Life Chances Fund Evaluation - Interim Report
This is an interim evaluation report for the Life Chances Fund
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Details
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned ICF Consulting to undertake an evaluation of the Life Chances Fund (LCF). LCF is an £80m outcomes fund, which aims to help those people in society who face the most significant barriers to leading happy and productive lives in England. The fund has been committed to contribute to payments by results contracts which involve social investors (i.e. social impact bonds). These contracts are locally commissioned and aim to tackle complex social problems.
This interim evaluation report details the qualitative findings based on data from interviews with fund administration stakeholders and unsuccessful or withdrawn applicants, administrative project-level data held by fund administrators and case study data on three launched SIB projects, assessing progress against the Fund’s objectives.
The aim of the interim evaluation report is to examine:
- what worked well and less well with the implementation of the Fund, identifying enablers and barriers, and why some proposals did not proceed in launching;
- whether the Fund is on track to achieve its aims and objectives, such as whether it has become quicker or easier to set-up a social impact bond, and what types of innovation are being funded.
The report presents an analysis of progress to date, applicants’ experiences, three example case studies of SIB projects and learning for future programmes.