February 2020 policy briefing

Here is your policy briefing for February 2020. Each month we gather all the news from across the sector in one place. If you would like to receive the news each week you can sign up to our weekly policy briefing on https://tinyletter.com/ukgolab/

The GO Lab 

Opinion Are we focusing on the wrong type of relationships? – Last month the GO Lab went to Sheffield Futures, the largest youth charity in the city, to learn more about their SIB project with care leavers. In his monthly blog, Nigel Ball reflects on the experience and the importance of ensuring research is enhanced by a consideration of the challenges services users face. GO Lab
 
Opinion International perspectives on social impact bonds the views of German, British and Swiss Providers of Labour Market Programme – This piece compares the SIB experience across these different countries, and shares three things that providers want looking forward: 1) longer term stable funding; 2) flexibility and professional trust; 3) they felt that clients needed holistic interventions. It is written by Debra Hevenstone and Lukas Christian Hobi from Bern University and Alec Fraser from Kings College London. GO Lab

Publication Editorial: Whither social impact bonds: the future of social investment – This academic paper is a collaboration of several universities and academics, including Eleanor Carter, Research Director of the GO Lab. It explores SIBs, the literature and policy that surrounds it and finds that SIBs remain a relatively small part of conversations surrounding social policy, social investment, and social impact. "Whatever problems they solve, they seem in equal part to create new challenges." They question whether SIBs are fit to address the complex societal problems that all countries face. This article is open access. Public Money & Management 

Opinion Gaming the system – using game theory to understand the promise of collaboration in public service provision – Mehdi Shiva and Clare FitzGerald, Economist and Research Fellow at the GO Lab respectively, explore game theory and how it can be applied to collaboration in public services. They simplify the theory, offer examples, and also look to why this is not happening in practice. This is the first part in a blog series. GO Lab

Challenging the status quo  

Publication Investing for ‘impact’ or investing for profit? Social impact bonds, pay for success, and the next wave of privatisation of social services and education - This academic publication from the National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder explores SIBs and performance related financing. It questions the net benefits of them, and raises the possibility that SIBs may be another way for private sector to finance relatively low-risk social projects for private gain. An easy to read Executive summary on page 3. National Education Policy Center 

Report An economy for all: the role of community power – This ‘policy provocation’ by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) argues that the current narrative that the community are best placed to take more control of public services has dangerous flaws. They argue that instead of hollowing out the state we need to build an economy for all. 
 
You can read an opinion piece on the report here. ‘The real prize lies not in expanding the involvement of the community into the delivery of public services, but rather in growing community and democratic ownership forms within the commercial economy. CLES
 
Opinion How can local governments ‘fail forward’? We’re not sure, but we’re working on it – The Centre for Public Impact are working on the Fail Forward programme ‘to bring ‘failure’ out of the shadows and to inspire local governments to create cultures of innovation that embrace failing forward.’ Centre for Public Impact

The international agenda 

Opinion Education in Africa: spend more and do so more efficiently – A key finding of the Africa Development Bank’s report, African Economic Outlook 2020 was that the continent are among the highest spenders in education in the developing world, yet they are the least efficient at utilising education spending. One key suggestion in this article is that countries can leverage innovative finance options, such as development impact bonds. The Financial Times

Opinion Shifting public and private finance towards the Sustainable Development Goals – An article by OECD that looks at development finance and how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It outlines and explores a three step approach – 1) Mobilisation – ensuring there is enough money to bridge the SDG funding gap; 2) Alignment – making sure the money invested in capital markers aligns with the SDGs; 3) Measuring and managing impact – developing common frameworks and standards to define sustainable investment, manage and measure impact in order to avoid ‘SDG washing’ 

Social impact bonds and impact investing

Opinion We know what social impact bonds are for, don’t we? Chih Hoong Sin, Director at Traverse explores what SIBs actually are, how they’ve been used in the UK, USA and the emerging ones in countries such as Hong Kong and the Abu Dhabi. Traverse
 
Opinion What could privatisation do to the NHS? Children’s services show us – Austerity has left children’s services increasingly dependent on private providers with an aggressive profit focus, argues Shadim Hussain in The Guardian. Social impact bonds are given a mention here - the Essex Edge of Care SIB, and Manchester SIB that funds foster placements for children in care. The Guardian 

Opinion Is impact investing becoming too fashionable for its own good? This article argues that those pushing impact investing need to address at least three key questions if it is to grow its relevance and fulfil its supposedly transformative potential. Article one of three looks at the question – is the current swell of mainstream interest in impact investing helpful or harmful? Pioneers post

Blog Progress and frustration: how investors are pushing impact investing towards greater transparency –  This article argues that as the amount of impact investments grow, so will the demand for greater transparency about who is benefiting, in what ways and to what degree. Impact asset managers will need to demonstrate their ability to create and sustain impact, to satisfy an investor public. Next Billion 

Blog Short n Sweet: Australia wants its own Big Society Capital – Here’s a roundup of news from the impact economy around the world featuring a review of Australia’s social investment market. It finds that the potential for social impact investing in ‘untapped’ and the market is stuck in a ‘cycle of stasis’. It recommends 1) develop evidence and data on social impact, 2) establish principles to ensure initiatives are rigorously designed, 3) create new information portal to support sector. Pioneers Post

Innovation in public services 

Opinion Can cheap be cheerful? Four hotly debated questions on social value in public services – This piece looks at the questions around social value – 1) Can social value be reduced to numbers? 2) Apples vs pears and other moral dilemmas: how do commissioners decide? 3) How do we know we’re measuring what matters? 4) What’s next for central government procurement? Pioneers Post
 
Event How can outsourced public services be made more transparent – On Thursday 27th February the Institute for Government will host this event (that will also be livestreamed) that will discuss 1) What additional information should government routinely publish about outsourced services? 2) Whether the Freedom of Information Act 2000 should be extended to all providers of public services? 3) How public services can be made more transparent without placing burdens on SMEs, charities and other small providers? Institute for Government 
 
Blog Rethink your governance, boost your social impact: Five steps boards can take for better outcomes – This article breaks down the steps every social purpose organisation should take to ensure its set up to optimise social impact. 1) understand your impact, 2) clarify your strategy, and check it’s working, 3) find or develop the right skill set, 4) create and question reporting mechanisms, 5) set accountability processes and review your culture. Pioneers Post