How it is embedding a whole-family approach across education, childcare and wellbeing services, in response to evidence suggesting that pov…

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring families can access the support they need. Support that is joined up, easy to navigate, and shaped around the needs of the whole family. Since 2022, we’ve invested over £154.5 million through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme to support local areas transform holistic whole family support.Our Third Tackling Child Poverty Delivering Plan, Bringing Hope, Building Futures, places whole family support at the heart of our approach. In 2026-27 this includes:£50 million through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme to continue the transformation of local whole family support;£15 million (per year) of baselined funding to local authorities for community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families;£6 million through the Fairer Futures Partnership programme to further test and embed improved delivery of holistic support for families in or at risk of poverty;£1.9 million across 2026-2028 through our Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund to strengthen approaches to child poverty; and£20 million through a new Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund to provide more support that wraps around families in their communities, making connections to public services and helping to break the cycle of poverty.These measures are complemented by £15 million through the Childcare Support Fund, for short-term, flexible childcare support to help low-income families manage the cost of childcare and overcome barriers to employment, training and learning. In addition, the significant investment through the Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Funding, is working collaboratively across a range of local services and partners to best meet the needs of pupils and their families impacted by poverty.Looking ahead we are bringing together the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme, Fairer Futures Partnerships, and the Whole Family Support Early Adopter areas into one integrated system change programme from April 2027. This will streamline and strengthen our approach to systems change, providing a clear offer to local areas that supports the implementation of whole family approaches that best meet the needs of local communities.