Recommendation 7

The Department has not done enough to generate evidence on the value for money of the scheme. The Department acknowledges that it does not know whether the scheme provides value for money. It undertook qualitative research some time ago—in 2009 and 2018—to gather the views of individuals and employers. This found that the scheme has a range of benefits and helps to create a level playing field in the workplace. The Department states it has assessed, based on unit costs, that the 6 scheme would need an additionality of 23% to break even – that is, 23% more people being in work than would otherwise be the case. It told us that it is quite unlikely that the scheme pays for itself fiscally, but stressed the scheme’s wider benefits to society and individuals. The Department says it cannot ethically undertake a formal value for money evaluation due to the need for a control group, which would effectively mean denying support to some people to create a comparison group. However, we consider that the Department could do more to model the benefits of the scheme, for example in terms of reduced benefit expenditure and increased tax revenue if people are in work. recommendation a. The Department should share with the Committee the evidence that underpins its assessment of the level of additionality needed for the scheme to break even. b. The Department should undertake further work to assess the value for money of the scheme, including modelling the costs and benefits, and provide the Committee with a summary of the findings, including the assumptions that have underpinned the assessment. 7 Chapter 1: Processing delays and backlogs Introduction