Locked Down, Locked Out? Local Partnership Resilience in the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021

cross much of the UK, but particularly (following the Christie Commission) in Scotland, there is a growing recognition of the value of local partnership in responding to some of the most complex social issues and problems. The Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures (beginning in March 2020) have posed enormous challenges for public services and partnership working at the local level. Aside from rising demand for cash-strapped public services, and troubling implications for existing social inequalities, the lockdown has also forced organisations to work in different ways, particularly working remotely. Our project researched the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on local partnership working arrangements, aiming to answer the following research questions: How has Covid-19 affected Scottish local partnership arrangements, in the short and medium term? How has Covid-19 affected efforts to implement the recommendations of the Christie Commission (particularly the prevention principle) in Scottish local government? How have Scottish local partnerships changed their practices to meet the challenge of the pandemic, and how can any progress be built upon? What are the implications of these for existing social inequalities? What are the potential lessons for other countries, particularly in terms of local partnership responses to crises? The first phase of data collection was an online survey which gathered quantitative and qualitative data and received 31 responses. As well as data collection the survey was also used to recruit for the second phrase - online interviews with 23 local partnership professionals. We gathered data from across Scotland but principally from rural areas outside the 'Central Belt'; for anonymity, it's probably not possible to provide more detail on this (but please see Readme.docx). These data may be helpful for studies of interagency partnership working, community resilience or more generally the social impacts of Covid-19. It may be helpful to read them in conjunction with the study's final report.