Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Acknowledged
We would not want to see financial pressures making it harder for local authorities to...
Conclusion
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
Government Response 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.
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.