Recommendations & Conclusions
14 items
1
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department), including its Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, about the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme (the Innovation Programme). The Department has overall policy responsibility for children’s social …
Read more
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department), including its Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, about the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme (the Innovation Programme). The Department has overall policy responsibility for children’s social care and is accountable to Parliament for ensuring that the social care services local authorities provide is of adequate quality to protect and support children.1 In 2019–20 local authorities spent some £9.2 billion on children’s social care.2
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agreed and will promote a culture of evaluation through evaluation of new proposals and funding for a children's services What Works Centre, including initiatives looking at areas such as Family Help services, and children looked after placements.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Department concedes there is further to go to embed the culture of evaluation it wants to see in children’s social care. The Department and the sector have learned that quality evaluation is expensive and can take a long time to do.19 However one evaluation provider told us that robust …
Read more
The Department concedes there is further to go to embed the culture of evaluation it wants to see in children’s social care. The Department and the sector have learned that quality evaluation is expensive and can take a long time to do.19 However one evaluation provider told us that robust and rigorous evaluations are not yet routine in children’s social care, with many practitioners opposing the more robust techniques such as randomisation on principle.20 Following the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s 9 C&AG’s Report para 3.1 10 C&AG’s Report paras 18, 20 11 C&AG’s Report Figure 2 12 C&AG’s Report para 2.4 13 Qq 15, 53 14 Q 15 15 Q 42 16 Q 31 17 Q 42 18 EPC0004 p.3 19 Qq 31, 43 20 EPC0001 p.2 10 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care Social Care (the Care Review), What Works for Children’s Social Care and the Early Intervention Foundation have announced they will merge. The Department sees this as an opportunity to strengthen methodologies and evidence standards, and its ability to embed evaluation more effectively across children’s social care.21 Understanding impact
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees that it should continue to promote and nurture a culture of evaluation and will continue to fund the newly merged WWEICSC as well as assess the development and delivery of proposals through a programme of rigorous evaluation where appropriate.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Department intended the Innovation Programme to achieve replication of successful new approaches, better life chances for children receiving help from the social care system and better value for money across children’s social care. The Department funded 94 projects through the Innovation Programme, before selecting six it considered to be …
Read more
The Department intended the Innovation Programme to achieve replication of successful new approaches, better life chances for children receiving help from the social care system and better value for money across children’s social care. The Department funded 94 projects through the Innovation Programme, before selecting six it considered to be most promising from initial evidence for further testing across 57 further locations through its two key successor programmes.22 In all, the Department reported 58 of the original 94 projects continuing after initial funding ended, 38 of which had spread beyond their initial locations.23 Hertfordshire County Council, one of the innovator authorities funded by the Innovation Programme, described extending the reach of its Family Safeguarding project to 27 other authorities, only 10 of which were directly funded by the Innovation Programme and key successor funds.24
Show less
Government response AI summary
The department published Children's social care: Stable Homes, Built on Love on 2 February 2023, setting out the purpose and principles of practice, along with the outcomes that should be achieved with children and families. A draft Children’s Social Care National Framework and Dashboard for …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
We agree with successor programme evaluator Coram, that the key measure of success for the Department’s Innovation Programme must be what has changed for children as a result.25 The Department told us that it cannot yet report any ‘perfectly causal line’ between the programme and improved outcomes for children. The …
Read more
We agree with successor programme evaluator Coram, that the key measure of success for the Department’s Innovation Programme must be what has changed for children as a result.25 The Department told us that it cannot yet report any ‘perfectly causal line’ between the programme and improved outcomes for children. The Department highlighted encouraging data from one of its successor projects including a 38% reduction in arrests and a 57% reduction in A&E visits for the young people referred to the scheme, with similar good evidence from other projects.26 Understanding the impact of the scheme is made harder by the lack of clarity over the outcomes government wants for children’s social care. The Department has undertaken to provide a national framework of outcomes in response to recommendations of the Care Review.27
Show less
Government response AI summary
The department published Children's social care: Stable Homes, Built on Love on 2 February 2023, setting out the purpose and principles of practice, along with the outcomes that should be achieved with children and families. A draft Children’s Social Care National Framework and Dashboard for …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Care Review, while recognising the role the Innovation Programme has played in creating stronger practice, asserts that the impact of its scale and spread approach is limited in the absence of more fundamental change. The Care Review considers the evidence backing its own recommendations is already ‘compelling and comprehensive’, …
Read more
The Care Review, while recognising the role the Innovation Programme has played in creating stronger practice, asserts that the impact of its scale and spread approach is limited in the absence of more fundamental change. The Care Review considers the evidence backing its own recommendations is already ‘compelling and comprehensive’, while the evaluations from the Department’s successor schemes are only due between Autumn 2022 and 2027.28 The Department is having to balance the tensions between the time taken to learn about outcomes from its longer-term evaluations and the desire in the sector for early action.29 The Department considers that it is moving towards the point of transitioning from scale and spread into changing mainstream approaches of social care practice in order to influence impacts on a greater scale.30 21 Q 52 22 C&AG’s report, paras 9, 18, 2.2 and 3.1 23 Q 56 24 EPC0003 p.2 25 EPC0001 p.1 26 Qq 54, 57 27 Qq 44, 53 28 Josh MacAlister, The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Final Report, May 2022 p.46, and C&AG’s Report para 20 29 Q 14 30 Qq 72–73 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care 11 2 Supporting the system for improving children’s social care Improving data in children’s social care
