This month's policy briefing includes our feature in the national news, what has been achieved in 2018, as well as new thinking on social impact investment. Sign up to receive weekly policy briefings every Monday on Tiny Letter.
Interview Brexit has created a ‘lost generation’ of public services– Mara Airoldi, Director of the GO lab was in Guardian Society last week following the vote in parliament on Brexit. In her interview she highlights the challenges governments face and what they must do to make public services support the most vulnerable.The Guardian
Podcast Back to the Brexit drawing board – Weekly politics podcast – Listen to Mara Airoldi at 40 minutes into this podcast. ‘Trying to talk to civil servants about public servants is like trying to speak about Sunday dinner to a mother of 4 during the school run’ Brexit is a great distraction. The Guardian
Announcement 2019 GO Lab Fellows of Practice – Each year the GO Lab appoint a small group of leading practitioners from across the public, private and voluntary sectors, to help us further our mission to advance research and practice in how governments tackle complex social needs. Here are our 2019 FoPs. GO Lab
Interview We speak to Amel Karboul CEO of Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East We chatted to Amel Karboul who has 20 years of experience collaborating with global corporate, non-profit and government leaders. We asked her three questions on the challenges of bringing different sectors together, her work on the Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of leadership. GO Lab
Blog Responding to public health challenges – do SIBs have a place? Professor Terhi Kilpi, Director of Public Health Solutions at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland was an academic visitor at the GO Lab late last year. She shares her observations on social impact bonds and public health, exploring the puzzles and offering her perspective as a physician. GO Lab
Webinar Public contracting for social impact bonds – This webinar on 19th March will explore why contracting for SIBs is different from other agreements such as fee-for-service or grants. It will share the challenges that are involved and how to address them, as well as looking at the key considerations you need to think about when developing a SIB contract. Please join our expert panel in this webinar and forward the details to your legal and procurement colleagues. GO Lab
Canada Manitoba’s landmark social impact bond– Manitoba in Canada launches its two year pilot project to connect expectant mothers, who are at risk of coming into contact with the child welfare system, to an Indigenous doula that works with her for a twelve month period. The government have collated information about this SIB including the need for this and the strategy going forward. Government of Manitoba
Canada Province launches first social impact bond Manitoba in Canada will have its first social impact bond that will hire indigenous doulas to support indigenous mothers who are vulnerable or may be at risk of having their children taken into care. This will be Canada’s fifth social impact bond.
Japan The rise of social impact bonds in Japan– This article from The Japan Times outlines the increased interest in SIBs as a new method of social investment. It mainly highlights the commonly shared benefits of SIBs but also outlines the political reasons Japan has become so interested in SIBs. The Japan Times
International Humanitarian investing gathers speed at Davos– Finding ways to channel more private investment into humanitarian settings was a big topic this year at Davos – the World Economic Forum’s 48th annual meeting in Switzerland – which included the tentative launch of a development impact bond to create jobs for Syrian refugees. Devex
International The impact imperative for sustainable development finance– Last week at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 500 participants from the public and private sector gathered to discuss how to increase the impact of collective investments in sustainable development. This included working towards the Sustainable Development Goals, social impact investing and what the landscape will look like in 2030. DevEx
Review Brookings impact bond snapshot - A one page snapshot of impact bonds in 2018. A quick read with key stats on impact bonds contracted, and what sectors and countries they are working in. Brookings
Review How global impact bonds fared in 2018 – Building on the snapshot above, this article shares a brief overview of the year for social impact bonds and development impact bonds. It makes a push for more data as this will play a pivotal role in supporting the growth of outcomes based contracting this year – ‘if impact bonds are to increase in scale…the demand for timely, usable data and the systems that support their use, will continue to grow’ Think Advisor
Opinion Social impact bonds: more than one approach - This article looks at how social impact bonds differ between projects and geographies, and how those differences impact practical implementation. It offers theoretical frameworks and practical approaches before sharing ways to navigate SIB development. A really useful article that can help understand both risks and opportunities for SIBs.
