Evaluating the Impact of CLD on National and Local Outcomes Glenys Watt 15 November 2011

Increasingly important to evidence the outcomes of CLD Local and national levels What is happening and where are the gaps? Context

inform policy development and implementation with improved evidence on the impact of CLD create a baseline for further improvement of the evidence base for policy development and implementation in CLD suggest models for future impact evaluation Purpose

Electronic survey: 26 returns In-depth analysis in nine areas Advisory group Methods

Very similar provision and partners (local authority, churches, uniformed organisations and voluntary sector) 24 out of 25 returns said outcomes had been set; 20 have a plan linked to the SOA outcomes Indicators often quantitative Some examples of more outcome-focused evidence gathering Range of MIS used for storage of evidence Variety of ways evidence is used Barriers: resources and restructuring Analysis: Youthwork

Very similar provision and partners (local authority, FE and voluntary sector) 23 out of 24 returns said outcomes had been set; 20 have a plan linking adult learning to the SOA Quantitative and qualitative evidence gathered: progression and achievement measured Some evidence gathered across partners Barriers: focus on evidencing progress and how best this is done Some practical progress being made Analysis: Adult learning

More diverse provision and partners (local authority, health and voluntary sector) 23 out of 26 returns said outcomes had been set; 18 have a plan linking CCB to the SOA Quantitative evidence gathered: clearly harder to gather qualitative evidence Some evidence gathered across partners Barriers: focus on evidencing progress and how best this is done; establishing a baseline Having a clear direction for CCB Analysis: Community Capacity Building

Analysis: In-depth areas Provision and partners -greatest difference is in CCB -health as a partner in some areas not others Structures and planning -where CLD sits; one team or three -plethora of plans but no CLD plan in some areas Management of information and evidence -has been given attention -importance of staff training and capacity building

Analysis: In-depth areas Outcome-focused planning -real progress -but still “outcomes” that are not outcomes -SOAs often want quantitative evidence Partners -patchy involvement in evidence gathering -links to health of CLD Partnerships Interesting practice

Reflections and Recommendations Do we want to see greater consistency across Scotland in evidencing impact of CLD? How can this be supported? Do we want to evidence the impact as a whole entity or is it enough to evidence the three elements separately? Do we want impact to be evidenced across the partners? Is the SOA the best way to capture the qualitative impact of CLD? How do areas which are further behind with evidencing impact get supported?