Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
A challenging funding environment requires that government maintains its commitment to evaluation, and applies its...
Recommendation
A challenging funding environment requires that government maintains its commitment to evaluation, and applies its learning to secure better outcomes. As the Innovation Programme and its successor schemes move towards the end of 14 years of funding by 2027, the Department wants to see innovation and learning activity move into mainstream practice. The phasing out of dedicated funding comes at a time the Department accepts is challenging for local authority budgets. The Innovation Programme has demonstrated that quality evaluation is expensive, but we share the Department’s view that it will usually represent what it called a ‘rounding error’ when set alongside the value of mainstream services. The need for the best evidence to support the most impactful practice remains, and it is vital that the opportunities to secure better outcomes created by the Innovation Programme are not lost. Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care 7 Recommendation: The Department should set out how it will demonstrate the benefits of its spending on innovation and evaluation for local authorities and other Departments to secure the full benefits of this spending. 8 Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care 1 Delivering impact through innovation and evaluation Introduction
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and will demonstrate the benefits of its spending on innovation and evaluation by publishing a National Framework and Dashboard for consultation, and through continued support and funding for the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. recognise and realise the benefits of spending on innovation and evaluation. The department published Children's social care: Stable Homes, Built on Love on 2 February 2023 responding to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This describes several ways in which improvements will be achieved, including the new National Framework, data strategy and dashboard, and plans to evaluate new proposals. The department has published the accompanying National Framework and Dashboard for consultation, which embeds the use of evidence and learning across local authorities, helping to raise the quality of practice and deliver better help, protection and care to children and families. The new dashboard will increase transparency and support local, regional and national learning. By sharing timely data more widely, the department aims to embed a culture of learning and evaluation, to help everyone improve their practice. The department’s continued support and funding for the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care is also critical to delivering this recommendation. WWCSC interventions have reached over 1,100 schools and 129 local authorities. The Early Intervention Foundation guidebook, which gives details of initiatives evaluated, receives 3.000 unique downloads a month. It has also influenced schools across the country, in particular with its evidence review of adolescent mental health and school-based interventions. The Early Intervention Foundation and What Works for Children's Social Care recently merged. The new merged organisation, operating initially under the working name of What Works for Early Intervention and Children’s Social Care (WWEICSC), will make use of its collective expertise. The department expects it to use this opportunity to improve further the reach of its valuable work.