No One Left Behind: employability strategic plan 2024 to 2027

7. Measuring and evaluating progress

Data and evidence, including the experience of people accessing our services, is central to understanding whether we are achieving the ambitions of No One Left Behind. It drives our assurance processes and supports decisions on necessary actions for employability services to deliver better outcomes.

The current approach is based on the national products developed to support No One Left Behind. The Service Standards and the Customer Charter sit at the centre as the basis of our definition of a “good” service. The Shared Measurement Framework wraps around this, providing us with a shared understanding of how we measure the impact of employability services. Evaluation activity helps us understand the experiences of people accessing services, how these align with the ”good” service set out in the standards and charter, and provides evidence of the impact and value of employability services.

Whilst we have already seen positive developments, which are resulting in more detailed public statistics being available each quarter, we know there is more to do. The Implementation evaluation highlighted that further work is needed to embed and develop the Shared Measurement Framework and address challenges faced by some local authorities and providers around data collection and reporting.

It is also important to build a holistic evidence base on the wider outcomes being achieved through No One Left Behind, including around improvements in participants’ skills, income, and wellbeing. As set out in the actions above, we will work with partners to explore these areas and develop our understanding of the support provided.

In the next phase of evaluation, we will work in partnership to:

• Continue to enhance our understanding and approach to demonstrating impact, working with partners to develop an approach to assessing value for money in line with the Shared Measurement Framework theme.
• Inform ongoing performance improvement through understanding people’s experiences of employability support and building on the findings of the implementation evaluation.
• Focus on national priorities, such as reducing child poverty and reducing economic inactivity.
• Continue to focus on the voices of participants as an indication of how well employability services are delivering on the principles of No One Left Behind.