Working every single day at the heart of Scotland’s communities, our local authorities play a central role in delivering meaningful, preventative change to tackle and prevent poverty.

From work to mitigate the ever-accumulating impacts of rising housing costs and the Housing Emergency, to providing crucial crisis support, and tackling in-work poverty and food insecurity, local authorities deliver, and work in partnership to enable and support, a range of frontline services vital to community wellbeing.

However, tackling poverty requires partnership working. Our local authorities are only one part of a national effort, working closely with colleagues across the Scottish Government, UK Government, and Third Sector to ensure key support reaches those most in need.

Yet with nearly one in four children living in poverty, and persistent inequalities continuing to disproportionately impact specific societal groups, for too many people in Scotland the vital services designed to tackle and prevent poverty can often remain difficult to access.

Through the ongoing work of the COSLA Community Wellbeing Board, I have seen first-hand how COSLA is working to break down these barriers, expand access to support, and push for the necessary additional funding to deliver sustainable public services.

In August, COSLA and the Improvement Service hosted a roundtable discussion exploring the links between the delivery of reserved social security benefits and the prevention of violence against women and girls. This is a critical junction, with domestic abuse and financial control working as key drivers of women’s and child poverty in Scotland.

When seeking to access key payments delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions, such as Universal Credit, attendees from across Local Government expressed frustration at the lack of clear signposted escalation routes, trauma-informed practices, and a clear lack of understanding as to the unique challenges faced by survivors.

Barriers to receiving these payments directly impact single-parent households and children, compounding financial instability and undermining local efforts to meet national child poverty reduction targets.

This feedback is currently being analysed by officers, as part of the development of a written submission to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee’s ‘Inquiry into Safeguarding of Vulnerable Claimants’ to highlight how reserved social security reform is essential to safeguard vulnerable families and eradicate child poverty.

At a local level, local authorities continue to experience significant challenges in the delivery and administration of the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Last year, I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice setting out COSLA’s concerns regarding the unprecedented challenges being faced in the delivery of these programmes.

Though COSLA welcomes much-needed in-year uplifts to funding, permanent funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund has remained unchanged at £35.5 million since 2020/21. At the same time, demand continues to rise – with a 15% increase in awards in early 2026 compared to the previous year.

As funding continues to fall short of demand, local authorities have no choice but to continue to restrict demand to those most in need, with clear negative effects on households as noted in research published by the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman.

As we move towards budget discussions with the Scottish Government ahead of 2027/28, pushing for additional funding for programmes such as the Scottish Welfare Fund, to expand access to greater numbers of households, therefore remains a top priority for COSLA and Local Government.

However, large parts of the devolved and reserved social security systems remain inaccessible for people across Scotland with no recourse to public funds status (NRPF). For many with NRPF status, lack of access to social security support means destitution and absolute poverty are the outcomes.

As such, COSLA and the Scottish Government continue to work closely to progress a wide range of actions to mitigate the impacts of NRPF and improve support for people with NRPF status living in Scotland.

As contained in the Ending Destitution Together Phase Two Delivery Plan, this includes a commitment to “continue to review devolved benefits” and “engage with the UK Government on public funds eligibility”.

Tackling poverty in Scotland over the coming years will remain a top priority for both COSLA and our local authorities. However, the vital services highlighted in this blog are ineffective if those most in need throughout our communities are unable to access them. As such, through the Community Wellbeing Board, COSLA will continue to prioritise breaking down the barriers to accessing support and tackle poverty.