Agenda Document Pack - Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee - 06/02/2026
North Lanarkshire Council · 6 February 2026
Back to Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee — 6 February 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Clerk Name: Karen Swan Clerk Telephone: 07919 730272 Clerk Email: committee@northlan.gov.uk 28 January 2026 Members of the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee Chief Executive’s Office Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell ML1 1AB www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk Notice is given that a Meeting of the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee is to be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB on Friday, 06 February 2026 at 10:00 AM which you are requested to attend. The agenda of business is attached. Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Members : C Costello, K Harmon, C Barclay, B Baudo, H Brannan-McVey, G Currie, F Fotheringham, W Goldie, H Gray, T Johnston, J Jones, P Kelly, J Keltie, A Khan, J Leckie, A McCrory, L Mitchell, L Nolan, P Patton, D Robb, L Stubbs, C Williams. Page 1 of 42
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Agenda 1 Declarations of Interest In Terms of the Ethical Standards In Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 2 Cash First Project Report 2026 Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) providing a final report and evaluation on the outcome of the Cash First Food Referral Gateway. 5 - 14 3 Challenge Poverty Week 2025 Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) outlining the background and themes underpinning Challenge Poverty Week. 15 - 42 Page 3 of 42
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref AG/JC/ACG Date 06/02/26 Cash First Project Report 2026 From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice) E-mail gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide a final report and evaluation on the outcome of the Cash First Food Referral Gateway – Interim Payments Project launched in November 2023 via Scottish Government funding, supplemented by funding provided by the council in relation to fuel poverty. The ethos behind North Lanarkshire’s well established Food Poverty Referral Gateway ‘Cash First Approach’ has always been that “no one is left without food” but also to reduce stigma and address underlying need through a focus also on income maximisation and wider supports. The North Lanarkshire wide project launched in December 2023 and ending in November 2025 sought to add value to and enhance work with a particular focus on enhancing the accessibility and bridging gaps in crisis support. Recommendations It is recommended that the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee: 1) Note the report and endorse the next steps as set out in paragraphs 2.36 - 2.40 The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work Resilient People Item 2 Page 5 of 42
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1. Background 1.1 The Scottish Government established a “Cash First Fund” in 2023, the Fund and the wider Cash First Programme were commitments made within Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland. This plan sets out the Scottish Government’s approach to tackling food poverty and insecurity and lays out the collaborative actions to improve the response to financial crisis and start to reduce the need for emergency food parcels. 1.2 Partnerships across Scotland were invited to bid for funding of up to £200,000 over two years to support innovation in this area, with the North Lanarkshire bid being one of the 8 successful bids. 1.3 The origins of the North Lanarkshire bid, came from feedback received from both residents and providers advising that a barrier to using the established referral pathway, where people were directed to accessing crisis grants was the delay in the decision making on these leaving a gap with respect to immediate need. 1.4 The bid was also informed by the information gathered from our Children and Young People via our Three Questions approach to engagement in schools which identified that food poverty remained a key issue for them and their communities. 1.5 The North Lanarkshire bid had three strands; • The first was to overcome the identified barrier to using the existing Food Referral Gateway, i.e. the potential 48 hours for a decision for a crisis grant • The second, to work with the foodbanks to promote a consistent method of recording foodbank usage; the demographic using foodbanks and the reasons why to support a better understanding of patterns of usage and inform the ongoing development of cash first solutions • The third strand was to work with internal services to identify the emergency payments across all services and the role they play in both intervention and prevention for people and families requiring more intense services. 1.6 The bid allowed for enhancement of the existing process aiming to ensure that no one was left without food, whilst waiting on the outcome of a crisis grant application, providing interim payments of £25 for a single person, £50 for couples/families and an additional payment of £15 if there was a baby reliant upon formula. The process however, also guaranteed that people would have access to income maximisation and money advice services to help provide more sustainable solutions to tackling food and fuel poverty. 1.7 The successful bid funded a welfare rights officer to take on the co-ordinating role of the project together with £100,000 of funding for interim payments. 1.8 Following the launch of the Cash First Project, the council identified funding from reserves to allow cash payments for fuel to be included and therefore enhancing the Referral Gateway provision. The additional funding allowed for a fuel payment of £49 to be paid to people experiencing fuel poverty. Page 6 of 42
