As part of the Scottish Government funding to help bureaux mitigate the impact of Social Security changes, CAS commissioned an external researcher to carry out qualitative research to increase our understanding of:
- The main drivers of effective partnerships between bureaux and other organisations in reaching out to individuals
- The benefits to the organisations involved
- The added-value for clients supported.
The study also set out to capture the impact on individuals and the bureaux as a result of the changes to social security benefits and the roll out of Universal Credit.
The considerable input from ten bureaux, their partner organisations and a number of their clients helped to build a picture of the factors driving successful partnerships enabling greater access to the service and support for clients. Some of the main points highlighted include:
- Partnerships are seen by CAB Managers as vital and enable bureaux to get help quickly for clients;
- Outreach services are essential to access clients that are particularly vulnerable, but also seen as a way to make new partnerships and subsequently opening up more avenues to funding;
- Partners highlighted that working with bureaux enabled a more holistic service for their clients;
- Partners also said that by working with bureaux, they saw opportunities for joint funding and that innovative ideas are more likely to come to fruition;
- The report concluded that through partnerships, bureaux are able to combine their expert knowledge in how to support clients with other specialised services, creating greater reach and having a more positive impact on individuals and their communities.
Within the report, bureaux also highlighted some of the key issues arising for them from the Social Security changes.
The Executive Summary can be downloaded below. The full report is also available using the other downloads link below.
