PUBLICATION: Evaluation of Clackmannanshire’s Family Wellbeing Partnership (FWP), commissioned by the Scottish Government.
Today, the Scottish Government published Horizons Research’s evaluation of the Clackmannanshire’s Family Wellbeing Partnership (FWP), covering the period from 2020 to 2024.
The FWP shows what’s possible when collaboration, values-based leadership and person-centred approaches drive service delivery. The report highlights practical learning and emerging impacts for families, practitioners and systems alike.
Please take a look at the main report or the summary report to find out more.
The evaluation has found that the FWP has supported activities and developments designed to improve the wellbeing of local communities and to tackle child poverty. The four workstreams analysed as part of this project encompassed a diverse range of projects which helped a wide range of families in Clackmannanshire in relation to a variety of outcomes. This ranged from:
- the employability skills and confidence-building activities for job-seekers in the Enhancing Employability workstream;
- to the strengthening of relationships between young people, parents and carers, school staff and the wider community through the CATS workstream;
- the development of an inclusive and flexible childcare system through CWP;
- and the provision of proactive and coordinated services for families at risk of crisis through STRIVE.
A complex system in motion: Clackmannanshire’s Family Wellbeing Partnership
Horizons approached the evaluation through a complex systems lens, examining the underlying conditions that shaped the FWP’s evolution. What began as a set of interconnected programme activities in 2020 developed into a dynamic environment that, by 2024, enabled joined-up, interdependent action across the wider system. The report shows that the FWP became a catalyst for system change.
Rather than trying to simplify the complexity of people’s lives and local services, it worked with that complexity, creating space for learning, adaptation, and deeper trust.
Six key enablers stood out in the evaluation as critical to this shift:
- Trust-building with families
- System leadership behaviours rooted in reflection, openness, and collaboration
- Reimagining service delivery around prevention and relationships
- Collaborative governance based on shared accountability
- Data and feedback loops that support learning, not just performance
- Communication and adaptive innovation as cultural norms
What emerged was not a fixed model or blueprint, but a living system – one in which practitioners were trusted to respond, adapt, and co-create with communities. This approach offers powerful learning for anyone seeking meaningful, system-wide change in public services.
“When the system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.”
— Ilya Prigogine
The overarching Scottish Government’s Fairer Futures Evaluation Strategy aims to better understand: (i) How to achieve transformational and sustainable change in the delivery of family support; (ii) What approaches are effective and sustainable in different local contexts; and (iii) What are the impacts of the approaches being taken for families, communities, public services staff and wider support systems.
As part of the Fairer Futures evaluation journey, the Horizons Research report offers vital lessons for policymakers designing initiatives that aim to transform how public services work – especially in complex, real-world settings.
Rather than prescribing a fixed model, the FWP created the conditions for joined-up, adaptive, and community-led working. Horizons’ evaluation identified eight key factors that helped support progress in Clackmannanshire – factors which can inform policy and system design across Scotland and beyond:
1. Governance that enables, not controls
A wide-ranging governance model brought together national and local government, communities, the third sector and philanthropy. It enabled experimentation, shared purpose, and aligned policy frameworks – supporting integration of services, budgets, and outcomes.
2. Long-term, flexible funding
Sustainable transformation requires stable, pooled, and adaptable funding. The FWP model benefited from cross-sector investment under unified plans – reducing bureaucracy and enabling responsiveness. The 2025 Clackmannanshire Transformation Space builds on this by deepening community control over pooled funding.
3. Rooted in place
The FWP was grounded in local context – tailored to Clackmannanshire’s relationships, needs, and assets. Co-designed in and with communities, it showed that services gain traction when they are not just accessible, but meaningful.
4. Collaborative leadership and frontline empowerment
Breaking down silos required not just structural shifts, but values-driven leadership. Joint training, shared monitoring frameworks, and investment in staff enabled more responsive, multidisciplinary service delivery.
5. Deep and ongoing family engagement
Families were not just consulted – they were engaged continuously in shaping decisions. Power was shared over time, with trust built through repeated, respectful encounters. This ongoing engagement proved essential to legitimacy and impact.
6. Co-design and empowerment in action
Practitioners were encouraged to listen deeply, build relationships, and make decisions in context. This “daisy chain” approach enabled families to access a web of services – often ones they hadn’t known existed – while professionals felt trusted and free to innovate.
7. Communication and shared vision
Real-time storytelling helped share progress, sustain momentum, and build system-wide optimism. A clear, shared vision – paired with permission to adapt – allowed the system to move forward in uncertain conditions.
8. Data for learning, not just accountability
The FWP used data not only to prove impact, but to understand lived experience. Mixed methods, embedded in planning cycles, helped capture complexity while reducing burdens on practitioners. This fostered adaptive learning and ongoing service improvement.
