Cash First Learning and Evaluation

The Scottish Government wants to work with local partners towards our shared ambition of ending the need for food banks in Scotland, as set out in our recently published Cash-First Plan.

Our two-year Cash-First Programme (‘the Programme’) will provide funding and practical assistance for up to eight local Partnerships to collaborate and deliver activities that improve urgent access to cash in a crisis, generating evidence that can be shared to inform future policy and practice.

The Scottish Government intends to utilise a lotted approach. Splitting this requirement into two lots, whilst limiting suppliers to only tender for one lot to ensure the integrity of the lots, specifically lot two relating to the Independent Evaluation.

The Scottish Government is seeking to procure the services of a Learning Partner for this Programme. The Learning Partner will provide each Partnership with advice to inform and refine their approach and will facilitate peer-learning across the Partnership cohort. The overall aim of the role is to establish an enabling environment for cash-first activities and to provide the Scottish Government with timely, robust information on the Programme.

The Scottish Government is seeking to procure the services of an organisation to undertake an independent evaluation of this Programme. The Evaluator will assess the implementation of cash-first activities by Partnerships, the role of the Learning Partner, and the impact of the Programme as a whole.