This month's policy briefing includes the latest news on partnerships in the UK, how to improve impact investment and a table of the top SIBs across the globe. Sign up to receive weekly policy briefings every Monday on Tiny Letter
Guest blog - Where next for SIBs? Lessons from the main investors – Last month ATQ and Ecorys hosted a breakfast briefing for the main investors in SIBs to date. They discussed the current and future landscape of SIBs, in particular covering the points of scale, replication and transparency.
Blog Reflecting on the first children’s social impact bond– Tom Jefford, CEO of Family Psychology Mutual and GO Lab Fellow of Practice shares his reflection on the first children’s SIB in Essex. This piece is a response to an earlier blog by Tanya Gillet, Head of Service of Essex County Council.
Blog Write a guest blog for the GO Lab– If you are interested in writing something for the GO Lab we would love to share your piece. We have written a quick guide for you to take a look at. Get in touch if you would like to discuss an idea. GO Lab
Conference - Save the date: Social Outcomes Conference 2019 – on 5-6th September 2019 the GO Lab and our partners will be hosting the fourth edition of the international conference on outcome based commissioning and social impact bonds. Read our reflection on this year’s conference, ‘a new way to navigate social impact bonds’ and stay tuned for more information.
Report Government procurement – The scale and nature of contracting in the UK– This new publication revealed that four departments spend more than half their budgets with external suppliers last year. The largest suppliers are winning more government business, this is risky for government as the top three suppliers have experienced financial difficulties in recent years. The report also finds that data on outsourcing is poor and they call for more data to gain a clearer picture of how much is spent, when and with which suppliers so the government can make better informed decisions and make savings. Institute for Government
Opinion - Social value to gain stronger foothold in government procurement – Securing lucrative government contracts could become easier for social enterprises from next year, with new requirement for commissioning staff to factor in social value when awarding contracts – and new tools to help them do so. Pioneer Post
Opinion - The power of partnership: how the UK is building a more inclusive economy – Shevaun Haviland, Deputy Director of Business Partnerships at the Cabinet Office shares her thoughts about how creating partnerships between business and government can help deliver policy innovation and tackle some of the nation’s toughest challenges. Apolitical
Opinion Why taking a step back from social impact assessment can lead to better results – This piece argues that before diving into measurement, organisations must establish awareness of and readiness for impact in every aspect of their operations. The authors offer a social impact capability framework with a brief explanation of each part. Stanford Social Innovation Review
News Fears continue over outsourcer Interserve – Giant outsourcer Interserve continues to look fragile as its shares plunge to a new all-time low despite announcement of a new restructuring operation. The UK based global construction, equipment and facilities management company insist that the ‘fundamentals of its business remain strong’. They employ over 75,000 people worldwide. Local Gov
Report Collective impact in practice 2016-2018 This report from West London Zone tells the story of the children and young people who participated in WLZ between 2016-2018. It also charts the development of the model and share lessons learned. This is an easy to read (and colourful) report that sets out what they have done, and how they have supported young people across London. West London Zone
Table The top global social impact bonds– The Financial Times have published a table of the top social impact bonds across the world, in terms of upfront financial commitment. They also have a commentary highlighting the fact that they are becoming more international and increasingly popular amongst social investors Financial Times
Opinion Development impact bonds There’s still no free lunch- This article argues that there is a lot to learn from DIBs, but this isn’t the answer to impact based funding at scale. He argues that what will transform the impact investing sector is for funders to commit themselves to funding for impact, learn what it means to do it, and execute on it. Stanford Social Innovation Review