Opinion Can pay for success help reduce number of people with mental illnesses in jail?– This short article argues (from a US perspective) that pay for success has the potential to support the mental health of people who have left prison. Whilst staying independent they state a few reasons why they may be a good fit and share similar programmes in California and Utah. Urban Institute
Working paper Development impact bonds targeting health outcomes– As of December 2018, seven DIBs have been launched with three looking at health outcomes. This working paper describes them all and evaluates the health focused ones. It also offers three recommendations to improve evaluation and inform the development of new DIBs in the future: 1) Public plans and evaluations, 2) create and use consistent reporting guidelines, 3) allocate funding to evaluate impact and value for money. Centre for Global Development
Research paper Setting realistic expectations: the narrow use case for SIBs– Chris Giacomantonio argues that there may be value in using SIBs under certain, narrow conditions but they ought not to be seen as solutions to a wide range of service provision problems. He highlights key concerns in the evidence on SIBs to date, and where they may be used appropriately. A quick and easy to follow read. The Journal of Community Safety and Wellbeing
Opinion How can we revolutionise social care in 2019?– Covers a range of popular thoughts about social care, including promising technology and new models of care, such as outcomes based commissioning. Only a brief look at outcomes based commissioning, but views it as important to consider as the NHS develops its 10 year plan. Forbes
Research paper Transforming Rehabilitation as ‘policy disaster’– The paper examines Transforming Rehabilitation and argues that the policy dynamics and the departmental budget were ‘unbalanced’. It argues that these factors explain why things went wrong during the quick implementation and operationalisation. Written in an academic way but an interesting perspective on probation services now and the policy changes that may come about in response to TR. Probation Journal
Diagnostic tool The public impact fundamentals framework – This new tool by the Centre for Public Impact is meant to ‘help policymakers cut through the complexity of achieving public impact and fulfil their potential to deliver positive change’. They highlight three things that consistently appear in effective policies - Policy, Legitimacy and Action - and argue that these are the three fundamentals of public impact. Centre for Public Impact
Blog Eight myths about public sector innovation – debunked - ‘Government isn’t innovative’, ‘civil servants don’t like change’, ‘the public sector just reinvents the wheel’. Denmark’s innovation agency tackles the stereotypes that hinder experimentation in government. Apolitical
Opinion Fresh thinking for our testing times - Dr Mairi Mackay from the British Council explains how bringing social and creative entrepreneurship together can stimulate new responses to entrenched problems. Pioneers Post
Reflections Four lessons on connecting leaders of social change A transitional programme on equality shows that engaging with conflict and difference is vital to the growth and effectiveness of social movements and broader change. Stanford Social Innovation Fund
Opinion A playbook for designing social impact measurement– This piece by the Stanford Social Innovation Review argues that thinking about social impact measurement on a spectrum can help organisations develop a clear, evidence-based idea of how or why their programmes work. Stanford Social Innovation Review
Opinion Almost everything you know about impact investing is wrong This striking article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review highlights that ‘impact investing has never been more popular not more in peril’. This article offers three guidelines to overcome impact investing challenges 1) Anchor impact investing to market returns, 2) reboot impact measurement, 3) leverage the power of big companies. Stanford Social Innovation Review
Opinion Social investment sector is plagued by a lack of diversity An article highlighting the diversity and representation problems that occur in the social investment sector. Pioneers Post
News Carillion one year on: how has the government changed outsourcing? Twelve months on from the collapse of one of the government’s biggest contractors, Richard Johnstone looks at how the Cabinet Office has responded and reformed its approach to outsourcing. Civil Service World
News Surge in outsourcing after Carillion collapse ‘staggering’, unions say- Unions accuse government of failing to learn lessons of Carillion’s failure last year. The lifetime value of outsourcing contracts awarded in 2017-18 “rocketed” by 53% from £62bn to £95bn in the past year, according to the GMB union. The Guardian
News After Carillion: The future of local service outsourcing – Outsourcing is facing some fundamental challenges as a result of changing public perceptions. This article summarises a roundtable discussion between chief executives of councils and think tanks. Local Government Chronicle