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2. Report 2.1 The Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee were advised in February 2024 of the successful bid to the Scottish Government’s Cash First Funding and the purpose and strands of the project as outlined in para 1.5 above Setting Up the Project 2.2 The Tackling Poverty Team made the decision to identify a welfare rights officer from the existing establishment to carry out the role of co-ordinating the project and liaising with foodbanks, service users and all other stakeholders, and to backfill this post via advert. This decision meant that the person in the role would not only have a knowledge of the councils’ existing approach to tackling food poverty and inequality, but that there could be an immediate start, ensuring the North Lanarkshire Project did not experience the recruitment delays commonly associates with short-term funded projects. 2.3 The Project was initially set up for delivery within the First Point of Contact Team, based on the previous demand for assistance with food poverty referrals (14% of the overall referrals). It was felt that the Team would be able to continue delivering this service whilst still meeting the timescales set to deal with the general enquiries. 2.4 The first months of the project, however, saw the increase for urgent assistance rising from 14% of First Point of Contact referrals to 28% of all referrals. It was unclear, even following discussion with our foodbank partners, if the increase was due to knowledge of the project, the continuing cost of living crisis, or that it started in the height of winter/Christmas etc. Both the increased demand and our need for learning, informed the decision to form a small, dedicated team of two who would deal with all the cash first referrals. 2.5 The project funding did not support the recruitment of additional staff beyond the co- ordinating welfare rights officer, the Tackling Poverty Team, therefore, identified a welfare rights officer and an income maximiser from the existing First Point of Contact Team to be involved in the Cash First Project primarily with a view that in low demand times, they would be able to assist with the general team, however, this did not happen. The demand for the service was such that the general team of income maximisers and welfare rights officers had to regularly assist the Project Team to ensure that we could expedite referrals due to their urgency. This along with an increase in general demand levels subsequently had an impact on waiting times for people accessing the general First Point of Contact Team. 2.6 The Scottish Government funding was specifically in relation to food poverty, however very early on in the project initiation, the service identified that people were not only in food crisis but fuel crisis too, with no money for heating, or indeed to be able to cook food. 2.7 The local CABx were able to provide limited help in respect of fuel crisis via generic fuel cards, however, this was limited and required the person to go through further interview and assessment with them. In response the Council identified £100,000 from reserves earmarked for tackling poverty, with agreement from Committee that would this be utilised for people who had approached the Team for assistance with fuel. Page 7 of 42
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The Cash First Project – Interim Crisis Payments and Support 2.8 The Project launched in December 2023 and ended on 2nd November 2025, and during the two-year funding period, 3657 referrals were received for emergency food and fuel. 2.9 During this time 2375 benefit claims were made generating £3,343,883 in additional benefit income. In the last year of the project, more detailed data identified that in 2024/25 £409,352 was generated in disability benefits and £44,350 generated specifically in benefits related to children. 2.10 The Tackling Poverty Team also made 1396 interim payments to people who had presented in food crisis and made an application for a crisis grant. The interim payment ensured that the person had money for food/fuel whilst waiting on a decision for their claim. 2.11 Over the full two years of the Project, the value of interim payments made by the Tackling Poverty Team to people experiencing food crisis totalled £46,766. 2.12 A further 839 payments were made for those also experiencing fuel crisis, with £41,944 being paid to vulnerable residents across North Lanarkshire. 2.13 The Project experienced exceptionally high demand, requiring significant resources, with referrals peaking at 219 in January and May 2025, compared to 124 and 174 in the same months the previous year 2.14 The initial proposal for the Cash First Project was that referrals would be dealt with on the same day the person called in, always using a call back service to ensure the person did not meet any additional costs of calling the Service. 