Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets9 July 2013

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Angela Hands, Director – Communities and Local Government Value for Money

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Whole-Place Community Budgets bring together several important developments in public policy and service delivery

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Key findings of NAO report March 2013

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Ideas underpinning WPCBs are not new

• Partnership working is established• Many past government-sponsored initiatives with

similar aims, e.g.• Joint PSAs• Local/Multi Area Agreements• Area-Based Grant• Total Place

• Locally-led initiatives (e.g. LSPs, joint/strategic commissioning)

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

But the evidence base from past initiatives with similar objectives is weak

• Very limited robust evidence quantifying impact of joint working/ resource alignment on outcomes• Of 181 publications that met our search criteria (commenting on ‘joint

working’ initiatives) only ten covered impact on outcomes.• Of these ten, seven reported a lack of robust evidence that joint or

collaborative working improved outcomes for service users.• The remaining three raised methodological issues that weakened the

reliability of results.

• Similar findings from related NAO studies, e.g. recent reports on Early action and Integration across government

• Pointing to system-wide failure to generate sufficient robust evidence

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

The Department for Communities and Local Government decided to establish a new initiative

Department issues prospectus – 4 areas chosen to take part in pilot exercise

Areas submitted operational plans and detailed business case to the Department

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Purpose “to thoroughly test out how Community Budgets comprising all funding on local public services can be implemented in [ ] areas to test the efficacy of the approach.”

In practice areas have taken a pragmatic approach…

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

…consistent with a mature approach to managing cost-reduction and integration (though early days)

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Areas recognised the importance of good evidence and cost-benefit analysis• Progress to date

• All areas using CBA to cost proposals and quantify benefits/ show who gains

• Strong commitment to evaluation (including RCTs in some areas) and phased roll-out

• Some areas developed ‘investment agreements’, sometimes subject to the results of evaluation

• Continuing challenges• Developing the ‘counterfactual’ (especially where existing

service/assets decommissioned – important to know what you are giving up)

• Updating knowledge of key risks/sensitivities

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Local areas and central government worked together effectively to deliver their plans

• ‘Co-production’ between central government and local bodies was an important defining feature• Local areas playing the lead role in determining scope of the

exercise• Secondees from Whitehall were embedded in local area teams –

central government supporting rather than driving change• High-level analytical input into, and challenge of, local areas’ plans

• Representing a promising model for future policy design and delivery between central government and local areas

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Next steps for WPCBs

• In local areas, implementation of proposals and evaluation of results

• Network established to support community budgets in the four areas and other areas

• Continued engagement across government will be keyo On-going dialogue around more systemic and longer-term

reforms to local funding o Specific technical advice around CBA and elements of

implementationo Factoring in lessons for integration to mainstream central

government processes (e.g. Spending Review)

Measuring the costs and benefits of Whole-Place Community Budgets

Parliament has expressed a strong interest in Community Budgets

• The Public Accounts Committee took evidence from central and local government witnesses on Community Budgets (and integration across government) in May 2013

• PAC report expected in the summer

• CLG Select Committee inquiry underway