Cash-First Programme: final evaluation report

29 Sep 2026 02:28 PM

Findings from a process and impact evaluation of the Scottish Government's Cash-First Programme. The Programme supported new local partnership work to deliver Cash-First interventions across eight delivery partner areas.

Executive Summary

Introduction

The ‘Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland’ Plan (the Plan) sets out the Scottish Government’s ambition for a Scotland without the need for food banks. The Plan includes nine actions over three years (2023–2026) to help ensure that fewer people need to rely on food parcels to meet their essential needs.

Action 1 of the Plan committed funding to support new local partnership approaches to delivering Cash-First. The resulting Cash-First Programme (the Programme) committed to provide up to £1.8 million over three years to test and embed approaches that prioritise dignity, choice and autonomy, enabling people to decide how best to meet their essential needs.

The eight Delivery Partners for Action 1 were:

• Aberdeen City, led by Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations (ACVO)
• Aberdeenshire, led by Aberdeenshire Council
• City of Edinburgh, led by Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership
• Fife, led by Fife Council
• Glasgow City, led by Glasgow Centre for Population Health
• North Lanarkshire, led by North Lanarkshire Council
• Orkney, led by Voluntary Action Orkney
• West Dunbartonshire, led by West Dunbartonshire Council

The Delivery Partners were supported by a Learning Partner, who provided advice, facilitated shared learning, and encouraged reflection and adaptation during delivery.

Each Delivery Partner area adopted a tailored approach shaped by local need, infrastructure and challenges. Some focused on direct advice and support, while others prioritised strengthening service infrastructure or testing new approaches at a smaller scale. The Programme took place over 30 months, from October 2023 to March 2026. The evaluation covered activity from April 2024 to December 2025, and included interviews, focus groups and survey responses within this period. However, the value of spend reported covers the entirety of the Programme.

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