2.15 The level of calls and demand on the Service, however, meant that this was not always possible, a 3pm deadline was imposed, whereby any calls taken after 3pm would be advised that it may be the following day before anyone would return their call. 2.16 Overall this key element of the Cash First Project has proven successful, showing that with the increased accessibility of cash support through interim payments, income maximisation and money advice, there will be a decrease in demand for foodbanks. The approach however requires not only funding for the payments, but adequate staffing resource to provide the speed of response required to mitigate need, Demand Analysis – Interim Payments 2.17 As reflected above the focus on interim cash payments and crisis support was in part informed gathered from local children and young people via the Three Questions approach which highlighted that food poverty was seen as an issue not just for themselves but for others in the community. This together with anecdotal evidence and media coverage around families using foodbanks being on the rise, led to an expectation that the demand for this service may come primarily from Child Poverty Priority Groups: lone parents, mothers under 25, families with 3 or more children, families with a child under 1, families where a member of the household is disabled and minority ethnic families. 2.18 The information gathered around those accessing assistance for both food and /or fuel from the Project, however, showed the majority of demand arising from a different demographic; Page 8 of 42
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Demographic Percentage of People Using the Service Lone Parents 14.79% Mothers under 25 0.36% Families with 3 or more children 3.06% Families where a member of the household is disabled 5.66% Minority Ethnic Families 0.27% Other Users 74.87% 2.19 The Project was able to identify that those not falling into the priority groups were predominantly working age single adults, with the majority being male – this is in line with the data available from the foodbanks, who also show that the largest demographic using the foodbanks were male. 2.20 In view of this the Tackling Poverty Team facilitated a meeting with emergency food providers and referring agencies such as social work, health and housing, to explore this issue further with the aim also of ensuring that people have access to welfare rights services to challenge sanction decisions and to provide advice on claimant commitments, as well as provide budgeting and financial education. 2.21 The main recorded reason individuals provided for needing assistance was that they had spent money or had budgeting issues. Everyone accessing the service was offered not only a benefit check but also asked if they would require assistance with budgeting and money advice. The take up for this element of support however was low. Recording Consistency Within Foodbanks 2.22 The Project funded welfare rights officer was responsible for collaborating with foodbanks across North Lanarkshire and implementing a standardised recording system. This approach aimed to provide accurate data on foodbank usage, including user demographics, reasons for access, and frequency of visits. 2.23 The welfare rights officer identified 19 emergency food providers across North Lanarkshire. The foodbanks varied from those having long established connections with the council via the Food Poverty and Insecurity Group to others having no contact, with some stating they did not wish to engage with the process. 2.24 The welfare rights officer collaborated with those foodbanks who did engage to develop a recording template designed to capture foodbank usage without creating an undue administrative burden, this was introduced across the foodbanks in July 2024. 2.25 Over the lifespan of the Project, the welfare Rights Officer, held over 60 meetings with foodbanks. This involved setting themselves up in foodbanks willing to engage with the project and to provide support for recording. We also continue to hold our own Food Poverty and Insecurity Group meetings every 8-10 weeks for all partners. 2.26 At most for one quarter we had 10 foodbanks who provided data, but this did vary every quarter as Foodbanks did not consistently complete the recording template, leaving gaps in demographic and priority group information. The sole reliable metric has been the number of foodbank users, demonstrating the influence of the Cash First Project on reducing reliance. Page 9 of 42
