We will also deliver a dashboard for these councils and explore how we can share the learning from work in West Lothian to apply the findings.
Progress and Next Steps
The project has successfully integrated a range of new datasets and developed a working version of the dashboard, which is already informing local action. The next steps include refining the dashboard, expanding data sources, and sharing learning with other councils across Scotland. Updates on progress will be shared periodically through the IS website and newsletters. The project is due to conclude in March 2026.
Contact: Nick Cassidy