Show less
Government response AI summary
The National Framework has been produced with the support of the department’s National Practice Group and informed by the Innovation Programme and Care Review. The National Framework will embed the use of evidence and learning across local authorities.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The lack of high-quality data was one of the significant challenges and common limitations identified in the Department for Education’s (the Department’s) independent assessments of evaluations of Innovation Programme projects.31 We share the Department’s view that systems that give better information to everyone involved can contribute to a culture of …
Read more
The lack of high-quality data was one of the significant challenges and common limitations identified in the Department for Education’s (the Department’s) independent assessments of evaluations of Innovation Programme projects.31 We share the Department’s view that systems that give better information to everyone involved can contribute to a culture of evidence and evaluation “so that people can see much more readily what is working and then put things into practice.”32
Show less
Government response AI summary
By improving the quality and transparency of data collected, the department will have a stronger evidence base to improve policy design and evaluation and quicker identification and resolution of sector-wide issues. Sharing local authority data more widely will help embed a culture of learning and …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
There are particular data challenges where evaluations of small-scale innovations make it statistically difficult to understand the impact of schemes on particular population groups. We received evidence from the Traveller Movement, a population disproportionately represented in children’s social care, highlighting risks that lack of precision in monitoring impact on the …
Read more
There are particular data challenges where evaluations of small-scale innovations make it statistically difficult to understand the impact of schemes on particular population groups. We received evidence from the Traveller Movement, a population disproportionately represented in children’s social care, highlighting risks that lack of precision in monitoring impact on the distinct Traveller, Gypsy and Roma populations masks the different experiences of these groups.33 This mirrors other localised challenges we have seen around monitoring groups which are large in a specific area, but small nationally. The Department agrees that there are issues around what should be done locally monitoring specific communities and what needs to be done centrally, and accepts the need to be alert to that challenge.34
Show less
Government response AI summary
By improving the quality and transparency of data collected, the department will have a stronger evidence base to improve policy design and evaluation and quicker identification and resolution of sector-wide issues. Sharing local authority data more widely will help embed a culture of learning and …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Department could point to examples in other work where it has used technology to reduce the burdens of data collection, and shared data back with front line organisations in ways that incentivise local use.35 The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (the Care Review) also reported on encouraging good …
Read more
The Department could point to examples in other work where it has used technology to reduce the burdens of data collection, and shared data back with front line organisations in ways that incentivise local use.35 The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (the Care Review) also reported on encouraging good practice, and recommended a National Data and Technology Taskforce to support improvement in data collection, sharing and use to inform decisions.36 The Department accepts that there is more to do to get agreement on what is important data in children’s social care. The Department told is it is working with the Association of Directors of Children’s Social Care in shaping its response to data issues raised in the Review.37 Tackling barriers to innovation
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government hopes to embed a culture of learning and evaluation by improving the quality and transparency of data collected, giving a better understanding of the impact of policies, and the short and longer-term outcomes for children and families.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Innovation Programme was intended to both improve outcomes for children in the social care system and produce savings. The Department accepts that residential care in children’s homes can be expensive and it is often a last resort where they do not ideally want children to be.38 The Care Review …
Read more
The Innovation Programme was intended to both improve outcomes for children in the social care system and produce savings. The Department accepts that residential care in children’s homes can be expensive and it is often a last resort where they do not ideally want children to be.38 The Care Review reports the cost of places in children’s homes running as high as £5000–7000 per week.39 The Care Review also sets out the improved health, attainment, employment and sibling connection outcomes for children supported 31 C&AG’s Report, para 16 32 Q 34 33 EPC0005 p.2 34 Qq 40–41 35 Qq 32–34 36 The independent review of children’s social care, Final Report, p.12 37 Qq 32, 35 38 Q 78 39 The independent review of children’s social care, Final Report, p.121 12 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care through kinship care compared to other residential settings.40 Our witnesses described the ‘huge priority’ around supporting children to live in families, whether kinship care or fostering in line with the recommendations of the Care Review.41
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges that residential care is expensive and is testing Family Network Support Packages to implement family-led alternatives to care as well as delivering a fostering recruitment and retention programme in the North-East.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
We have seen many cases of the potential for better outcomes and potential savings being blocked by inflexibility in the care system. These typically involve the costs of the space required to provide kinship or foster care, or support with the changes to working patterns that providing such care might …
Read more
