Recommendation 21

Good evaluation practice emphasises the importance of understanding how a new intervention is expected to achieve the intended outcomes and the need to plan evaluation at the design stage before implementing it.48 But the NAO found that HMPPS does not yet have a mature evidence base for the impact of its new areas of investment, and its evaluation plans may not provide the evidence it needs.49 MoJ explained that deciding where and how to curb spending is easier in areas where its resettlement initiatives are more developed.50 HMPPS acknowledged that many of its evaluations are still in the early stages but told us it had hired 40 new analysts to support the work.51