Planning matters

Evaluation is the act of systematically assessing the effectiveness of an intervention’s delivery, impact and value for money[1]. It can be used to determine the impact of policies and funding regimes, shape future policy design, and help make the case for further investment. During the Labour Government’s first budget in 14 years, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to “invest, invest, invest” as the only way to drive economic growth but warned of a challenging time for public finances.[2]   If that is the case, then evaluation is central to determining and demonstrating whether an action has improved performance and delivered value for the tax payer. In this blog, we explore how the Government’s commitment to unlocking investment and delivering economic growth reaffirms a need to “assess, assess, assess.”

In recent years, the importance attached to evaluation in supporting policy objectives has grown across the UK.  The former Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (‘DLUHC’) released its Evaluation Strategy, which set out how this would support Government ambitions and ensure public money was invested wisely. HM Treasury’s Magenta Book[3] identifies that evaluation, understanding the efficiency and effectiveness of interventions and their impacts is critical to effective decision-making and policy design.

Evaluation plays an important role in assessing the ‘what works’, ‘what doesn’t’, ‘for whom’ and ‘why’. High-quality evaluation can enable decision-makers to better target their intervention; reduce delivery risk; maximise the chance of achieving desired outcomes; and increase understanding of what works.

The 2024 Autumn Budget confirmed a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances and formally launched the Office for Value for Money (VfM) to “realise benefits from every pound of public spending.” This has made evident that the public financing of programmes and policies will remain constrained in the years to come and, where investment is required, there will need to be a clear demonstrable need for public funding. Although Labour have not yet outlined their evaluation strategy, the establishment of a VfM unit dedicated to rooting out waste and inefficiency, and scrutinising investment, reaffirms their commitment to economic growth and fiscal responsibility. 

Whilst the Government committed to reforming the Local Government Finance Settlement and moving towards multi-year financing, it is clear that authorities and public bodies will be under scrutiny to minimise waste and maximise impact.  At a time when every penny (and pound) counts, authorities and public bodies must ensure that they can monitor, attribute and demonstrate the impact of their programmes and policies to make the case for continued Government support.

The Magenta Book identifies that planning evaluation early can help to maximise the learning that can be gained, improve and shape delivery, and reduce costs, thereby maximising efficiency. Evaluation can help bring to the forefront the range of economic and social impacts generated, help monitor aims and objectives, and hold those responsible for decision-making to account.

Crucial to this is ensuring that interventions are:

1. Measurable with a clear theory of change, logic model and understanding of what evidence needs to be collected and when;
2. Justifiable and underpinned by robust evidence and rooted in a strong policy context;
3. Achievable with a realistic timeframe for delivery and risk management plan in place; and
4. Supported by all parties involved, with requirements communicated and stakeholders aware of the responsibilities expected of them.

In recent years, Lichfields has successfully supported clients in the public, private and third sector to carry out a range of evaluations to assess the impact of policies, programmes and funding regimes.  Our team of economists and evaluation experts work across the life cycle of projects from devising and appraising strategies, designing monitoring information systems and frameworks, developing business cases through to evaluating their impact. 

With the UK officially departing the European Union, many of its associated ERDF/ESF programmes have come to an end.  In its place, the UK is now focussed on delivering evaluations and support through existing and emerging UK programmes, including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and the Brownfield Housing Fund (BHF). This brings with it a new suite of evaluations required and opens up the possibility of new, exciting ways to understand the impact of programmes, projects and policies.  Our team of economists and evaluators have already been busy supporting clients in their transition from ERDF to UKSPF, alongside setting up wider evaluation evidence bases in anticipation of future funding bids.  With UKSPF extended into a transitionary year following March 2025, this reiterates the need to design evaluations early to ensure authorities are prepared for post-UKSPF delivery and maximise lessons learned.

As members of both the UK Evaluation Society and Institute of Economic Development, our team has strong expertise in devising Green Book and Magenta Book compliant businesses cases, models and evaluations which robustly and reliably help clients to understand the past, present and future impact of projects.

Our team can support clients to understand the economic, social and environmental benefits of projects, devising robust evaluation frameworks and identifying when evaluations must be carried out.  With a range of in-house tools available, we can undertake:

At its core, evaluation is about understanding ‘what works’ and ‘why’.  To find out more information and how our team can support you in answering this question, please contact: