Improving impact assessments to support the use of evidence in Scottish Government policy making

This internship forms part of an exciting cross-government programme to enhance how policymakers take account of the impacts of their decisions on different people, organisations or places. Working in a small team led by Chief Social Policy Adviser Professor Linda Bauld, but engaging with multiple policy and analytical areas, the candidate will contribute to a high profile programme of actions to develop the system of impact assessments within the Scottish Government. The team has a strong track record of hosting successful SGSSS internships. 

Trust in government: building an evidence base for Scotland

Scottish Government has access to a range of data sources that provide direct and indirect evidence on levels of trust in government and potential contributing factors. This internship will focus on analysis that draws these together to build up a picture of levels of trust in government – and drivers of this – across different areas, demographics and protected characteristics in Scotland. We are interested in evidence from both quantitative and qualitative data sources, and there may be opportunity to carry out new qualitative work. It is intended that this project will result in a publishable report that provides a literature review of existing evidence on trust and sets out new analysis resulting from the project. Evidence based recommendations for improving Scotland’s evidence base on trust in government will also be welcomed, along with a presentation to relevant Scottish Government staff and stakeholders.

Tackling health inequalities: evidence for the national review of Community Link Workers

The internship’s objectives are to provide policymakers with a better, evidence-based understanding of: the training/professional support CLWs already receive and gaps in this; and the views of CLWs and those who manage and commission CLWs services about their priorities for professional support and development needs. We expect the project approach to be a combination of: desk-based work (e.g. reviewing reports); data collection and analysis (e.g. interviews, focus groups, online survey); which will lead to a report and key messages Powerpoint.

Adult Support and Protection – Data and Evidence Review

The ASP dataset has been revised to provide more robust data to inform improvement both at local and national level. Iriss worked with 5 ASP Learning Partners to review the previous ASP annual data return and develop a revised ASP minimum dataset. This has been approached in 2 phases, with Phase 1 indicators commenced in April 2023 largely mirroring indicators from the previous annual return. Phase 2 indicators were developed and tested by learning partners throughout 2023. The Phase 2 subset of the ASP minimum dataset was rolled out across all local authorities in April 2024.

Reactive project in support of Drugs Policy and the National Mission on Drugs

SGSSS internships present invaluable opportunities for analytical outputs to be produced that are reactive and supportive to rapidly changing policy needs. As such, the outputs of these internships are likely to be of great relevance and value to the work of policy colleagues and present opportunity to have real impact on decision making. With this in mind, we will develop the specific focus of this project closer to when the internship is due to start. We will also try to offer a choice of the project that they undertake and ensure the project is shaped around the skills of the candidate. Previous research projects have included evidence/data reviews, surveys, mapping exercises and interviewing.