Child Winter Heating Assistance: Evaluation Report

This document describes an evaluation of the Child Winter Heating Assistance (CWHA) program in Scotland, which aims to support families of severely disabled children with heating costs during winter. The CWHA is a non-means-tested benefit automatically paid to eligible families. The evaluation used qualitative research and data analysis, including interviews with recipients and data from Social Security Scotland, to assess the program's effectiveness in increasing household income, reducing financial pressure, and improving the ability to heat homes. Results indicate that CWHA has positively impacted recipients by alleviating financial stress and contributing to better health and wellbeing. However, issues with communication and the timing of payments were identified. The program has met short-term goals and is progressing towards medium-term goals, but further evaluation is needed to assess long-term impacts. Recommendations include improving communication and considering earlier payment issuance. The evaluation also acknowledges limitations due to the small and self-selecting sample size used in the research. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

• Lead department: The Scottish Government (The Scottish Government)
• Evaluation stage: A complete evaluation report
• Other departments: No other departments listed
• Evaluation types: Process evaluation
• Process methods: Other
• Grant information: This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
• Government Major Project information: This intervention is not a major project
• Policies: No policies provided

Event Dates

• Event Name: Publication of final results
• Event date: August 2022

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

• Link(s) to published report(s): Yes
• Links to evaluation plans: No link provided
• Findings: Not provided
• Permission to share confirmed: Yes