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Quarter Data Quarter 3 2024/25 Quarter 4 2024/25 Quarter 1 2025/26 Quarter 2 2025/26 Quarter 3 2025/26 No of Foodbanks providing Data 5 6 10 7 2* No of people using foodbanks 3919 4346 2291 2101 1646 2.27 Excluding data for quarter 3 in 2025/26 for which only two returns were received, the limited data that has been recorded appears to show the number of people using foodbanks declining in the previous two quarters, over a period where the numbers accessing the Tackling Poverty Team were steadily rising. Some caution however requires to be applied to interpretation given the variance in returns, Costs and Benefits of Interim Payments/Cash First Project 2.28 The projected spend for cash payments from the Scottish Government did not reach the level outlined in the bid and this money has therefore not been drawn down. 2.29 The funding from the Council in relation to fuel payments to tackle poverty in our communities also remains underspent leaving the surplus available 2.30 Whilst not all the initial funds earmarked for the project were spent, individuals and families did benefit directly from the £88,710 total interim payments made at points of crisis. As importantly, people were assisted with sustainable solutions by ensuring income maximisation had taken place, with over £3.3 million in additional benefit income generated, and people were also directed to money and debt advice services. 2.31 The Tackling Poverty Team also produced a survey supporting impact evaluation of from the perspective of those seeking assistance for food and fuel. Whilst the response rate was low, the findings from this were encouraging. 2.32 We asked people on a scale of 1 to 5 how concerned they were before and after contacting ourselves (with 5 being the highest concern). An average score of 4.17 was recorded as the level of concern before the received help with this dropping to 2.96 once help had been provided. 2.33 85% of those who replied felt that the support they had been given through the Project had made a positive difference to them. Internal Directory of Emergency Payments 2.34 The welfare rights officer worked with services across the council identifying emergency payments which may be available to the residents linked both to the exercise of statutory responsibilities and discretionary support funds. 2.35 A digital directory of payments is now available identifying the payment and the criteria for accessing this. The directory can be found at; https://northlanarkshire.pagetiger.com/copy-directory-of-emergency-and- discretionary-payments/1 Page 10 of 42
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Next Steps 2.36 The learning from the Project will support a refresh and refocus our approach to tackling food poverty and inequality. 2.37 The Food Poverty and Insecurity Sub-Group will continue where possible to work with the emergency food providers around the development and implementation of a robust recording system. 2.38 Learning from the Cash First approach has been adopted within our approach to Early Family Support, where we have embedding advice on income maximisation and reducing the cost-of-living into the heart of delivery and where Fairer Futures funding is supporting the use of small direct payments to support preventative interventions. 2.39 The Directory will be embedded into the Poverty Awareness sessions delivered to staff and partners, promoting the policy of cash first in our approach to tackling poverty and inequality in our communities and a more integrated approach across services. 2.40 The capacity also to continue any form of the project’s interim payments scheme is uncertain and would be subject to further consideration of the benefits, targeting and potential to adapt wider systems as well as staffing and financial resources. This will be considered in line with the development of the refreshed Tackling Poverty Strategy. 3. Measures of success 3.1 In line with the Programme of Work Deliverables – Map and enhance existing cash first and direct payments initiatives through establishment of a supporting framework aligned with family support principles to reduce stigma and empower families and frontline workforce to tailor solutions to need. 3.2 In line with the Scottish Government Bid – Improve urgent local access to emergency income when someone has no money for food and welfare rights and income maximisation advice and support to present future hardship. 3.3 In line with the Scottish Government Bid – Develop evidence that can inform future policy and practice to improve the response to crisis and reduce the need for emergency food. 3.4 In line with the Scottish Government Bid – Facilitate mutual learning between Partnerships involved in the programme. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 N/A Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer Page 11 of 42
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The work reflected in this report is fully aligned with the requirements of the Fairer Scotland Duty, its purpose being to reduce the inequalities caused by socio economic disadvantage. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 12 of 42
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Tackling Poverty has been identified as a Corporate Risk, with the Chief Social Work Officer as the risk lead. Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire - Tackling Poverty Strategy sets out a planned approach which seeks to eliminate poverty or make very significant reductions in the level of poverty resulting in benefit to the residents and including improvement in the overall level of health and wellbeing of communities. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Page 13 of 42
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5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Children and young people’s right to be heard informed the set-up of the project which addressed also (26) the right of families to financial support to help meet a child needs where required. As reported in terms of demand only 25% of direct support requests came from priority family groups. This will inform the development and CRWIA of any future projects in this area If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 14 of 42
