Life Chances Fund First Stage Evaluation Report: Kirklees
A first-stage evaluation of the Kirklees Life Chances Fund social impact bond project on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
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This evaluation report is the first interim output of a multi-year research project. The report is based on primary and secondary data sources, including logic models and semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders. The report presents insights into a historic fee-for-service arrangement, through which services to vulnerable adults were delivered in Kirklees. This service preceded the Life Chances Fund (LCF) Social Impact Bond (SIB) project in Kirklees, which started in 2019. This report presents hypotheses about the expected impacts in using the new SIB model.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are working in partnership with the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) to undertake an evaluation of the LCF. The LCF was launched as an £80m locally-led SIB fund to tackle entrenched social issues across England. The LCF contributes to SIB projects through payments by results contracts. These contracts involve social investors and are locally commissioned.
The report identifies four challenges that the services faced under the fee-for-service arrangements prior to the adoption of the SIB model and lays out the rationale for using a SIB model. Subsequent stages of the evaluation will test this rationale.