6 August 2004 - Publication of DWP research report: No 144 Second Evaluation of Co-financing in England
Research is published today by the Department for Work and Pensions presenting the findings of the second evaluation of co-financing in England. The evaluation examined the progress of co-financing in delivering European Social Fund (ESF) Objective 3 provision up until the middle of 2003 (i.e. some 18 months after initial implementation and a year after the first evaluation). It also looks at reported impacts of the initiative on provision under ESF Objective 3. The evaluation ran from February 2003 until December 2003. It incorporated over 50 in-depth consultations with Government Offices (GOs), Co-financing Organisations (CFOs) and providers, as well as a telephone survey of 500 recently-active providers.
The main findings were:
- Co-financing has resulted in the engagement of a significant number of providers that had not previously been involved with ESF or with CFOs, including many new voluntary sector providers. The availability of match-funding was a significant factor in encouraging new providers into ESF.
- The reported impacts of co-financing on providers and beneficiaries were generally positive. Half of the ‘experienced’ providers i.e. those who had been involved with ESF before co-financing, surveyed said they had increased employment in the past 18 months and had attributed this to co-financing, while 5 per cent had reduced employment as a result of co-financing. Over half (55 per cent) of experienced providers (including 57 per cent of experienced voluntary sector providers) reported that the quality and availability of provision for hard-to-reach groups had improved since co-financing.
- A significant benefit reported by providers related to the simpler applications procedures under co-financing, although there is also a perception that monitoring standards are more onerous. Thus, the overall impact of co-financing on administrative effort and costs is not clear. However there is also a widely held view amongst those providers consulted that increased monitoring should, over time, help improve provider standards more generally.
The authors of the report, Fraser Associates, make a number of recommendations relating to the future administration of co-financing and the development of CFOs plans in relation to regional strategic priorities. The Department is implementing these recommendations.
Notes for editors
- Some £2.6bn of ESF Objective 3 funding is available in England in 2000-2006 to help people improve their employability and skills. Most funding is targeted on unemployed and economically inactive people, and some funding is used to support employee development.
- ESF co-financing started in September 2001 and is a means of channelling both ESF and the required match funding to providers in a single funding stream. CFOs, mainly local Learning Skills Councils (LLSCs) and regional Jobcentre Plus offices, allocate funding under contractual arrangements to providers to deliver ESF funded activities.
- Co-financing has been implemented gradually. Most LLSCs had been CFOs for 12-18 months at the time of the evaluation, while Jobcentre Plus CFOs had only recently become operational. The great majority of ESF Objective 3 funding is currently channelled via CFOs.
- “Second Evaluation of Co-financing in England” by Fraser Associates, is published in the Department for Work and Pensions In-house Report Series (Report No. 144).
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