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG/JC/AC Date 06/02/26 Challenge Poverty Week 2025 From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice) E-mail gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 1. Background 1.1 Challenge Poverty Week has been co-ordinated by the Poverty Alliance for 13 years with North Lanarkshire Council first taking part in 2019. The Council’s participation in Challenge Poverty Week 2025 presented an important opportunity to highlight the injustice of poverty in Scotland, and to show that collective action based on justice and compassion can create solutions. Executive Summary North Lanarkshire Council, took part, in this year’s Challenge Poverty Week for the sixth consecutive year. The Event which took place from 6th to 12th October 2025 is coordinated by the Poverty Alliance and is an opportunity to raise a collective voice against poverty and to highlight actions to address poverty for our communities in North Lanarkshire. This report outlines the background and themes underpinning Challenge Poverty Week together with the activities and messaging undertaken by the Council and its partners during the week and links to our wider Tackling Poverty Strategy and actions. Recommendations It is recommended that the Tackling Poverty Committee: (1) Note the content of the report and the intention to incorporate analysis and feedback into our ongoing Tackling Poverty Actions. (2) Endorse the Council’s future participation in Challenge Poverty Week. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (11) Increase economic opportunities for adults by understanding, identifying, and addressing the causes of poverty and deprivation and barriers to financial inclusion Programme of Work Resilient People Item 3 Page 15 of 42
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1.2 In common with previous years the aim of the week was to: • To raise a unified voice against poverty and show that we all want to live in a more just and equal Scotland. • To build awareness of and support solutions to poverty. • To change the conversation around poverty and help end the stigma of living on a low income. 1.3 The themes for the week were as follows: Appendix 3 • Social Security – Building a foundation for a better life • Better jobs, pay, hours, conditions and worker voice • Better investment in life’s essentials • Better investment in our communities • Warm Homes, green travel, safe climate • Time for reflection 1.4 Local Activity was overseen by the Tackling Poverty Officers Action Group which established a subgroup to plan, prepare and deliver Council and Partner events for Challenge Poverty Week 2025. 2. Report 2.1 The Challenge Poverty Week Sub-Group identified leads for each theme and global messages were finalised for release on each day. Messaging featured animations on some of the themes, including a focus on income maximisation and challenging unfavourable benefit decisions. A programme was devised for the week involving a mixture of activities which residents, NHSL and council staff along with other community planning partners could attend online or in person. The programme is attached for information at Appendix 1. 2.2 The programme was published on the council’s website with a linked social media campaign prior to and during Challenge Poverty Week. Gov Delivery bulletins were also issued to a variety of subscribers to Benefits and Money news in Airdrie, Bellshill, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and villages, Motherwell, Northern corridor, Shotts & Wishaw. Delivery metrics confirm the total sent as 13,954 with 13,527 delivered and a total opened of 3,005, with total clicks a relatively low 183 (1%) 2.2.1 Promoting a continued focus on this area the Council also published the latest annual Local Child Poverty Action Report, approved at the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 31st October 2025, following Challenge Poverty Week. 2.2.2 An analysis of local engagement during the week, is detailed in Appendix 2 which highlights the impressions and hits via the daily messages issued on the Councils social media feeds. On NLCpeople Facebook page the highest views were for Benefits Advice (34,033 views) and Challenge Poverty Week/ local events (32,963 views). A small budget of £200 was accessed to improve social media reach with these two posts selected for promotion, therefore higher views for these two posts was expected. The Facebook post introducing the campaign and sign posting to local events was the top performer with 132 engagements. On Mytown Facebook channel the top post for views and engagement was by far Coatbridge Community Fridge (15, 049 views and 147 engagements) with most other posts receiving between 1000 and 2000 views and up to approximately 30 engagements. 2.3 Appendix 2 analysis also the impact of the use of the ‘My Town Channels’ to publicise local events in each locality area aimed at making these more relevant and accessible for local residents. This highlights that in total there was an Increase of 349% in engagement (likes, shares and comments) on these channels over the previous year (from 57 engagements in 2024 to 256 engagements in 2025. 2.4 A broad range of events ran over the week as detailed in the programme with a number of those and associated participation levels highlighted below. 2.5 Messaging around the Social Security theme focussed on migration from Universal Credit and the importance of reaching out for assistance. A drop-in session at Houldsworth Centre in Wishaw offered Page 16 of 42
