Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Acknowledged
The phasing out of dedicated funding for evaluation comes at a time the Department accepts...
Conclusion
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
Government Response 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.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
5.2 The department is committed to supporting local authorities and other departments to 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. 5.3 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. 5.4 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. 5.5 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.