Recommendation 21

HM Government Not Addressed

5: PAC conclusion: It remains to be seen whether the Department has achieved its objectives for the Culture Recovery Fund and secured longer-term value for money. 5a: PAC recommendation: The Department should set out: • in its Treasury Minute response, the metrics it is using to evaluate the performance of the Culture Recovery Fund against its initial objectives; and 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented 5.2 The evaluation of the CRF has been externally commissioned by DCMS to a consortium led by Ecorys UK, with Ipsos MORI and BOP Consulting, and will conclude by March 2022. The evaluation will include ‘impact’ and ‘process’ elements of the CRF. Impact evaluation will assess CRF effectiveness in achieving its objectives. Process evaluation will explore how the CRF was delivered and the extent to which the CRF was implemented as intended. The principal objectives of the evaluation will be to assess the following: • did the intervention lead to the sustainability of organisations of cultural, creative and heritage significance, ensuring the maintenance of the cultural ecosystem? • did the investment provide value for money? 5.3 The CRF impact evaluation will include a range of methods including surveys, case studies and econometric analysis. A process study is also being conducted to gather lessons learnt. 5.4 DCMS is currently finalising the methodology to assess the direct impacts of the fund but metrics are likely to include: • financial sustainability (for example, reserves, assets, liabilities, operating income, operating costs, survival rates), • trading status (visitor/audience numbers, adoption of new business models), and • employment (number of workers employed, number of furloughed workers, number of redundancies). To assess the wider impacts of the fund on the cultural ecosystem the department aims to obtain data on survival of local cultural organisations and spending placed with supply chains. 5.5 The evaluation will also assess the value for money of CRF. The approach will be based on a methodology compliant with the Treasury Green Book. The approach will draw on data collected across the evaluation to assess the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the intervention. A cost-benefit analysis will be central to this assessment which the department expects will include: • opportunity costs resulting from public sector funding, • administrative costs, • economic and social value of cultural assets preserved, • net gross value added (GVA) from productivity gains, and • public health benefits.