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benefits checks and help to challenge unfavourable decisions and was attended by 30 members of the public. 2.6 North Lanarkshire federation of tenants and residents provided an engaging “Food for thought – life essentials” session providing practical tools and information to make housing costs more manageable. 12 tenants attended. 2.7 Citizen Advice Bureaux across North Lanarkshire encouraged members of the public interested in volunteering to drop into volunteering open days at their local bureau to find out more information about the role. 8 new volunteers were recruited and 25 people were able to access support from CAB after approaching an information stall in a local supermarket. 2.8 A number of events were also linked to ongoing activity to support Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) with Coatbridge Mental Health/Tackling Poverty and Inequalities LOIP Subgroup organising a Community Drop-in Event at Millbrae and Glen Court tower blocks in Coatbridge through which 19 residents attended and engaged with services including Routes to Work, The Wise Group, Home Energy Scotland and Sum It Up. Motherwell LOIP Poverty Subgroup held an event ‘Connect and Thrive’ at the Marantha Centre in Motherwell on 9th October, an overview of which is outlined in Appendix 4. 2.9 NHS Lanarkshire offered staff two “Tackling Poverty: Everyone’s business” awareness sessions and the Tobacco Control Team offered training on the financial benefits of quitting, to staff dealing with people experiencing financial difficulties. This was attended by 8 staff, an overview is also outlined in Appendix 4. 2.10 The Community Learning & Development Team hosted a range of events where the focus was on supports with money management. Most were well attended with an additional 12 people attending Decimal Dynamos, raising the profile of the group and generating more referrals to the team. Additionally, 22 attendees at the Men’s Space 14 in the Digital Employability Group at Chapelside Centre Airdrie received help from Sum it Up project staff on making digital services more accessible. 2.11 Bellshill Health Improvement Team in partnership with Bellshill Salvation Army held a chat café during a local foodbank opening hours, eight organisation offered information and advice ensuring a holistic view to tackling poverty and improving wellbeing. The informal café style of the event worked well, it allowed people to grab a cuppa and chat firstly with Health Improvement Team who then passed them on to the most appropriate service. Around 15 local people attended in total, all received a copy of the Money Worries Leaflet with a supportive conversation about money and other support. One person attended having had some adverse health issues meaning it was looking increasingly likely they would have to give up work. The person received a wellbeing hand massage from Community Action Newarthill and was supported with income maximisation advice which provided them with the information needed to decide to remain in work. Next Steps 2.12 Challenge Poverty Week provides an important opportunity to highlight the impact of Poverty within our communities and start a conversation about how we can change this. Events and Messaging help us gauge what our residents require help with and the best way to deliver this. However long established and repeat campaigns such as Challenge Poverty Week can result in audience fatigue. To prevent this, in future it is hoped that a poll could be conducted over social media to determine the direction of the campaign to best meet local resident’s needs. The Tackling Poverty Officer Action Group including colleagues from communications team analyse and review the impact and levels of engagement with messaging and events held over the week and integrate learning into both our ongoing Tackling Poverty work, Tackling Poverty Strategy and the planning of future local activity for Challenge Poverty Week 2025. Page 17 of 42
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3. Measures of success 3.1 The delivery of the planned activity and social media messages, incorporation of views from residents, council services and partners to shape the continuing development of the Council’s Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire Tackling Poverty Strategy. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Challenge Poverty Week 2025 Programme 4.2 Appendix 2 – Challenge Poverty Week 2025 Analysis 4.3 Appendix 3 – Challenge Poverty Week 2025 Themes of the Week (Poverty Alliance) 4.4 Appendix 4 NHSL CPW 2025 Flash Report Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer Page 18 of 42
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Challenge Poverty Week is fully aligned with the requirements of the Fairer Scotland Duty, its purpose being to reduce the inequalities caused by socio economic disadvantage. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer-scotland- duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e-mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Page 19 of 42
