Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Given our concerns in the past about the Department’s failure to put in place quantifiable...
Conclusion
Given our concerns in the past about the Department’s failure to put in place quantifiable objectives to help it measure the impact of its interventions on local economic growth, we asked the Department how it intended to approach this for the Towns Fund, to properly measure impacts such as job creation and improved wellbeing.32 The Department explained that it hopes its monitoring regime will measure outcomes that gauge improvement in the health and vitality of towns.33 The Department expects outcomes to depend on the nature of each project, but it wants to be able to look at a basket of measures at three different levels: the project level, the town investment plan level, and the overall programme level. It outlined how it plans to monitor the impacts of the Towns Deals on employment, income and wellbeing against the baseline of what is happening in those towns and, in due course, compare the performance of towns that have benefitted from the Towns Fund with other, similar towns.34
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2021 4.2 The department does not agree with the committee’s conclusion that it has not been clear on the impact it expects from the Towns Fund. The objectives of the Towns Fund are set out in the Towns Fund Prospectus (November 2019) and Further Guidance (June 2020). Furthermore, the department is providing up to £10 million for the monitoring and evaluation of the programme in order to capture the positive contribution to economic growth from this Fund. 4.3 At programme level, the department already has plans to undertake a national assessment of impact, tracking a set of metrics on employment, income and wellbeing in towns. This will be collected from inception to establish a baseline; and then annually to track progress. Towards the conclusion of the programme, the department will use quasi-experimental impact evaluation methodologies to establish a counter-factual and attribute impact to the Towns Fund. 4.4 At project level, the department is setting baselines and targets using standardised metrics and indicators. These will be tracked on a bi-annual basis. Using this data, the department will carry out a thematic level evaluation of outcomes under the three investment themes (regeneration, skills, enterprise and connectivity), drawing on a menu of standardised outcome indicators. This will involve selective sampling of interventions. 4.5 The department will publish its monitoring and evaluation strategy for the Towns Fund in Spring 2021. The department will use the annual update to keep the Committee informed of the success of the Fund with evidence from the monitoring and evaluation process.