We have seen many cases of the potential for better outcomes and potential savings being blocked by inflexibility in the care system. These typically involve the costs of the space required to provide kinship or foster care, or support with the changes to working patterns that providing such care might require. The system can be complex, particularly where multiple organisations and different local authority areas are involved.42 Further, the Care Review highlights the financial challenges faced by kinship carers, many of whom ‘live in more deprived areas and are generally poorer than foster carers. Some studies report that financial distress is reported by 70% of kinship carers, and in one study 39% of kinship carers reported being in debt.’43
Show less
Government response AI summary
The department works closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and HM Treasury (HMT) at working and ministerial levels. The government will test how to optimise implementation of Family Network Support Packages in local areas, alongside reforms to Family Help and …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The Department told us it wants the care system to be more flexible, and accepts the system is currently not very good at adapting to innovative or usual requests. The result is that the child will often end up in care settings that cost more than the adaptation might have …
Read more
The Department told us it wants the care system to be more flexible, and accepts the system is currently not very good at adapting to innovative or usual requests. The result is that the child will often end up in care settings that cost more than the adaptation might have done. The Department explained it wants the system to start from an understanding of “What will help this child get the right outcome, and how can we deploy this amount of money that we are highly likely to spend on the child anyway?” The Care Review estimated that the average cost of the provision of public services for those who enter care was £70,900, and above £200,000 for the annualised costs of an independent sector residential care placement.44 The Department stressed however that the funding system is not within its individual control, and can be hard for it to influence.45 Securing the benefits of evaluation
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the importance of flexible funding and is testing Family Network Support Packages in local areas, alongside reforms to Family Help and child protection, through an end-to-end Families First for Children Pathfinder. They are also delivering a fostering recruitment and retention programme in …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
Having started out in 2014–15, the delivery phases of the Innovation Programme and its successor schemes are approaching their end. Programme funding is expected to finish in March 2024, with the remaining evaluations reporting by 2027.46 The Department stresses that ring-fenced funding streams for innovation and learning are not indefinite, …
Read more
Having started out in 2014–15, the delivery phases of the Innovation Programme and its successor schemes are approaching their end. Programme funding is expected to finish in March 2024, with the remaining evaluations reporting by 2027.46 The Department stresses that ring-fenced funding streams for innovation and learning are not indefinite, and that they want to see this activity shifted into mainstream funding and practice.47 The Department is confident that enough progress has been made, with sufficient positive gains in practice that the argument for continued investment in evidence-based policy should be easier to make.48 Hertfordshire County Council for instance highlighted experience it has already had supporting local authorities making invest to save bids for further work.49
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government is committed to supporting the benefits of innovation and evaluation by publishing the National Framework and Dashboard for consultation and continuing to fund the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
The phasing out of dedicated funding for evaluation comes at a time the Department accepts is challenging for local authority budgets.50 The Department described how the Innovation Programme has helped both the Department and the wider sector understand that quality evaluation is expensive, but we share the Department’s view that …
Read more
The phasing out of dedicated funding for evaluation comes at a time the Department accepts is challenging for local authority budgets.50 The Department described how the Innovation Programme has helped both the Department and the wider sector understand that quality evaluation is expensive, but we share the Department’s view that the costs 40 Care Review p.94 41 Q 78 42 Q 81 43 The independent review of children’s social care, Final Report, p. 104 44 Q81–82; The independent review of children’s social care, Final Report, p. 47, The Case for Change, p.59 45 Q81 46 C&AG’s Report, paras 9, 20 47 Q 14 48 Q 46 49 EPC0003 p.1 50 Q 51 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care 13 often represent a ‘rounding error’ when contrasted with the £9 billion local authorities spend on children’s social care each year.51 A sense of potential savings is indicated by a participant in the successor schemes citing early evidence of 40% reductions in children being taken into care, with estimated cost avoidance of £117 million over 5 years.52
Show less
Government response AI summary
The department is committed to supporting local authorities and other departments to recognise and realise the benefits of spending on innovation and evaluation. They highlight the Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy, the National Framework and Dashboard, and continued support for the What Works Centre.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Evaluating inno…
Acknowledged
We would not want to see financial pressures making it harder for local authorities to make the case for building evaluation and learning into their future ways of working.53 The Local Government Association stresses the need to build on the success of the Innovation Programme as councils deal both with …
Read more
We would not want to see financial pressures making it harder for local authorities to make the case for building evaluation and learning into their future ways of working.53 The Local Government Association stresses the need to build on the success of the Innovation Programme as councils deal both with financial pressures and children requiring support for more complex needs, citing the need for the best evidence to be used to support ongoing improvement.54 It is vital that the Department tracks the use and impact of evidence-based policy in children’s social care to ensure the opportunities created by the Innovation Programme are not lost. 51 Qq 31, 43 52 EPC0003 p.2 53 Q 46 54 EPC0002 p.3 14 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government is committed to supporting the benefits of innovation and evaluation by publishing the National Framework and Dashboard for consultation and continuing to fund the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.
Read full response →
HM Treasury