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Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Tackling Poverty Officers Action Group Sub Group developed a Communications Plan (Global Messages/Events) with Corporate Communications. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Tackling Poverty has been identified as a Corporate Risk, with the Chief Social Work Officer as the risk lead. Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire - Tackling Poverty Strategy sets out a planned approach which seeks to eliminate poverty or make very significant reductions in the level of poverty resulting in benefit to the residents and including improvement in the overall level of health and wellbeing of communities. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex-Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ Page 20 of 42
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Whilst the report reflects activity which impacts on children’s rights this set within the framework of the Council’s wider Tackling Poverty Strategy. Further detail on our engagement with children and young people and its relevance to UNCRC is included within the Local Child Poverty Action Report 2024/25 and a CRWIA will be completed in line with the development of a refreshed Tackling Poverty Strategy later this yeat. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 21 of 42
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Appendix 1 CHALLENGE POVERTY WEEK 2025 – PROGRAMME OF EVENTS #ChallengePovertyWeekWeDemandBetter MONDAY 6TH – SUNDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2025 Page 22 of 42
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13 Appendix 2 Challenge Poverty Week Report 2025 Campaign focus: The campaign week focussed on daily themes and the support and advice available to support families in line with these. Objectives: • Share information about advice and support available to help families struggling with income or money worries. • Organise and host a series of local events in partnership with other services and voluntary organisations. • Build awareness and support for practical solutions that help tackle poverty. • Change the conversation around poverty – challenge stereotypes and reduce the stigma associated with low income. Campaign strategy: • Planning group met weekly to discuss and agree communications in line with daily themes. • Web/ media: Announcement image on web home page to promote local events. NLC press release issued. • Online: Main NLCPeople Facebook page and MyTown channels, all users email to staff, gov delivery email to all council news and benefits & money subscirbers. • Budget: £300 budget allocated to Spirit Media to promote the Team and the local events on Facebook/ Instagram Gov Delivery email communications • Gov Delivery bulletins were also issued to a variety of subscribers of Council News • Delivery metrics – total sent: 13,954, delivered: 13,527 • Bulletin analytics – total opens: 3,005, total clicks: 183 (1%) • NLC average open rate is 38% and average click rate is 2%. Recommendations to consider: • Dedicated budget to help with targeted advertising • Be more selective around national campaign/ daily themes. Consider fewer more targeted posts to decrease audience fatigue e.g. overexposure to similar content, themes, formats, similar annual messaging). MyTown content worked well in comparison to a drop in engagement in global messaging on the NLC people channel. • Prioritise communications around local services/ projects (the posts related to local services and tangible support were engaged with the most – more appealing to residents). • More interactive content/ create better visuals (local images, videos in advance). “Real voices” - short clips showing local residents/ community groups success stories. • Consider other channels e.g. Tik Tok, Instagram • Undertake community consultation to identify priorities from Tackling Poverty/ Local Child Poverty Action Reports. • Day in the life posts: show how we have helped real people in North Lanarkshire • Develop measure of success/ impact and record demand following consultation. • Book photographer or take photos at events (for use in social media and future campaigns). Page 27 of 42
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14 NLC People (Facebook): Views (the number of times the post is viewed, or the number of times a reel or video is played or displayed on a screen). -90p Highest views: • Employment Support Allowance: 34,033 views (paid for advertising - £100). • Challenge Poverty Week/ local events: 32,963 (paid for advertising - £100). • Appeals: 30,272 (paid for advertising - £100). Moderate views: • Additional income 55m/ how team can help: 17,985 • Thinking about starting a business: 14,066 Lower views: • Remaining posts range between 2,259 and 5,313 views Page 28 of 42
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15 Facebook NLC People: Engagements (likes, comments and shares per post) Highest engagement: • Top performer: Challenge Poverty Week post introducing campaign/sign posting to local events had 132 engagements, the top performer. (also paid for advertising - £100). • Additional income generated 55m/ how team can help: closely followed with 111 engagements Moderate engagement: • Appeals/benefit check: 52 engagements (also paid for advertising - £100) • ESA migration/ how the team can help (also paid for advertising - £100): 49 engagements. • Thinking about starting a business (18) and Working For Families (14) were in the mid- range. Lower engagement: • Posts like The Hive (7), free bus travel (6), active travel/ energy efficiency tips (5), help with fuel bills 4), sum it up (4), and stopping smoking (13) had low engagement. • Free period products were the lowest with just 2 engagements. Page 29 of 42
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16 NLC People: Engagement rate is the number of engagements (reactions, comments and shares) divided by the number of views. Highest engagement rate: • Additional income £55m/ how team can help: 0.6% (highest, meets average line) • Volunteers (VanL): 0.4% • Working For Families: 0.4% • Challenge Poverty Week/ Local events: 0.4% • Sum it Up: 0.3% • Stop smoking: 0.3% Moderate engagement rate: • The Hive: 0.2% • ESA migration/ how the team can help: 0.2% • Appeals/benefit check: 0.2% • Volunteer NL: 0.2% • Active travel/ energy efficiency tips: 0.2% • North Lanarkshire’s Working: 0.2% Lowest engagement rate: • Remaining posts had a lower engagement rate of 1% Page 30 of 42
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17 MyTown (Facebook): Views (the number of times the post is viewed, or the number of times a reel or video is played or displayed on a screen). Highest views: • Community Fridge (C’bridge): 15,049 views (by far the highest). • Eco Event (Airdrie): 2,960 views (slightly above average). • Employability (Airdrie): 2,338 views (close to average). • Manorview (C’bridge): 2,086 views (just below average). Moderate views: • Most other posts range between 1,000 and 2,000 views, including Citizens Advice, Benefits, CAB Open Days, Sum It Up, Wellbeing, etc. Low Performance • Several posts have under 1,000 views, such as Skills (various towns), Benefits (various towns), and some Open Day posts. Page 31 of 42
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18 MyTown (Facebook): Engagements (likes, comments and shares per post) Page 32 of 42
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19 Highest engagement: • Community Fridge: 147 engagements (by far the highest). • Bear Necessities: 27 engagements (second highest). • Uniform Bank: 16 engagements. • Community Group: 16 engagements. Moderate Engagement: • Men’s Space: 14 engagements. • Eco Event: 14 engagements. • Manorview: 14 engagements. • 3/10 Citizens Advice: 14 engagements. • 4/10 Employability: 14 engagements. Low Engagement • Most other posts range between 1 and 11 engagements, including topics like Skills, Citizens Advice, benefits, open days, sum it up, wellbeing, etc. Page 33 of 42
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20 MyTown (Facebook): Engagement rate is the number of engagements (reactions, comments and shares) divided by the number of views. Page 34 of 42
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21 Highest engagement rate: • Citizens Advice (Shotts): 1.4 (highest by far). • Citizens Advice (Bh’ill): 0.8. • Benefits (Bh’ill): 0.8. • Skills (Bh’ill): 0.8. • Benefits (M’well): 0.8. • Skills (Shotts): 0.8. These posts achieved exceptional engagement relative to their views. Moderate Engagement • Bear Necessities (Airdrie): 0.8. • Community Fridge (C’bridge): 0.8. • Uniform Bank (Airdrie): 0.8. • Community Group (C’bridge): 0.8. • Several Open Day posts and Eco Event posts range between 0.4–0.6, which is close to or slightly below average. Low Engagement • Posts like Employability (Airdrie) and some Citizens Advice (C’bridge) are below 0.4, indicating weaker interaction. • Several Open Day posts and Eco Event posts range between 0.4–0.6, which is close to or slightly below average. Page 35 of 42
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22 Engagement rate is the number of engagements (reactions, comments and shares) divided by the number of views. Key Figures • nlcpeople 2024: 1.2 • nlcpeople 2025: 0.3 → Slight drop in engagement for nlcpeople • My Town 2024: 2.0 • My Town 2025: 0.4 → Decline for My Town Page 36 of 42
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23 Engagements (likes, comments and shares per post) nlcpeople account: • 2024: 971 engagements • 2025: 480 engagements • Drop of about 49%. My Town account: • 2024: 57 engagements • 2025: 256 engagements • Increase of about 349%. Key insights: • MyTown content in 2025 worked well whilst the nlcpeople audience might be fatigued or less responsive. Page 37 of 42
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24 Key points: • “Challenge Poverty Week 2025” (dark blue line) had by far the highest number of views, peaking twice—around 30 September and 6 October, with the second peak reaching close to 500 views. • All other webpages (such as Welfare rights services, 60+ card, young persons’ free bus travel, etc.) remained relatively low and stable throughout, typically below 50 views per day. • No other page showed major changes in activity during or after the campaign. Page 38 of 42
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25 Appendix 3 Challenge Poverty Week Themes Page 39 of 42
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26 Appendix 4 Page 40 of 42
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27 Page 41 of 42
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